A map showing geographic variation in representation of Social Security disability claimants at the initial level from Legal Represetation (sic) in Disability Claims a presentation by Hilary Hoynes, of the University of California, Berkeley, Nicole Maestas, of Harvard University and Alexander Strand of the Social Security Administration at the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium:
7 comments:
Conservative people have a higher level of distrust in the Federal government, so it makes sense they hire attorneys more frequently than folks living on the coasts.
The conclusions were interesting.
Utah and Minnesota are basically political opposites. Yet, both have strong representation levels. South Dakota is really conservative, while Maine is fairly strong liberal and California is even more liberal. But, all have similar representation stats. Kansas and Nebraska are both conservative, but Kansas has much stronger representation. So, something other than politics is driving these numbers. Advertising, approval rates, word of mouth, or something else is driving these numbers.
Just speculation (like most of the agency's decisions) but I think there are probably at least 3 factors at play. First, urban vs rural with people in urban areas more likely to be represented. Second and related, number of representatives in the area. And, last and maybe most significant, approval rates for the hearing offices.
Just like "there are no atheists in the foxhole", "there are no politics in the SSA waiting room".
Come on Charles ... how relevant is 8 year old data to today's universe.
The comments seem to assume it is the person seeking representation driving the numbers rather than those providing the representation. The fee cap is the same everywhere, but the cost of living is not. Thus, providing representation can be a more lucrative endeavor in areas where the cost of living (and overhead) is low.
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