ADVISORY

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SECURITY

McCrery Announces Hearing on Social Security’s Improved Disability Determination Process

Congressman Jim McCrery (R-LA), Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Social Security Administration (SSA)’s improved disability determination process.  The hearing will take place on Thursday, June 15, 2006, in room B‑318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 11:00 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 Subcommittee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

BACKGROUND:

The SSA administers two Federal disability programs:  Disability Insurance (DI), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).  The DI program provides benefits to disabled workers and their families based on previous employment covered by Social Security, and is funded primarily with Social Security payroll taxes.  The SSI program is a means-tested income assistance program funded with general revenues. 

Workloads from these two programs have placed increasing demands on the agency.  The DI and SSI applications to Federally-funded State Disability Determination Service agencies for a decision have increased 22 percent over the past five years, from 2.1 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 to 2.55 million in FY 2005.  Despite the increased workloads, the SSA has increased its productivity by 12.6 percent since 2001.  However, the rapid rise in applications, coupled with budgetary constraints, have resulted in longer processing times for cases heard by Administrative Law Judges– from 415 days in FY 2005 to 477 days in April 2006.  The number of hearing requests waiting for a decision has increased from about 708,000 in FY 2005 to 727,629 in April 2006, and the Agency expects this number to rise to 767,000 in FY 2007. 

The Commissioner of Social Security, Jo Anne B. Barnhart, undertook a comprehensive initiative to evaluate and implement substantive process reforms to the disability determination process.  These process improvements are built upon the SSA’s new electronic disability folder system, which is being implemented on a phased-in basis.  As the Commissioner has stated in previous testimony, her goal for the reforms has been to have the right decision made as early as possible in the process. 

The Subcommittee has closely monitored the progress of this initiative since the Commissioner announced her intent to move forward at a Subcommittee hearing in September 2003.  After extensive consultation with key stakeholders, including two Subcommittee hearings, the SSA published its final rule on March 31, 2006.  The final rule will be phased in beginning August 1, 2006.  In sum, the Disability Service Improvement rule (DSI) requires quick decisions (in 20 days or less) for individuals with clear-cut disabilities; improves medical and vocational expert access and qualifications; and creates a new position, the Federal Reviewing Official, to review State agency determinations upon the request of the claimant. The reconsideration step of the current appeals process is eliminated.  The DSI also implements a new quality assurance process at every decision-making level.  A description of the key components of the final rule may be found on the SSA’s website at:  http://www.ssa.gov/disability-new-approach/.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman McCrery stated, “I commend the Commissioner of Social Security and the dedicated employees of the Agency for initiating service improvements to the disability determination process.  Now the hard work of implementation begins.  I look forward to learning how the public’s comments were incorporated into the final regulation and hearing how best to transform the regulation into action.” 

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

The Subcommittee will examine the SSA’s final regulation, including how the Agency addressed public comments in developing its final rule and how implementation will proceed.

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:

Please Note:  Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms.  From the Committee homepage, http://waysandmeans.house.gov, select “109^th Congress” from the menu entitled, “Hearing Archives” (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Hearings.asp?congress=17).  Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, “Click here to provide a submission for the record.”  Once you have followed the online instructions, completing all informational forms and clicking “submit” on the final page, an email will be sent to the address which you supply confirming your interest in providing a submission for the record.  You MUST REPLY to the email and ATTACH your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by close of business Thursday, June 29, 2006.  Finally, please note thatdue to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings.  For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-1721.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:

The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee. The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines. Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any submission or supplementary item 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 submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments.  Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

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.  All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons, and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.  A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers of each witness.

Note:  All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at http://waysandmeans.house.gov.

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 202-226-3411 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.