FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-9263
April 17, 1997
No. SS-3
Congressman Jim Bunning (R-KY), Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on oversight of the disability appeals process. The hearing will take place on Thursday, April 24, 1997, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
The Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) program provides cash benefits to insured, severely disabled workers. Applications for disability benefits are filed with one of the Social Security Administration's (SSA's) more than 1,300 field offices. Applications, along with supporting medical evidence, are then forwarded to State disability determination services (DDSs), which make the initial medical determination of disability according to SSA's policy and procedures. Applicants who are dissatisfied with an initial determination may request reconsideration by different staff at the DDS. Applicants who disagree with a reconsideration denial have the right to appeal the decision to the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), where cases are heard by administrative law judges (ALJs).
A steadily increasing number of appeals has caused workload pressures and processing delays, particularly for OHA. In the decade ending in 1995, the number of disability cases appealed to OHA had increased by about 140 percent. Despite SSA's attempts to manage this workload, between 1985 and 1995, its inventory of appealed cases increased from about 107,000 to almost 548,000. The case inventory was reduced to 511,000 at the end of 1996. However, some individuals who appeal their disability claims report unsatisfactory public service after waiting over a year for their appeal to be processed.
In addition, decisional inconsistency between DDSs and ALJs continues to lower public confidence in the disability program. In 1996, approximately 75 percent of individuals who were denied benefits by DDSs appealed their decisions to an ALJ. On average, ALJs are reversing DDS decisions 67 percent of the time. Last year, Chairman Bunning asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) to report on factors that contribute to differences between DDS and ALJ decisions and what actions SSA is taking to obtain greater consistency between the decisions in initial and appealed cases.
Over the past few years, SSA has initiated both near-term and long-term initiatives to improve public service. These initiatives include the Short-Term Disability Plan (an initiative to reduce case inventories at OHA) and SSA's Plan for a New Disability Claim Process, referred to as the "redesign plan," to address systemic problems contributing to inefficiencies in the disability program.
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
During the hearing, the Subcommittee will: (1) review the current status of OHA workloads and their impact on service to the public; (2) examine the effects of SSA's short- and long-term initiatives to address those workloads, including what is working, what isn't working and what else needs to be done; and (3) consider the findings of the GAO regarding SSA's management of the timeliness and consistency of SSA's disability decisions.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) copies of their statement and a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format, with their address and date of hearing noted, by the close of business, Thursday, May 8, 1997, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Social Security office, room B-316 Rayburn House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-225-1904 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.