	Background

DI and SSI provide cash benefits to people with long-term disabilities. This completes the initial claims process. Many individuals who appeal SSA’s initial decision will wait a year or longer for a final decision on their benefit claims. Among other things, SSA planned to develop a streamlined decision-making and appeals process, more consistent guidance and training for decision makers at all levels of the process, and an improved process for reviewing the quality of eligibility decisions. This initiative makes substantial changes to the way the DDS processes initial claims. However, interim results also indicate that more denied claimants would appeal to administrative law judges (ALJ) at hearings offices, which would increase both administrative and program costs (benefit payments) and lengthen the wait for final agency decisions for many claimants. They also include decisions to enhance the use of technology in the hearings process, as well as other refinements. The initiative has slightly reduced both case processing time and the backlog of pending cases, but the results fall significantly short of the initiative’s goals. Problems Implementing Technological Improvements Have Long Undermined SSA’s Redesign Efforts

SSA’s slow progress in achieving technological improvements has contributed, at least in part, to SSA’s lack of progress in achieving results from its redesign initiatives. As originally envisioned, SSA’s plan to redesign its disability determination process was heavily dependent upon these improvements. The agency spent a number of years designing and developing a new computer software application to automate the disability claims process. SSA expects this effort to move the agency toward a totally paperless disability claims process. SSA is optimistic that it will achieve a paperless disability claims process. Implications for Future Progress

In spite of the significant resources SSA has dedicated to improving the disability claims process since 1994, the overall results have been disappointing. SSA has focused significant energy and resources over the past 7 years on changing the steps and procedures of the process and adjusting the duties of its decision makers, yet this approach has not been effective to date.
Why GAO Did This Study

This testimony discusses Social Security Administration (SSA) improvements in the claims process for its two disability programs, Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

What GAO Found

Managing its disability caseloads with fair, consistent, and timely eligibility decisions in the face of resource constraints has become one of SSA's most pressing management challenges. SSA has spent more than $39 million over the past 7 years to test and implement initiatives designed to improve the timeliness, accuracy, and consistency of its disability decisions and to make the process more efficient and understandable for claimants. These have included efforts to improve the initial claims process as well as handling appeals of denied claims. The results to date have been disappointing. SSA's two tests to improve the initial claims process produced some benefits; however, both initiatives as tested would have significantly raised costs, and one would have lengthened the wait for final decisions for many claimants. As a result, SSA is considering additional changes to one of these initiatives and has shelved the other. One initiative to change the process for handling appealed claims in SSA's hearing offices has resulted in even slower case processing and larger backlogs of pending claims. A second initiative has reduced the processing times for a separate group of appealed claims, though far less than expected. Moreover, a cross-cutting initiative to update the SSA's quality assurance program--a goal the SSA has held since 1994--is still in the planning stage. Finally, SSA's plans to improve its disability claims process relied upon hoped for technological improvements. However, SSA failed to design and develop a software application to automate the disability claims process after a 7-year effort.