Social Security cuts could worsen backlog

More than 11,000 people from Northern Ohio are waiting for a hearing to appeal denial of their Social Security disability, with some imposed as many as two years ago, even though the Cleveland appeals office has added four judges.

The applicants wait an average of 597 days — up more than 50 percent from 344 days in January 2004 — but some run out of time. Local lawyers have reported that dozens of their clients have died while waiting for a hearing date.

Despite the Social Security Administration’s efforts to speed up the process, agency chief Jo Anne Barnhart told a congressional committee this week that budget cuts could make things worse. If Congress carves $200 million from the Social Security Administration’s budget, the agency would not be able to replace hundreds of workers or verify whether thousands of people granted disability benefits are still eligible, Barnhart said.

A congressional committee approved the cuts Tuesday, and there could be more to come.
Barnhart said an additional 1 percent cut — like the one the agency received last year in a last-minute effort to save money — could force her to send Social Security employees home for a week without pay.

“It’s very serious,” she said.

The cuts would make it difficult to keep pace with the enormous backlog of appeals, she said, “let alone work it down.”

The Cleveland appeals office backlog of 11,026 is the fourth-worst in the country, along with that of Indianapolis, according to the Social Security Administration. Tampa, Fla., has the most — 14,547 — followed by Birmingham, Ala., and Buffalo, N.Y.

Under questioning from Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Democrat of Cleveland, Barnhart said she would like to hire 100 more judges but will hire none next year without additional money.

Marcia Margolius, a Cleveland lawyer who represents people appealing the denial of disability benefits, said the agency has struggled for years to get adequate funding.

“I think this is going to have a devastating effect on people waiting for hearings,” she said.

Some of her clients waited as long as two years for a hearing, she said. They can lose their homes, and some end up living in homeless shelters. Others lose health benefits or can’t afford to pay gas and electric bills.

Barnhart devoted most of her prepared testimony to the House Social Security subcommittee describing the progress in streamlining the disability application process. New measures include an electronic filing system, hiring more judges, expediting decisions for people who “are clearly disabled,” increasing the use of video-conference hearings and bringing in temporary judges from around the country.

James Hill, president of the Cleveland chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union, testified and praised Barnhart’s plan to speed up the system.

He said claimants will greatly benefit from it. He represents attorneys who review appeals and draft decisions.

But he did not know that budget cuts threatened the improvements until he heard Barnhart’s responses to the committee’s questions.

“We deplore any furlough for any period of time,” he said. “If we’re on furlough, we’re not serving the public.”

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2006 The Plain Deale