OHO Backlogs Creeping Up

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The Need Is Real

     From Lisa Rein writing for the Washington Post:

Top House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday called for a drastic boost in funding for the Social Security Administration to increase staffing, improve technology and expand other investments as the agency confronts a massive backlog in claims for disability benefits. ...

“Lawmakers in both parties are getting an earful at home about the backlog and poor customer service at the Social Security Administration, and are demanding answers on this and the disarray in its workforce,” Rep. Kevin Brady (Tex.), the ranking Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement. ...

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) decried the “unacceptable” delays facing disabled Americans “to even find out if they are eligible for benefits.”...

The push for a bigger budget comes as House and Senate negotiators race to agree on a bipartisan deal to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year before a temporary budget expires Dec. 16. ...

It’s unclear, though, if Congress will agree on enough spending priorities to pass a new budget before the end of the year. That would leave Social Security and the rest of the government with a full-year stopgap measure at current funding levels. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is preparing for such a scenario with proposals for additional funding for several agencies over current levels. In Social Security’s case, the request would grant the full $800 million boost that the administration sought in the fall, according to an OMB document circulating Tuesday on Capitol Hill. ...

Redesigned SSA Web Site

     The Social Security Administration has issue a press release saying that they've redesigned their website. The press release says that the agency's website is getting about 180 million hits a year.

Merry Christmas

 

At The Breaking Point

    From Lisa Rein at the Washington Post:

The Disability Determination Division in Austin was at a breaking point.

Inside its vast two-story warehouse, close to 130,000 claims were awaiting review by the state employees who help decide whether Texans will get disability benefits from the Social Security Administration — a backlog that would take at least a year to clear. Nearly 40 percent of the examiners had quit since January, driven out by crushing workloads and low wages that could not compete in the high-tech boomtown. Those who stayed toiled in long rows of cubicles or at home reviewing massive medical files.

Then one week in September came the unthinkable: 75,000 new claims suddenly were routed to an electronic queue already buckling under 2½ years of strain during the coronavirus pandemic. ...

The data obtained by The Washington Post paints a grim picture of the holdups claimants are confronting across the country. In Texas, it took 214 days on average in fiscal 2022 to process an initial application. Wisconsin took 227 days, up from 90 days in fiscal 2019. Florida’s average time has almost tripled to 225 days. Georgia is taking 246 days. And Delaware now holds the record for the longest wait: 261 days. The pileup of cases has driven a normally three-month wait for an initial review to at least seven, the data shows. But in states struggling most to catch up, it’s taking well over a year. ...

Annual Statistical Supplement Issued

      Social Security has issued its Annual Statistical Supplement for 2022. This is the largest compendium of statistical information on agency programs.

DDS Refusing To Schedule CEs For ALJs -- How Widespread?

    I and others in North Carolina are seeing cases where Administrative Law Judges try to order consultative medical examinations (CEs) but the state Disability Determination Services (DDS, which handles CEs in addition to making determinations on disability claims at the initial and reconsideration levels), refuses to schedule the exams, saying they don't think them necessary. 

    Is this happening in other states? 

    I don't particularly like them but sometimes a CE is necessary and ALJs don't order many of them so this seems surprising.

    I don't think DDS should be second guessing ALJs on this, especially since it's often hard to understand why DDS schedules CEs themselves when they have jurisdiction over cases. It often seems to be a stalling device for disability examiners -- as in "I'm too busy to finish work on this case now so I'll delay by ordering a CE." I don't see ALJs doing that. Clean up your own house, DDS!

What About Those Allegations Of Retaliation Within OIG?

     From the just released Semiannual Report to Congress by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):

Section 5(a)(20) of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (IG Act), requires SSA OIG to provide a detailed description of any instance of whistleblower retaliation, including information about the official found to have engaged in retaliation and what, if any, consequences the establishment imposed to hold that official accountable. There are no known instances of retaliation to report for this reporting period.

What A Surprise!

    During the recently concluded Congressional campaigns Democrats attempted to portray Republican candidates as eager to cut Social Security. Republicans responded that they weren't a bit interested in cutting Social Security. So what do Republicans do now that the campaign (that went poorly for them) is over? Right, they start pressing for Social Security cuts. John Thune, who is second in the Senate Republican leadership, is saying that Republicans will press for Social Security cuts as part of the price they want paid for extending the debt ceiling.

    Please don't give me the "Republicans just want to save Social Security" dodge. That's not fooling anyone.

Blunt Talk

    From a blog post by Jeff Nesbit, Social Security's Deputy Commissioner for Communications:

... The Biden-Harris Administration asked Congress for a funding anomaly of $800 million higher than our fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget, as we started FY 2023 in October without a full year budget. The additional funding would have allowed us to maintain level service by hiring employees, funding our fixed cost increases, funding information technology (IT) projects, and allocating enough overtime to handle workloads, provided there is not an unexpected and significant increase in demand for our services and programs.

Congress provided us with $400 million, which provides enough funding to cover our fixed cost increases only through December, overtime at FY 2022 levels, and continuous hiring at the start of FY 2023. However, it is not enough to cover the full year fixed cost increases or to maintain the hiring and overtime levels beyond December to improve service. On the other hand, the FY 2023 President’s budget request of $14.8 billion for SSA – a $1.4 billion increase over our FY 2022 enacted level of funding – would allow us to improve customer service and offer the service experience you deserve.

We have faced years of underfunding. We are currently operating with approximately 4,000 fewer employees since prior to the pandemic – a 7% drop, since we have not had the funds to hire the level of staff needed. We are also experiencing historically high levels of employees leaving the agency, because employees are carrying unreasonable workloads given the staffing shortage. As we lose employees, our service further deteriorates. You feel the effects of our staffing shortage. You are waiting an unacceptable average of over six months for a decision on an initial disability claim and over 30 minutes to speak to a representative on our National 800 Number. ...

    In case you haven't noticed there's an ongoing, concerted effort to lobby Congress for more operating funds for the Social Security Administration. For the first time this includes explicit, public efforts by Social Security management as well as outside groups interested in Social Security. I wish I knew how all of this was organized but I'm delighted to see it. The agency's appropriation for fiscal year 2023 is likely to be decided before Christmas, probably just before Christmas.