Appealed Disability Claims: Despite SSA's Efforts, It Will Not Reach BacklogReduction Goal

摘要

Americans who are denied benefits under the two largest federal programsproviding disability benefits may appeal to the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA). This office hears appeals of denied benefit claims under both of these federal programs: Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Given your interest in improving the disability claims process and reducing the number of appealed cases whose decisions are significantly delayed, you asked us to report on OHA's (1) progress in meeting STDP's backlog reduction and case processing goals and (2) current allowance rate for appealed cases compared with pre-STDP levels. You also us to report on the accuracy of decisions made under STDP, which, as discussed with your office, we cannot do at this time because SSA is just now evaluating STDP's decision accuracy. After SSA completes its evaluation, we will review the results.