Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 10, 1994 TAG: 9410100023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Last March, Jim MacIntosh appeared before an administrative law judge to appeal his claim for Social Security disability benefits.
The judge verbally approved his request, deeming MacIntosh, of Roanoke, eligible because his high blood pressure and arthritis kept him from working.
But formal approval didn't come until last month. For six months, MacIntosh waited for word - or better, a benefits check - while his unpaid bills piled up.
MacIntosh's case is not unique. The number of claims on appeal at the Social Security Administration's Office of Hearings and Appeals in Roanoke has been mounting, as it has nationwide, creating backlogs and processing delays. An appeals claim that normally would be decided and processed within three months is taking six months or more.
"There has been a surge in applications that have been filed and consequently requests for [appeals] hearings filed," said Joseph Rushbrooke, chief administrative law judge for the hearings and appeals office in Roanoke. "Production is higher than it's ever been. And we don't have a significant amount of increased resources to deal with the problem."
The Roanoke hearings and appeals office has an estimated 3,500 cases pending, Rushbrooke said. There are eight administrative law judges, one who is on special assignment, but "we can't seem to keep up," he said.
"We have no control over the request for hearings. An individual has the right to file for a hearing. It's ours and we have to do something with it."
A year ago, the General Accounting Office reported that the Social Security Administration and state agencies that determine eligibility for disability services had not been able to keep up with the number of benefits claims. Benefits included those under Social Security's Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs.
In Roanoke, initial claims for disability benefits increased 9.5 percent in the 1993-94 fiscal year, said Fred Ayscue, district manager of the Social Security office in Roanoke.
"It hasn't slacked off at all," he said. "Fortunately we've been able to keep our workload moving."
The delays, though, are not with initial claims filings but initial claims that are denied and then appealed.
The first appeals stage is a reconsideration, essentially a paper review. If denied at that level, the claim can be appealed to hearings and appeals offices, where a judge decides whether a person's disability warrants benefits.
Nationally, 48 percent of initial claims filed are denied. Of those denied in reconsideration, 75 percent are appealed with hearings and appeals offices.
Ayscue did not have similar data solely for the Roanoke region.
Judy Poff, a public-benefits paralegal for Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley, says a person appealing a benefits claim can wait six months before getting a hearing date. Add another six months from the hearing date for processing, provided the judge approves benefits, and "it can be a pretty lengthy delay."
The commissioner of the Social Security Administration has proposed a re-engineering of the benefits claims process, a streamlining effort, Rushbrooke said.
"But that's some time away," he said. "That's going to take time to develop."
And the number of claims, he said, "seems to be growing more and more."
"I don't know what's going to happen if things keep continuing the way they are," she said.
by CNB