Why Does It Take So Long to Get and Administrative Review for Social Security Disability
If people disagree with how their Social Security inability benefits claims were decided, they can request a hearing from an administrative law approximate. These judges adjudicate hundreds of thousands of cases each twelvemonth.
In 2007, the Social Security Administration set expectations for their judges to event between 500-700 decisions or dismissals each twelvemonth. This expectation has remained the same despite changes that affected judges' workloads, such as the increased size of instance files. The pandemic also disrupted judges' work, making information technology harder to meet expectations.
We recommended creating a process to review expectations for judges' productivity.
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What GAO Found
The Social Security Administration's (SSA) administrative police judges review, procedure, and adjudicate requests for hearings on disability benefits. In 2007, the bureau gear up an expectation—which SSA reported was based on tendency information and some regional managers' input—for judges to issue 500-700 dispositions (decisions and dismissals) each year, and the extent to which they have met this expectation has varied over time. SSA did not certificate the expectation-setting process in 2007, nor has information technology formally reviewed the expectation since. Judges in discussion groups held by GAO questioned the basis of the expectation and 87 percent of judges GAO surveyed (47 of 54) said the expectation was too high. The extent to which judges met the annual and related expectations has fluctuated over the years (see figure). Without periodic reviews, SSA cannot be assured that its expectations accordingly allow judges to rest productivity with other expectations, such as quality, given changing conditions over time.
Administrative Law Judges Who Met or Exceeded SSA'due south Almanac Productivity Expectation, Fiscal Years 2014-2020
Judges in selected hearing offices cited a variety of factors affecting their power to see the annual expectation. The top factor cited past judges GAO surveyed was the size of case files, which have increased 5-fold on boilerplate since the expectation was established, according to SSA data. The COVID-xix pandemic introduced other factors in 2020, resulting in fewer hearings existence conducted.
SSA monitors judges' productivity and takes diverse actions when expectations are not met, ranging from informal conversations to formal bailiwick. In addition, judges in xi of 13 discussion groups viewed telework restrictions as a issue for not meeting expectations. Additionally, judges GAO surveyed reported feeling pressured to come across the expectations. For instance, 87 percent of judges surveyed (47 of 54) said that SSA placed too much emphasis on productivity, and some expressed concerns about their work quality and work-life balance. SSA officials said they do not formally seek feedback from judges on the expectations. Nonetheless, without feedback or other gauges of pressure level, SSA lacks data that could assist information technology appropriately residual timely case processing while maintaining high-quality piece of work and employee morale.
Why GAO Did This Study
SSA's approximately ane,350 judges play a major function in processing and adjudicating requests for hearings to assist ensure individuals who practise not agree with the determination on their claim for Social Security inability benefits receive due process. SSA receives hundreds of thousands of hearing requests each twelvemonth and has historically had a large backlog. GAO was asked to review SSA'due south productivity expectations for its judges.
This report examines (1) how SSA fix productivity expectations for judges and the extent to which judges have met them over fourth dimension, (two) reported factors affecting the power of judges in selected offices to meet the almanac productivity expectation, and (3) SSA'southward management of judges' productivity. GAO obtained and analyzed SSA data on judges' productivity from fiscal years 2005-2020; surveyed and held 13 virtual discussion groups with judges in 6 hearing offices selected for geographic location, average productivity, and average instance size; reviewed relevant federal laws and agency policies and documents; and interviewed officials from SSA and the association representing judges.
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Recommendations
GAO is making ii recommendations, including that SSA found and implement a process for periodically reviewing productivity expectations for judges and determine whether the expectations are reasonable. SSA mostly agreed with both recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Afflicted | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | The Commissioner of SSA should develop and implement a procedure for periodically reviewing the annual productivity expectation, and the supporting expectations as needed, and document those processes so that the bases of the expectations are articulate and can exist communicated to judges. This process should be informed by reviewing ALJ productivity data, considering whatever recent changes in policies and procedures, seeking input from ALJs and relevant stakeholders, and assessing the touch of whatever changes on the excess of requests for hearings. (Recommendation 1) | SSA agreed with this recommendation. The bureau acknowledged the importance of periodically reviewing expectations and stated it will engage with stakeholders, including employee labor unions, on whatever changes to expectations or new measures or metrics for its employees. However, SSA did not explicitly address parts of this recommendation that we believe are important-specifically, developing and implementing a process for periodically reviewing expectations and documenting the process so the bases of the expectations are clear and can be communicated to ALJs. Nosotros continue to believe that SSA should be explicit and transparent in its communication with ALJs almost the bases for whatsoever new productivity expectations it establishes. |
| Social Security Administration | The Commissioner of SSA should take steps to determine whether the current productivity expectations for ALJs are reasonable, such every bit past seeking formal feedback from ALJs, and examining any other factors affecting the ability of ALJs to maintain a work-life balance and ensure quality decisions on requests for hearings. (Recommendation 2) | SSA agreed with our recommendation. The agency noted diverse flexibilities that currently exist for employees to help with work-life balance and stated that information technology will appoint in listening sessions with employees, every bit well equally its labor partners, to continue to meliorate understand and consider the affect of current expectations on their employees. Additionally, SSA stated that it volition consider this impact every bit a potential cistron when determining whether or how to change expectations. We will monitor the bureau's progress on these efforts. |
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Source: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-341
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