Social Security Administration’s Strategic Plan for 2013-2016 – Part 1 of 4 Part Series

On February 15^th, 2012, SSA published its Agency Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2013-2016, Securing Value for America.  This plan will make things easier not only for the employees of SSA, but should also help them serve the public more efficiently.

In 2011, SSA made extensive improvements, despite working with a budget that was $1 billion less than what they had requested. SSA plans to continue with these improvements by implementing four goals that were outlined in the strategic plan. The following series of blogs will explore each goal in detail.

STRATEGIC GOAL #1: Deliver Quality Disability Decisions and Services

SSA plans to do this by making improvements in a few different areas. One of the first areas of concern is the wait time to have a hearing scheduled in front of an ALJ. As we have already seen in Ohio, the opening of new hearing offices in Akron and Toledo has reduced the wait time by six months or more. The wait time can also be reduced by making sure the court is hearing the oldest cases first, as well as expediting severe cases that do not require a hearing. Nearly 800,000 cases were heard in 2011 alone, so this is an important improvement. SSA hopes to have the wait time reduced to an average of 270 days by the end of fiscal year 2013. To compare, the average wait time in 2007 was anywhere from 270 to 1400 days.

Since the disability process is already so complex, SSA plans to implement a new Disability Case Processing System (DCPS) that will be used by disability determination services across the country. Currently, each state has it own disability determination service with its own unique processing system, which makes it difficult to implement any changes across the board. By using DCPS, the disability process will be streamlined and will also provide additional functionality, creating a more state-of-the-art disability process for the future.

Simplifying the process also means eliminating more paperwork. Today, most administrative processes, such as filing appeals, are now done electronically. However, SSA still requires a paper SSA-827 (authorization for SSA to request your medical records) to be faxed or brought to the local field office after an appeal is filed. Soon the SSA-827 will be filed electronically.

SSA also wants to make it easier for claimants to return to work if it is possible. The fiscal year 2013 budget includes the Work Incentive Simplification Pilot, to test whether simplifying SSA’s work rules will allow more claimants to return to the work force more easily. SSA also plans to update its Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) with a new occupational information system that will help with both the vocational and medical analyses of a disability claim.

Currently, SSA utilizes two initiatives in order to assist them to expedite cases that are likely to be approved: Quick Disability Determinations (QDD) and Compassion Allowances (CAL). The QDD uses a computer-based predictive model to identify cases where a favorable decision is highly likely. SSA plans to refine this model so that it may accurately identify more cases that can be approved through using QDD. CAL helps SSA quickly identify medical conditions that qualify under the listings of impairments based on minimal objective medical information. SSA will expand the number of medical conditions included in the CAL process, so that obviously disabled individuals will be identified and awarded more quickly.

SSA is also joining forces with the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Veteran’s Administration (VA) in a new program that will be implemented in fiscal year 2013 to help expedite decisions for wounded warriors by sharing medical records between these agencies more efficiently. Already, a pilot program was implemented in five states and has been successful enough for SSA to consider nation-wide implementation.

Next week: STRATEGIC GOAL #2: Provide Quality Services to the Public

Written by Anna Westfall & Attorney Andrew November

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