Conflicting Views On ALJs

     From the Associated Press:

Four Social Security judges are headed to Capitol Hill to face accusations they rubber-stamped claims for disability benefits, approving billions of dollars in payments from the cash-strapped program.

Each of the judges approved more than 90 percent of the cases they heard from 2005 to 2013, according to a new report by the Republican staff of the House Oversight Committee. The report says the high approval rates indicate the judges didn't follow proper procedures or conduct meaningful hearings. ...

A report by the committee's Democratic staff said the judges at Tuesday's hearing don't reflect the vast majority of administrative law judges. The Democratic report says oversight and training for the agency's 1,400 judges has improved over the past decade.

Both reports note that, overall, judges are approving claims at the lowest rate in years. In 2013, judges approved 56 percent of the cases they decided, down from 72 percent in 2005. ...

This Congressional Hearing Would Have Been Unthinkable Five Years Ago

     Here is the witness list for tomorrow's hearing before the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform, with the reversal rate for the Administrative Law Judges in parentheses:

• Tom Coburn, M.D. Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs United States Senate 
• Charles Bridges Administrative Law Judge, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (80% reversal rate)
• James A. Burke Administrative Law Judge, Albuquerque, New Mexico (87% reversal rate)
• Gerald I. Krafsur Administrative Law Judge, Kingsport, Tennessee (96% reversal rate)
• Harry C. Taylor II Administrative Law Judge, Charleston, West Virginia (83% reversal rate)

     Commissioner Colvin is the only scheduled witness at the hearing on Wednesday.

HALLEX Gets Columbia Law Review Attention

     Timothy Gray has written a note for the Columbia Law Review on Manual Override?Accardi, Skidmore, And The Legal Effect Of The Social Security Administration’s HALLEX Manual.

House Committee Schedules Hearing

     The House Committee on Oversight & Government Operations has scheduled hearings for June 10 and 11 at 9:30 on Social Security Administration Oversight: Examining the Integrity of the Disability Determination Appeals Process.

In Context

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OIG Receives Many Allegations But Few Pan Out

     An excerpt from the annual report of Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG).

Social Security Has Had A Website For Twenty Years

     Social Security launched its first website on May 17, 1994. The current website gets more than 17 million hits a month on its 45,000+ pages.

Whoa! OMB Goofed!

     Yesterday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website showed that Social Security's proposal that would force more claimants into video hearings had been withdrawn while another Social Security proposal on minimum monthly withholding for recovery of overpayments was still pending at OMB. Today, the website shows the reverse. The proposal on forcing claimants into video hearings is still pending while the overpayment recovery proposal has been withdrawn. Looks like OMB goofed!