House Social Security Subcommittee Hearing

This hearing was held to investigate why Social Security had not been hiring more Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). After the hearing, some things are clear:

• Former Commissioner Barnhart had implied, if not stated explicitly, to the Subcommittee on several occasions that the problem in hiring more ALJs was that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would not give Social Security an updated register of candidates for ALJ positions. Representative Pomeroy read several statements made by Barnhart to the Subcommittee to this effect.
  
• A register was available from which Social Security could hire ALJs. At no point were there ever less than 1,000 names on this register. It was a very old register and not an ideal list to hire from, but it could have been used and was, in fact, used. Astrue admitted that the real problem in hiring ALJs was lack of budget.
  
• Former Commissioner Barnhart misled the Subcommittee. The ALJ register was never the reason for not hiring more ALJs. Budget was the reason.
  
• OPM gets the picture now that a new ALJ register is urgently needed and expects to have one by this fall. Social Security does not expect to hire more ALJs until the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1, so the ALJ register should be no hindrance to hiring ALJs. The Subcommittee sent a strong message to OPM that they better have that new register ready on time or there will be hell to pay.

Beyond that, Commissioner Astrue talked about his plans for reducing Social Security's hearing backlog. He had little to announce. Beyond what is contained in the written statement that I have already linked, Astrue was talking about hiring 150 more ALJs in the next fiscal year and a total of 750-850 full time equivalents (FTEs) to help out with the backlog. Currently, there are 1,082 Social Security ALJs available to hold hearings. This would mean about a 15% increase in ALJs employed. Astrue pleaded that he could not hire more without creating problems in training and absorbing the additional ALJs.

Astrue made it clear that he wants to have some percentage of the new ALJs assigned to the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) central office in Falls Church to hold video hearings to help out with backlogs. He wants to explore moving more ALJs to Falls Church.

The Commissioner has some plans that are pending review at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that he was unwilling to share with the Subcommittee.

Astrue wants to hold the line on the hearing backlog this year and work on the backlog next year.

Commissioner Astrue has been lobbying hard to get more budget for his agency. He had already met with three members of the Appropriations Committee and was planning to meet with another this afternoon. He said he was exhausted.

Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones is a demanding and sharp tongued questioner. Commissioner Astrue is unused to dealing with such a person.

Astrue Statement At Social Security Subcommittee Available

Commissioner Astrue's written statement to the Social Security Subcommittee is now available online. I will give a summary of the oral testimony as soon as I can get to it.

House Social Security Subcommittee Hearing Now Online

As of this hour, the House Social Security Subcommittee is streaming its hearing. The hearing has not started, but you can see the bald head of Michael Astrue sitting at the witness table.

Social Security Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda

Social Security has published its semi-annual regulatory agenda. It contains no surprises. The proposal to increase the age categories in the grid regulations by two years was not withdrawn. However, it has been placed in the "Long-Term Action" category with the date of final action listed as "To Be Determined."

NY Times Editorial On Social Security Funding

Some excerpts from a New York Times editorial:

Just about everyone who works pays taxes into the fund for federal disability benefits. ...

Those criteria [for getting on Social Security disability benefits] are tough but necessary to ensure that resources go to the neediest Americans. In the past several years, however, another hurdle has been erected, one that is unacceptable and inhumane. Processing delays, mounting since 2000, have left more than one million applicants languishing without help, some for years.

The most acute bottlenecks are at the appeals level, where the average processing time is now 515 days — compared with 274 days in 2000. Such delays are especially pernicious because slightly more than one-quarter of all approved claims are awarded after an appeal hearing, and nearly two-thirds of the people who appeal ultimately prevail. Without the benefits they are entitled to, far too many applicants get sicker and experience severe economic hardship, including foreclosures and even homelessness. Some applicants die before their appeals are heard.

The fault lies primarily with Congress. For many years, lawmakers have consistently cut into the budget for the Social Security Administration, which administers the disability program. Since 2000, the cumulative shortfall — the difference between what the agency has asked for and what Congress has appropriated — is $4.4 billion, with more than $2 billion of that in the last few years. ...

You get what you pay for. When it comes to helping disabled workers — as with so many other duties of government — recent Congresses have not been willing to pay for service that is prompt, professional and compassionate.

The agency generally gets high marks for productivity and efficiency, and estimates that it needs about $10.5 billion a year to be able to do its work adequately. The current Congress can begin to fix the disability program by providing the needed funds in the coming budget for 2008. ...

WCNC Story On Social Security Hearing Backlogs

The WCNC story on Social Security hearing backlogs finished last night with this segment.

Would you like to see stories like this on your local television station? Let me make a simple suggestion. Use your web browser to find one or more of your local television stations, look for an e-mail address to their investigative reporter or their assignment editor and send that person an e-mail with links to the Sunday and Monday night stories on WCNC. Tell them that the same type of problem exists in your community and that you would like to help get this story on the air locally. Television reporters need story ideas. While they like to be original, I doubt that they are completely averse to doing a local spin on a story reported elsewhere.

Witness List For Tomorrow's Hearing

Michael Astrue, the Commissioner of Social Security, and Linda Springer, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, will testify at the 11:00 hearing tomorrow at the House Social Security Subcommittee. There should be live streaming video of the hearing, but, thus far, the Ways and Means Committee has not posted the recordings of their hearings for later listening.

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