From AAPD (3.25.11)
Social Security Administration: Appropriations Hearing
By Daniel Dwyer, Policy Intern
On March 9, 2011, AAPD attended the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies hearing on Social Security Administration (SSA) funding for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. Significant cuts were proposed in the House of Representatives for the funding to the government for the remainder of 2011. That bill, H.R. 1, cuts millions in administrative funding that SSA uses to process disability claims and administer retirement benefits for millions of Americans. It also is more than $1 billion less than the amount SSA says it needs.
At the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) noted that Social Security is “the centerpiece of America’s social safety net” which has had “record high levels” of disability claims since the economy went into a recession. He stressed that the outcome of H.R. 1 “isn’t just bad for the economy but it’s devastating for the individuals” with disabilities.
However, the Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) said that Social Security is “now at the tipping point [on] a long slow march to insolvency if we don’t do something about it” and will become “a classic Ponzi scheme with new contributions used to pay off earlier investments.” He described the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program as a “gigantic budgetary burden that looks more like an unemployment program,” except that “there is no time limit for how long someone can receive SSDI.” He said that “SSDI should not be benefits for life” and “only those who continue to qualify should receive them.” He also characterized SSA’s process of determining whether an individual is disabled as “highly subjective” and “complex.” He faulted SSA for not having “fines or prosecution for those [who] attempt to fraudulently collect benefits.”
SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue testified stating that SSA’s “top priority remains eliminating the [disability] hearings backlog.” He explained how SSA has been underfunded for most of the last decade but that significant progress has been made over the last four years with adequate funding by Congress at the level proposed in the President’s Budget Request each year. He said that the goal of eliminating the claims backlog by 2013 depends on receiving the $12.379 billion in funding that the President requested for FYs 2011 and 2012. Otherwise, he said, SSA decisions “will begin to erode service” to individuals with disabilities. He noted the SSA hiring freeze that will result in the loss of 3,500 employees. Astrue acknowledged that the “lion’s share of the administrative effort” at SSA is focused on disability claims and said that if Congress fails to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government, the processing of services such as new claimant applications and change of address notifications may be delayed and SSA field offices will be operating with a “skeleton crew.”
Following this testimony was a panel that consisted of representatives from American Association of Retired People (AARP), the National Council of Social Security Management Associations and on behalf of people with disabilities, Marty Ford, Co-Chair of the Social Security Task Force of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD). AAPD is a member of CCD and supported her testimony.
Marty Ford emphasized that “behind the numbers are individuals with disabilities whose lives are unraveling while waiting for [disability claim] decisions.” She gave a specific example of a 52 year-old homeless man from North Carolina who has bipolar disorder and diabetes with associated neuropathy. He also has had two heart attacks and needs a pacemaker, which he can get if he’s on Medicaid. But he won’t qualify for Medicaid until he’s approved for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). He asked for a hearing on his SSI claim in September of 2010 and probably won’t have the hearing until mid to late summer of 2011. Ms. Ford concluded that the cuts proposed in H.R. 1 will “severely punish people who must rely on social security and SSI.”
The representative for SSA managers at the 3,400 Social Security field offices and telecenters, noted that SSA receives about 100 million phone calls a year and 45 million walk-in appointments at their field offices. He said that cuts in funding for SSA, like those proposed in H.R. 1, will result in increased waiting times for services at field offices. He mentioned that the average waiting time is currently 21 minutes, but it “will go up significantly” if SSA’s funds are cut.
Action Step: Contact members of the subcommittee and let them know how you feel about funding of SSA. List of committee members is at http://appropriations.senate.gov/sc-labor.cfm
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