Alternative Approaches to Judicial Review of Social Security Disability Cases

Verkuil, Paul R.; Lubbers, Jeffrey

doi:10.2139/ssrn.418241

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The rising number of disability benefits claims (SSDI and SSI) creates pressure on the SSA to achieve a more uniform, fair, and efficient decision-making procedure (Verkuil and Lubbers 2003, 734). But how might one measure such concepts as justice or fairness when examining procedural arrangements for claiming substantive rights (rather than the study of substantive rights themselves)?…”

Section: Theoretical Framework: Disability Identity the Us Welfare Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-Claiming Disability: Identity, Procedural Justice, and the Disability Determination Process

Dorfman

2017

Law soc. inq.

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This research highlights the crucial role of an intimate link between a disabled person's self-identity and the perceived fairness of legal procedures. In doing so, it brings to the foreground a wholly ignored aspect of procedural justice. Earlier researchers have failed to delve into the role identity politics plays in the relationship between the institutions and the beneficiaries of their services, and the way different members of a group understand and define themselves. This research explores the way people with disabilities in the United States, with different kinds of disability identities, experience and evaluate the procedure of claiming Social Security benefits. The findings suggest that disabled people who identified with the social model of disability (as opposed to the medical-individual models) hold a critical view of the procedure for retaining benefits. They felt they had no control over it, could not voice their opinions, were mistreated by representatives, and had to present an image that was not necessarily true of their disability. They also saw the procedure as discouraging them from participating fully in the labor market, and consequently integrating better in society, an idea that was not present among disabled people who identify with medical-individual models. Exposing this relationship between the way people perceive themselves and the way they experience and evaluate legal procedures can contribute to the creation of better policies, while improving communication between the state and members of the disability community, along with other marginalized groups.

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Section: Theoretical Framework: Disability Identity the Us Welfare Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-Claiming Disability: Identity, Procedural Justice, and the Disability Determination Process

Dorfman

2017

Law soc. inq.

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“…adjudication system is now thought to be the largest system of trial-type adjudication in the world (Verkuil and Lubbers, 2002), employing at present 980 full-time judges. Of all appeals filed in 2005, 92 percent were for disability cases and only 8 percent of appeals were for retirement or Medicare cases (SSA Annual Statistical Supplement, 2005).…”

Section: Is the Screening Process Broken?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…adjudication system is now thought to be the largest system of trial-type adjudication in the world (Verkuil and Lubbers, 2002) , 1998, 2004). Nor does the appeal process necessarily stop at the Administrative Law Judge.…”

Section: Is the Screening Process Broken?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Growth in the Social Security Disability Rolls: A Fiscal Crisis Unfolding

2006

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More than 80 percent of nonelderly U.S. adults are insured against the risk of disabling physical or mental illness by Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). This article evaluates the causes of the extraordinary growth in SSDI enrollment, considers its fiscal ramifications, and discusses potential policy responses. While aggregate population health has improved by most measures in recent decades, the rate of SSDI receipt among nonelderly adults has nearly doubled since 1984. We project that SSDI receipt will rise by an additional seventy percent before reaching a steady state rate of approximately 6.5 percent of adults between the ages of 25 and 64, with cash benefit payments exceeding $150 billion annually (excluding Medicare). We trace the rapid expansion of SSDI to: (1) congressional reforms to disability screening in 1984 that enabled workers with low mortality disorders such as back pain, arthritis and mental illness to more readily qualify for benefits; (2) a rise in the after-tax DI income replacement rate, which strengthened the incentives for workers to seek benefits; (3) and a rapid increase in female labor force participation that expanded the pool of insured workers. Notably, the aging of the baby boom generation has contributed little to the growth of SSDI to date. Among several avenues for reducing SSDI growth, we suggest that the most promising are revamping the disability appeals process-in which the Social Security Administration currently loses nearly three-quarters of all appeals-and reducing the attractiveness of DI benefits for work-capable disabled individuals by providing additional access to public health insurance. By contrast, previous efforts to reduce the SSDI rolls by discontinuing benefits or by providing stronger return-to-work incentives have proved remarkably unsuccessful.

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“…Eleven years later, 83 percent of all reconsideration denials were appealed in this next step (U.S. GAO, 1997). The Social Security Administration (SSA) adjudication system is now thought to be the largest system of trial-type adjudication in the world (Verkuil and Lubbers, 2002), employing at present 980 full-time judges. Of all appeals filed in 2005, 92 percent were for disability cases and only 8 percent of appeals were for retirement or Medicare cases (SSA Annual Statistical Supplement, 2005).…”

Section: Is the Screening Process Broken?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Growth in the Social Security Disability Rolls: A Fiscal Crisis Unfolding

Autor

Duggan

2006

Journal of Economic Perspectives

315

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The U.S. Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) program has grown dramatically over the last 20 years in size and expense. This growth poses significant risks to the finances of the DI program and the broader Social Security system, and raises troubling questions as to whether the program is being misused by claimants. This article first provides an overview of the Disability Insurance program, describing who qualifies for the program, how an individual applies for benefits and how the level of benefits is determined. Next, we summarize the factors responsible for the growth in the DI rolls and discuss how the characteristics of DI recipients have changed as a result. We then explore the extent of moral hazard in the DI program and the effectiveness of the screening process in distinguishing meritorious from nonmeritorious claims. Finally, we identify the challenges that the DI program creates for Social Security finances and Social Security reform, and discuss potential reforms to the DI program.

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Alternative Approaches to Judicial Review of Social Security Disability Cases

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Re-Claiming Disability: Identity, Procedural Justice, and the Disability Determination Process

Re-Claiming Disability: Identity, Procedural Justice, and the Disability Determination Process

The Growth in the Social Security Disability Rolls: A Fiscal Crisis Unfolding

The Growth in the Social Security Disability Rolls: A Fiscal Crisis Unfolding

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