State Disability Determination Services Processing Times
8 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The over 200 is a little misleading as many claims are pending at DDS for over a year. We really need to put a mechanism in place if a claims pends for a certain number of days (225?) then presumptive payments start and are payed out until a decision is made. Obviously this could be gamed by claimants "stalling" but something needs to be done until we can get AI involved in making decisions. We will never solve the staffing issue, automation/simplification is the way forward.
I do not think these numbers are a true reflection of the processing times. One reason is because this does not include claims which have actually "been lost". Not that I think the claims were actually lost in the first place. They were filed in 13 to get them off of someone's digital work list. Then, weeks and months later after claimants/claimants reps tracked down the lost claims had to be recreated in order to be processed and in order for the claim to go forward. Data manipulated.
Without going into extreme detail for non-SSA folks, there are many facets to processing time. This chart is only measuring DDS time. So if the FO “loses” a case along the way, it doesn’t show up in this metric. This metric is simply for DDS time, it is not meant to be or is reflective of overall processing time which is certainly higher than the displayed numbers.
Greater than 200 days is certainly the standard in Mississippi. Since we can now read initial claims in ERE, I try to get as many of my cases approved at the initial or reconsideration stage. A few of my clients have died waiting for a determination. Without intervention, it takes 200 days just to get an examiner on a case.
I must say though, I have had no trouble with the local FO processing cases. With electronic filing, that seldom happens now. Processing once the case is approved moves along.
These numbers are not real. What is step 2? This chart says my state is dark green, but the director of the state DDS is on record stating that cases are being held in "staging" for up to 200 days due to staffing shortages. Is SSA manipulating numbers by only counting the days the case is active after if comes off the hold. Typical agency manipulation.
8 comments:
The over 200 is a little misleading as many claims are pending at DDS for over a year. We really need to put a mechanism in place if a claims pends for a certain number of days (225?) then presumptive payments start and are payed out until a decision is made. Obviously this could be gamed by claimants "stalling" but something needs to be done until we can get AI involved in making decisions. We will never solve the staffing issue, automation/simplification is the way forward.
I do not think these numbers are a true reflection of the processing times. One reason is because this does not include claims which have actually "been lost". Not that I think the claims were actually lost in the first place. They were filed in 13 to get them off of someone's digital work list. Then, weeks and months later after claimants/claimants reps tracked down the lost claims had to be recreated in order to be processed and in order for the claim to go forward. Data manipulated.
Without going into extreme detail for non-SSA folks, there are many facets to processing time. This chart is only measuring DDS time. So if the FO “loses” a case along the way, it doesn’t show up in this metric. This metric is simply for DDS time, it is not meant to be or is reflective of overall processing time which is certainly higher than the displayed numbers.
Field offices "losing cases" seems to be a common theme. Why not have a centralized intake process? Seems to work well for the VA.
I can tell you that 255 for Louisiana is flat out wrong. The average time here is at least 365 days. I have several cases pending at recon from 2022.
Greater than 200 days is certainly the standard in Mississippi. Since we can now read initial claims in ERE, I try to get as many of my cases approved at the initial or reconsideration stage. A few of my clients have died waiting for a determination.
Without intervention, it takes 200 days just to get an examiner on a case.
I must say though, I have had no trouble with the local FO processing cases. With electronic filing, that seldom happens now. Processing once the case is approved moves along.
These numbers are not real. What is step 2? This chart says my state is dark green, but the director of the state DDS is on record stating that cases are being held in "staging" for up to 200 days due to staffing shortages. Is SSA manipulating numbers by only counting the days the case is active after if comes off the hold. Typical agency manipulation.
Post a Comment