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Social Security Administration

What is the Social Security Administration (SSA) Doing to Reduce the Hearings Backlog?

At a recent conference for the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR), the SSA’s new Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), Theresa Gruber, spoke a little about the actions the SSA is taking to reduce its hearings backlog. The hiring component is one arm of the SSA’s strategy. Although Gruber said the SSA “can’t hire their way out” of the problem, having more adjudicators will ultimately help reduce the backlog. The SSA hopes to have around 1800 Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) working on its behalf, meaning that it will still need to hire… Learn More

Recent Changes to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) iAppeals System

The SSA’s iAppeals system is an internet service that allows claimants to e-file certain types of paperwork regarding their disability claims. The iAppeals system recently underwent a number of changes. As of March 16, 2015, those changes include: Improved on-screen help text Clarified instructional language Modified sequencing of questions System availability to claimants who live outside the U.S. Documentation such as medical evidence and the Appointment of Representative (1696) form can now be submitted electronically and attached to an iAppeal It is important to note that the iAppeals system is NOT available for Requests for Review filed with the Appeals… Learn More

The Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) Welcomes Three New Members

Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution, Lanhee Chen of the Hoover Institution and Stanford University, and Alan Cohen of the Center for American Progress, are the three newest members of the SSAB. The Senate confirmed their appointments on September 8, 2014. The SSAB was a 1994 creation of President Clinton and Congress, meant to complement the legislation autonomizing the Social Security Administration (SSA) (the SSA was previously a part of the Department of Health and Human Services). The SSAB is a seven-member strong, bipartisan body tasked with advising the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security about issues pertaining… Learn More

Federal Court and the Social Security Administration (SSA)

At the SSA’s request, the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is in the process of conducting a study of how select Social Security programs are received and reviewed in federal court. Here are a few things the study aims to do: -Examine the Social Security Act and the SSA’s protocols and practices for deciding disability claims, including the appeals process. -Assess how federal court interprets and applies SSA regulations to deciding disability cases with an eye toward any patterns suggesting consistencies or inconsistencies at the appeals and district court levels. -Assess federal court protocols and practices for processing… Learn More

Does Student Loan Debt Affect Social Security Benefits?

Yes, it can. According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), there was a five-fold increase between 2002 and 2013 in the number of Social Security beneficiaries whose benefits were offset to help pay down their student loan debt. But there’s hope for some of those beneficiaries whose benefits have been garnished for that reason. If a debtor is found to be Totally and Permanently Disabled (TPD), he or she may be eligible for debt forgiveness. While a TPD determination is different than a Social Security Administration (SSA) disability finding, the Department of Education will accept a… Learn More

Fraud Prevention Efforts in the Social Security Administration (SSA)

At the request of House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) the SSA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a report on the agency’s efforts to detect and prevent fraud. The report is more or less a compilation of data from the OIG’s past reports on the same topics and covers all levels of the disability determination process. In the section on appeals, the report covers SSA oversight of Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), especially those with very high allowance rates. The report found that the SSA’s quality control efforts designed to root out these so-called… Learn More

A Few Notes on Program Integrity and Field Office Hours

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has been busy completing a program integrity workload in the face of funding shortages. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently reviewed the SSA’s progress in completing that workload. The report, which focused on Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs) and non-medical Supplemental Security Income (SSI) redeterminations, found that congressional appropriations have been consistently less than requested since 2002. As a result, program integrity workloads took a nosedive between 2003-2008, but have steadily increased since 2009 thanks to more funding. The report suggests that the SSA misallocated resources in years of fiscal shortages, and did not funnel… Learn More

What’s the Status of Benefits for Same-Sex Couples?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has been working to develop new policy to accommodate the June 2013 ruling by the Supreme Court that struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Consequently, many same-sex couples and their family members are now eligible for Social Security benefits. Here is a brief update on some of the new policies regarding same-sex beneficiaries: 1. Same-sex couples that are married and currently residing in a state that legally recognizes same-sex marriage are eligible for retirement benefits, assuming they meet all other qualifications. 2. Married same-sex couples are now eligible for some… Learn More

The Lowdown on Quality Reviews of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Decisions

Congress has been somewhat critical of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) handling of high allowance ALJs, alleging that oversight of these individuals needs to be stricter. So, today we’ll examine the options that exist for reviewing favorable ALJ decisions. There are two types of quality reviews that an ALJ favorable decision can undergo: pre-effectuation reviews (in which an ALJ decision can be changed) and post-effectuation reviews (in which it cannot). The Office of Appellate Operations (OAO) and the Appeals Council (AC) conduct these reviews. The AC can conduct a pre-effectuation review (a review of an ALJ favorable decision that happens… Learn More

Some Updates from the Social Security Administration (SSA)

Here are a few updates from the SSA: *The SSA has announced that it will extend its prototype testing of (1) elimination of reconsideration and (2) the single decisionmaker (the circumstance in which a disability examiner makes an initial disability determination without getting a medical or psychological consultant to sign off on it) until September 25, 2015. Prototype testing has been ongoing since 1999. *The SSA has extended the pilot program allowing the SSA itself rather than the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to set the time and place of a hearing until August 10, 2015. The original motivation behind the… Learn More

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    The National Advocates organization is pleased to announce that Mr. Fred Fleming has been selected for inclusion into its Social Security Disability Law specialty, an honor given to only a select group of lawyers as recognition of their superior skills and qualifications in the field.

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