The NYT reports that the the Social Security Administration’s overwhelming backlog of disability appeals is forcing people to wait years before they can get their appeals heard. The delays can be so severe that some people lose their homes or even die before they can get a hearing. The article points out that approximately two-thirds of appeals result in the awarding of disability benefits, which makes the initial review stage seem more like a bureaucratic hoop rather than a meaningful assessment process. A substantial number of those waiting for a hearing date are individuals with mental illness, which raises questions about how disability examiners treat such claims on first blush. These examiners do play a crucial gatekeeping role, but the extraordinarily high rate of successful appeals indicates that the system seems to err on the side of denying benefits and hoping they’ll go away. We should be able to do better than that.
Sadly, I know of quite a few folks who are not disabled and have gamed the system well enough to live well. They are on disability, hide their assets, work under the table and live very comfortable lives.
Then there are the truly disabled people who are too sick to so conspire. They file sincere cases and are declined.
As with any public assistance, the professionals learn to game the system. The Internet has helped this effort.
The system is broken because of this.
This is such a tragedy for our country’s disabled. We work all our lives, then become disabled by one means or another and can not hold down gainful employment. Then when we have used up all our savings, maxed out our credit cards, and are on the verge of OR HAVE lost our homes, there is no help out there for us. We can’t get state medicaid because SS hasn’t deemed us disabled yet. Can’t afford to buy medicine or go to the doctor……deplete savings from our other family members. It is a vicious tragedy!! I read in an article written by an ex-SS administrative hearing judge that it cost the Social Security Administration at least $200,000 in administrative costs and that it takes at least 4 staff members to handle one hearing. If they would approve those after the first or second appeal, then the admin costs would not be spent. And the thing is that many of us would never collect $200,000 in disability payments in our lifetimes. So what is their excuse??? I had contacted my senator and was finally told to write a letter of dire need which I did last August……still no hearing!! I have been waiting 24 months for a hearing and it has been 40 months since I first applied. And our country goes on to fund third world countries, the unnecessary war in Iraq, and God knows what else, while our country’s disabled get put on the back burner and get worse or even die or commit suicide all due to the redtape in Washington!!! We have become the country’s new destitute individuals while Washington sits on their fat wallets!!!