Statement of Senator Carl Levin at Finance Committee Hearing on Funding Social Security's Administrative Costs: Will the Budget Meet the Mission?

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you for holding today’s hearing. The backlogs and significant waiting times faced by applicants for Social Security disability benefits are serious problems that need to be addressed immediately.

More than 20 years ago, I addressed inadequacies in the Social Security Disability process after the Administration terminated benefits for thousands of people without allowing them an adequate opportunity for review. A concurrent problem in the system was a backlog in the Hearings Offices due to inadequate staffing levels. Claimants were anguished and destitute; they turned to Congress for help.

Senator Bill Cohen and I lead a bipartisan effort to fix the system, and resources were allocated so the Administration could operate efficiently. Now, it appears the problems in the Social Security system have returned, and the situation needs to be revisited.

The situation in Michigan is dire. Tens of thousands of appeals are waiting to be processed. Claimants face a minimum of 18 months waiting for their cases to be heard before an Administrative Law Judge. In the western part of the state, the backlog extends 33 months. That means almost three years pass from the time a claimant files for an appeal until a hearing is held. After the proceedings, it is not unusual for six months to pass before a decision is issued. This wait is intolerable, and places claimants, already ill and unable to work, in dire financial circumstances.

Caseworkers in my office have been contacted by hundreds of constituents frustrated by the amount of time their appeals have been pending and afraid of how they will survive. Many indicate that they have cashed in retirement funds and sold all their possessions. Some have had their cars repossessed, utilities shut-off, and homes lost due to eviction or foreclosure while waiting for a hearing. Many have no medical insurance and cannot afford doctors visits or prescriptions. Their health deteriorates, and some die while their claims are pending.

The individual stories are heartbreaking. One constituent is a disabled woman who relied on her car to take her small daughter to school and to medical appointments. A few months ago, the car was about to be repossessed, so she asked that her Social Security hearing be scheduled as soon as possible. Her request was denied, her car was repossessed, and she is still waiting for her hearing.

Another constituent died before her case could be heard. Upon her death, Social Security sent my office a letter saying the request for a hearing had been withdrawn. It copied the letter to the claimant, saying that her hearing would not be held because she had died.

My office has had several homeless disabled veterans contact us who are about to exceed the maximum number of days at the homeless shelter they are staying in and whose hearings are still months away. It is particularly galling to me that veterans who have worn their country’s uniform would be treated so poorly by their government.

The Hearings Offices do have provisions in place to expedite cases for claimants in dire financial or medical situations. There are inconsistencies, however, from office to office as to what circumstances are considered dire. In some offices, an appeal may be expedited if the claimant receives shut-off notices on his or her utilities or does not have access to healthcare or medications. In other offices, the claimant must produce an eviction or foreclosure notice along with shut-off notices for the case to be flagged for “dire need.”

My office currently has a case in which a certain Hearings Office is requiring the claimant to lose her home and become homeless before the case will be considered for expediting. Claimants whose homes have already gone through foreclosure may still not be able to have their cases expedited if they move in with family or friends because Social Security will often rationalize that these people have a place to stay.

We need to take immediate action to address these unconscionable problems. Funding Social Security at an adequate level is a vital first step, but the process needs to be thoroughly examined and a fairer, more efficient determination process developed. Applicants deserve an equitable, timely resolution to their claims, not an interminable wait in a confusing system.