On the eve of the 74th anniversary of Social Security, nearly nine in ten
(88%) Americans say Social Security is more important than ever as a
result of today’s economic crisis. Three-quarters of Americans say it is
critical to preserve Social Security even if it means that working
Americans have to pay higher taxes to do so, according to a poll
sponsored jointly by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI)
and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The poll of 1,488 Americans, conducted between July 7-14 by the
Benenson Strategy Group, sends a strong message to policymakers
about the value that Americans place on Social Security benefits for
themselves and the country as a whole – with over 75 percent of
Americans saying that Social Security is or will be an important part of
their retirement and nearly half of recipients stating that they would be
unable to afford food, clothing or housing without it.

“The recession underscores the critical role Social Security fills for
working families and retirees across the nation,” said Kenneth S. Apfel,
Chair of the NASI Board of Directors and Commissioner of Social
Security from 1997 to 2001. “On the eve of the 74th anniversary of the
signing of the Social Security Act, it is striking to see how deeply
Americans value the program, they want to preserve and improve it,
and they are willing to pay for it.” See full survey report here

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TIme Magazine reports today that Social Security officials expect an even larger spike in new disability claims than before, as aging, injured baby boomers tumble out of the work force and need income.

This is not good news, as the system was already bogged down at several points, and has been the target of unfavorable media reports documenting unconscionable waits for decisions on benefits.

Time’s article says that Social Security estimates they’ll receive 3.3 million new disability claims over the next year, up from their previous estimate of 3 million projected just five months ago.

The wave of new applications comes just as officials were making progress in curbing a massive backlog of disability appeals cases, which has plagued the agency for years. Also adding to the problem are recent moves in at least 10 states to furlough hundreds of employees that process initial benefit claims.See full Time article here:

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Today’s Wall Street Journal has a thoughtful article on the travails of obtaining disability payments from Social Security, specifically about how people underestimate the difficulty of the process. We frequently find clients who express amazement at this: they have always assumed these benefits they have paid for will be readily available in time of need.

“Workers who contribute part of their earnings to Social Security often underestimate what it takes to tap the benefits if they become permanently disabled. The process can be tricky and more time-consuming than people expect, and the weak economy appears to be contributing to a surge in applications.

“Applications for Social Security disability benefits rose more than 17% in the first quarter. There are 7.4 million people receiving disability benefits that average $1,063 a month.

“Those numbers are expected to rise as baby boomers age, so it can pay to know the claims process. Here are seven common errors to avoid:

First, Misdefining disability

Many people erroneously think they can collect benefits as long as they are unable to do their regular job. A person must be unable to perform any substantial work and have a medical condition that has lasted or is expected to last at least a year or to result in death. It’s not only what you can do or have been doing but anything they think you’re suited for. Others include wating too long to apply,being disorganized, failing to get help, making financial errors. Read full article here:

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While Social Security predicts a substantial reduction in waits for hearings by 2012, many claimants need a more immediate fix. This article discusses the reasons and some remedies for hearing delays:

“Many people are denied disability benefits at the first two levels (Application for benefits and Request for Reconsideration). The third step in the process is the Request for Hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. At this stage, most claims have the greatest chance of being approved. The problem is that the greatest delays occur at this level.
The Administration has been confronted by a significant backlog on
cases pending decision and dispositions.
In FY 2007, SSA’s National Hearings Average Processing Time was 512
days for all dispositions. (see
www.ssa.gov for a thorough
discussions of the “whys and wherefores”…)

See entire article here.

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Charles Hall’s blog today nicely supplies graphics for the delays at the Social Security Hearing office, by city. These were orginally published in the newsletter of NOSSCR (National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives) The worst is well over 600 days wait, the “best” hearing office has a wait of 200+ days. (Click on the images in Mr. Halls blog to enlarge.)

Not much progress has been made in spite of a variety of measures to speed up service delivery – claims are simply coming in faster than they are being resolved. Overall, between January 1007 and April 2009, the average wait for a hearing has just been reduced from 508 to 505 days. Keep in mind that this wait is AFTER denials on initial and reconsideration aspects of the claim, which can take more than a year.

