CAN THE HEARING PROCESS BE FIXED? THE SSAB RESPONDS
The Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) has joined the chorus of those raising serious concerns about the current state of the SSA hearing process. In a recent report, the SSAB finds that the most critical problems include: a lack of consistency; processing times and backlogs; productivity; and hearing office management. Improving the Social Security Administration’s Hearing Process (Sept. 2006). The report is available online at: www.ssab.gov/ImprovingSSAhearingProcess.htm
Most claimants’ representatives will find little to quarrel with in most of the report.
The impact of the hearing process on the SSA administrative process is significant. In 2005, nearly 600,000 hearing requests were filed. With a $2,297 cost per case at the hearing level, the total administrative cost for the SSA hearing process is more than $1 billion. As noted by the SSAB, the hearing process is important to claimants. About 20 percent of all allowances are made at that level and the hearing is “an important check on the quality of earlier stages,”
She initially addressed the issues regarding the SSA budget. She noted that if SSA had received the full budgets requested by the President over the past few years, the agency would have and additional 8400 work years. This means there would be no backlogs at either the initial or hearing levels. Also, as a result of these cuts, SSA has been able to hire only 1 new employee for every 3 who leave at the hearing level and for every 8 who leave at the field offices. Further, SSA was able to hire only 43 new ALJs last year, rather than the planned 100. As Commissioner Barnhart stated, “the resource issue is huge” for the agency.
