Social Security Claims Backlogged

Social Security Claims Backlogged

By LEIGH STROPE The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - The backlog of pending claims for disability benefits is nearing crisis levels and the Social Security Administration's repeated attempts to overhaul the system have failed, a congressional agency said Tuesday.

``Decisions on appealed claims are taking longer to make, fewer decisions are being made,'' said Robert E. Robertson, a director for the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

He testified to the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee that the Social Security Administration has spent more than $39 million in the last seven years to test and implement initiatives to improve the timeliness and accuracy of its disability decisions. The agency also has spent $71 million to develop an automated disability claims process.

But the results have been disappointing, Robertson said.

Disabled Americans who apply for benefits often must wait two to three years to start receiving them. It can take as long as 1,150 days to process a disability application, according to the Social Security Administration.

The applications remain idle for about half of that time because of a huge backlog of cases that haven't been completed because of legal appeals and other procedures. For example, there were about 200,000 backlogged cases in 2001 at the administrative judge level.

About 40 percent of claimants who were denied benefits at the initial level appealed the decision, and about two-thirds were awarded benefits.

``This inconsistency calls into question the fairness, integrity and cost of SSA's disability decisions,'' Robertson said.

About six million disabled workers and their dependents and survivors received more than $59 billion in disability benefits last year. More than six million elderly, blind or disabled Americans who are poor received $28 billion in income assistance benefits last year.

Experts also are concerned about the fairness and consistency of decisions among states. For example, 66 percent of disability applicants in New Hampshire were accepted last year while only 27 percent were in Tennessee, said Hal Daub, chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board.

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