Compare the average processing time as it has changed over time:

January 25, 2007 — 508 days
May 25, 2007 — 523 days
July 28, 2007 — 528 days
August 31, 2007 — 523 days
November 30, 2007 — 500 days
February 29, 2008 — 511 days
May 30, 2008 — 523 days
June 27, 2008 — 529 days
July 31, 2008 — 530 days
September 3, 2008 — 532 days
November 5, 2008 — 476 days
December 3, 2008 — 480 days
March 8, 2009 — 499 days
April 24, 2009 — 505 days

See Mr. Hall’s blog for the list of cities and their respective waiting times:

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Over the past year, the newspaper The Oregonian, Portland and Oregon’s local paper, has been running a series carefully documenting the devastating delays at the Social Security hearing offices, putting a human face on this non-comedy of errors and underfunding. Brent Walth and Bryan Denson of The Oregonian have just won the prestigious Bruce Baer Award for Investigative Reporting, for uncovering the enormous backlog of disability claims in the Social Security system. The articles showed that while claims management is a nationwide problem, Social Security Administration’s Portland office has one of the slowest case-completion rates in the country. The reporters found several cases in which claimants died while waiting for a benefits determination from the office: On average, it takes nearly two years for the Portland office to handle the appeal of a case.

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From the web site UPI.com comes this news: The recession-driven safety net of government benefits is at a record high, as $1 of every $6 of U.S. income is a government payment, an analysis showed.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis said benefits such as Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance and healthcare accounted for 16.2 percent of personal income during the first quarter of this year, the highest since the government began compiling records in 1929, USA Today reported Thursday.

Federal data indicate government spending on benefits will top $2 trillion in 2009, averaging $17,000 provided to each U.S. household. Benefits rose at a 19 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the last three months of 2008. Full detail of story here:

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Government Executive reports today: The economic downturn, inadequate funding and red tape are at the core of an increasing backlog of Social Security disability cases, panelists said during a roundtable discussion in Washington on Thursday.
The government has tried for years to reduce the number of cases awaiting review from administrative law judges, but the recession is a significant setback, said Alan Cohen, senior budget adviser for the Senate Finance Committee.
“Initial claims are going to skyrocket in 2010,” he said during the forum, organized by the Association of Administration Law Judges. “The tsunami hasn’t hit the administrative law judges here.”
At issue are cases where a claim has been rejected at the state level and is sent to Social Security Administration ALJs. Currently, there are about 750,000 cases pending, according to Cohen. SSA has set a goal of reducing the pile of pending cases to 466,000 by 2013 — a step SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue has told lawmakers would decrease average processing times from 500 to 270 days. See article here:

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While we complain about the delays in Scial Securty disability, Charles Hall in his excellent blog points out that there is a parrallel universe in the world of VA disability:

From VA Watchdog dot Org:

According to the Monday Morning Workload Report (MMWR) of the Veterans’ Benefits Administration dated January 5, 2009, the backlog for veterans’ benefits claims stood at 808,607. Report is here
…http://www.vba.va.gov/REPORTS/mmwr/2009/010509.xls

The same report for May 11, 2009 shows the backlog at 916,456. That report is here … http://www.vba.va.gov/REPORTS/mmwr/2009/051109.xls

This is an increase of nearly 108,000 claims in the backlog in just a bit over four months … an increase of 13.3%. See Mr. Hall’s blog here:

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The Salt Lake Tribune says that “The absence of a cost-of-living adjustment … will be a shock to older Americans already hit by plummeting home values, investment losses and rising health costs,” The New York Times wrote earlier this month.

Senior groups were predictably up in arms. An AARP spokesman moaned that “most seniors have never been through a year in which there was no Social Security COLA.” Some liberal bloggers accused the Obama administration of betraying seniors. And there’s already talk of legislation to address this perceived inequity.

But the outrage is unwarranted. Seniors have never faced a year without a COLA, but that’s only because they’ve never experienced a year without inflation, which is what the Congressional Budget Office says is what’s happening now.

The COLA is not supposed to be a “raise” in Social Security benefits, even if seniors often see it that way. Rather, when the consumer price index, or CPI, rises…” Share this article with