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June 11, 2008 (2 separate letters sent) We urge your support for an appropriation for the Social Security Administration (SSA) for its Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) of, at a minimum, the amount allowed in the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Resolution Conference Report – $10.7 billion. This level of funding is critical to address the backlogs in initial and hearing decisions on disability claims and to carry out other critical workloads. The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) is a working coalition of national organizations working together to advocate for national public policy that ensures the self-determination, independence, empowerment, integration and inclusion of the 54 million children and adults with disabilities in all aspects of society. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Title II disability program cash benefits, along with the related Medicaid and Medicare benefits, are the means of survival for millions of individuals with severe disabilities. They rely on SSA to promptly and fairly adjudicate their applications for disability benefits and to handle many other actions critical to their well-being including: timely payment of their monthly benefits; accurate withholding of Medicare Parts B and D premiums; and timely determinations on post-entitlement issues, e.g., overpayments, income issues, prompt recording of earnings. As the backlog in decisions on disability claims continues to grow, people with severe disabilities have been bearing the brunt of insufficient funding for SSA’s administrative budget. Behind the numbers are individuals with disabilities whose lives have unraveled while waiting for decisions – families are torn apart; homes are lost; medical conditions deteriorate; once stable financial security crumbles; and many individuals die. Numerous recent media reports across the country have documented the suffering experienced by these individuals. Recent testimony on behalf of the CCD Social Security Task Force before the House Ways and Means Committee1 provided many stories describing the extraordinary and unnecessary hardships endured by people with severe disabilities. The following stories are only a sampling of what is happening across the county to claimants who are forced to wait months and years for decisions on their appeals. Your own constituent services staff are likely well aware of similar situations in your Congressional district.
In addition to the delays, access to other key services, such as answering telephone calls, replacing a lost check, and promptly recording earnings, also has diminished. Despite dramatically increased workloads, staffing levels throughout the agency are at the lowest level since 1972. SSA also has been forced to reduce the number of continuing disability reviews (CDRs) and SSI redeterminations. The processing of CDRs is necessary to protect program integrity and avert improper payments. CDRs result in $10 of program savings for each $1 spent in administrative costs for the reviews. The number of CDRs is directly related to whether SSA receives the funds needed to conduct these reviews. The inability to fully process these workloads is exacerbated by staffing shortages throughout the agency. We believe that the main reason for the increase in the disability claims backlogs is that SSA has not received adequate funds to provide its mandated services. Recent Congressional efforts to provide SSA with adequate funding for its administrative budget are encouraging. The Fiscal Year 2008 appropriation for SSA’s Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) was $9,746,953,000. This amount was $148 million above the President’s request and was the first time in years that the agency has received at least the President’s request. While the FY 2008 appropriation allows the agency to hire some new staff and to reduce processing times, it will not be adequate to fully restore the agency’s ability to carry out its mandated services. Between FY 2000 and 2007, Congress appropriated less than both the Commissioner of Social Security and the President requested, resulting in a total administrative budget shortfall of more than $4 billion. The dramatic increase in the disability claims backlog coincides with this period of under-funding the agency, leaving people with severe disabilities to wait years to receive the benefits to which they are entitled. While the current situation is dire, without adequate appropriations to fund SSA, the situation will deteriorate even more. To rectify the situation, SSA must be provided with adequate administrative funding. Recommendation. SSA must be given enough funding to make disability decisions in a timely manner and to carry out other critical workloads. Due to the serious consequences of persistent under-funding of SSA’s administrative expenses, we strongly recommend that SSA receive, at a minimum, the full amount allowed by the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Resolution Conference Report – $10.7 billion. While we believe that SSA needs at least $11 billion for its Limitation on Administrative Expenses, we believe that the amount provided in the Budget Resolution is the minimum necessary for SSA. On behalf of people with severe disabilities who have been bearing the brunt of SSA’s disability decision backlog crisis, we urge you to provide SSA with adequate funding to eliminate the disability claims backlog and to carry out its other mandated workloads. Sincerely, Marty Ford Peggy Hathaway Susan Prokop Paul Seifert Ethel Zelenske Co-Chairs, CCD Social Security Task Force ON BEHALF OF: American Association of People with Disabilities 1 Testimony of Marty Ford, Co-Chair, CCD Social Security Task Force, Hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee on “Clearing the Disability Backlog – Giving the Social Security Administration the Resources It Needs to Provide the Benefits Workers Have Earned,” April 23, 2008. Ms. Ford's testimony is available.
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