A 57-year-old man has waited three years and counting for a Social Security disability determination because of his failing heart, vascular disease, cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis …

Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue doesn’t gloss over the problem with his federal agency. He has told Congress that the jumbo-sized backlog stems from an increasing baby boomer caseload, years of underfunding and an increase in Social Security’s responsibilities coupled with a 5 percent staff reduction from 2003 to 2007.

Astrue, who took the top job in February 2007, said that while “everything is focused on moving in the right direction … there is no one magic bullet” to cut through the backlog, stemming from years of the “system being out of whack.”

“It’s hard if you are on the waiting end,” Astrue said. “We are making progress … (But) it is a lot of detail, and it is hundreds of things we have to focus on.”

Astrue is sending 13 new disability judges to Ohio this year, two of them to Columbus.

He wants to cut the 761,000-case national backlog by about 60,000 a year. “The whole thing is completely broken” and that the disability benefits process is “so woefully out of date that it has to be totally overhauled and streamlined,” Astrue said.

… [I]n some cases, the actions of the financial institutions in carrying out court [garnishment] orders are of questionable legality, according to a new report by the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General.

The inspector general found that some financial institutions are apparently violating federal law by garnishing accounts that receive electronic deposits of old age, survivors and disability insurance, and/or supplemental security income payments. These funds are supposed to be protected from creditors except under certain conditions. …

During a 12-month period beginning September 2006, the 12 largest banks took $1 million from accounts that held only government benefits. An additional $29 million was taken from accounts that held government benefits money mixed with cash from other sources, according to the report. The inspector general also found in some cases that banks were charging legal processing fees, overdraft charges or insufficient-funds charges as the result of a garnishment.

Although the sample size in this investigation was relatively small, the inspector general’s report concluded that if all financial institutions followed the pattern of those investigated, as much as $177.7 million in garnishments could be attributable to beneficiaries receiving direct deposit of Social Security benefits.

And here is a link to the Inspector General report.

Dana Smith waited three years for a judge to agree she qualifies for Social Security disability payments. Had she lived in a state other than Indiana, the wait could have been much shorter. That’s because Indiana has one of the worst records in the country for processing the disability claims of people unable to work because of medical or psychiatric reasons.

For a determination at the Indianapolis offices for Social Security disability or Supplemental Security Income, the average applicant waits 749 days from the time of filing until a hearing before an administrative judge, the step necessary if claims are denied — and most are. Most Americans wait 505 days, the Social Security Administration estimates.

Nationwide, the Social Security Administration has 10 percent fewer judges to hear case appeals than it did a decade ago, while the number of cases has increased by more than 176 percent, said Carmen Moreno, regional communications director for the Social Security Administration’s Chicago region, which includes Indiana.

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) today met with senior Social Security Administration officials with direct oversight over Social Security hearing office operations to discuss the SSA’s plans to address the egregious backlog of Social Security cases in the Buffalo Hearing Office region. …

“The Social Security Administration has taken the first step, but has only scratched the surface of the egregious backlog problem in Western New York,” Said Higgins. “It is crucial that we now continue to build on this start and in order to eliminate the backlogs that exist now and ensure that Western New Yorkers never have to deal with backlogs like this in the future,” Higgins said. …

“The SSA knows that it can and must do better for Western New Yorkers whose lives have been put on hold while they await a decision on their Social Security cases,” Higgins said. “This is not a matter we will let go unchecked simply because the SSA has made a step towards solving the problem.”

From the National Council Digest, put out by Council 220 of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents a good part of Social Security’s workforce:

A poll recently conducted by Council 220 shows that nearly half of the respondents are either “dissatisfied” or “extremely dissatisfied” with their work experience at Social Security. An overwhelming number (79%) also believe that most employees share those same feelings. When asked “do you feel that you have enough time to devote to a quality work product?” a staggering 82 per cent answered “no.”
A large number (59%) believe quantity of work is considered more important than quality.