Social Security Benefits in America
Almost a decade ago, Michael J. Astrue, the Commissioner of Social Security at the time, released the Administration’s Strategic Plan, coined “Social Security Benefits America.” The five-year plan noted the challenges that the Administration faced and identified the course of action that had been planned to meet those challenges. How has the Administration done in terms of meeting those goals? The answer is: not well.
The most concerning issues back then were as follows:
Eliminate the hearings backlog and prevent its recurrence.
Improve the speed and quality of the disability process.
Improve retiree and other core services.
Preserve the public’s trust in Social Security’s programs.
To meet each of the above goals, the new plan included specific objectives and outcomes that had to be reached. For example, in order to achieve the first goal of eliminating the backlog and preventing its recurrence, the Administration indicated its plan to increase the capacity to hear and decide cases and improve workload management practices through the hearing process. Two key essentials in achieving the goal were hiring more employees and utilizing information technology. Today, there is still a backlog and paper cases still exist despite the availability of technology to convert paper files to electronic files and speed up processing.
Despite many concerns regarding the absence of adequate support staff to help reduce the backlog, SSA’s stance remains that their “workforce is…(their) greatest strength.” Despite hiring 100’s of more Administrative Law Judges to its staff, the backlog over the years has remained consistent. SSA was also planning to make annual expectations for Judges which request that they produce 500-700 hearing decisions a year. Still, there are Judges hearing way less and there is no consequence for the lack in efficiency.
Despite the fact that video-teleconference hearings, and now phone hearings, are being utilized in hearing offices across the country, SSA’s backlog continues to grow.
