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June 15, 2007

Dear Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies:

We urge your support for an appropriation for the Social Security Administration (SSA) for its Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) of, at a minimum, the amount allowed in the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Resolution Conference Report – $10.1 billion.

The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has urged that $10.44 billion be appropriated to fund the agency in Fiscal Year 2008 -- the level of funding requested by the Commissioner of Social Security as necessary for SSA to carry out its administrative obligations. CCD is a working coalition of national organizations working together to advocate for national public policy that ensures the self-determination, independence, empowerment, integration and inclusion of the 54 million children and adults with disabilities in all aspects of society.

Administrative funding shortfalls have resulted in growing backlogs in initial and hearing decisions on disability claims, the largest in history, that have been described by Members of Congress as “tragic,” “unconscionable,” and “an unmitigated disaster.” The impact of the delays on individuals with disabilities has been extremely detrimental. Behind each number and claim is an individual with disabilities whose life is coming unraveled while waiting for his or her claim to be properly decided – families are torn apart; homes are lost; medical conditions deteriorate; once stable financial security crumbles; and many claimants die while waiting for a decision

Supplemental Security Income and Title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) disability cash benefits, along with the related Medicaid and Medicare benefits, are the means of survival for millions of individuals with severe disabilities. They rely on SSA to promptly and fairly adjudicate their applications for disability benefits. They also rely on the agency to handle many other actions critical to their well-being including: timely payment of their monthly benefits; accurate withholding of Medicare Parts B and D premiums; and timely determinations on post-entitlement issues (e.g., overpayments, income issues, prompt recording of earnings).

Under the current budget situation, people with severe disabilities have experienced increasingly long delays and decreased services in accessing these critical benefits. Processing times, especially at the hearing level, have reached intolerable levels. In some locations, claimants wait as long as three years just to receive a hearing.

We believe that the main reason for the increase in the disability claims backlogs is that SSA has not received adequate funds to provide its mandated services. In every fiscal year since FY 2000, Congress has appropriated less than both the Commissioner and the President have requested. The result is a shortfall in appropriations for SSA totaling over $4 billion since FY 2000. Former Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart has stated that had SSA received appropriations at the level of the President’s request over the past five years, there would now be no backlog in disability claims at the initial or hearing level. While the current situation is dire, without adequate appropriations to fund SSA, the situation will deteriorate even more. To rectify the situation, SSA must be provided with adequate administrative funding.

People's lives are falling apart. The following real stories demonstrate in human terms the terrible impact of the delays and the crises facing claimants every day:

• An Alabama man, a former welder, had a stroke when he was only 48 years old. While waiting 18 months for his hearing, he cashed in all of his savings bonds and his health deteriorated. He had to move in with his elderly mother who had lung cancer. He had no means of support after she died and his brother lost his job after he had to move to Alabama to help out.
• An Arizona father of six, a former construction worker, has watched his wife develop a substance abuse problem because of their financial problems. This family has a history with delays – the claimant’s father died after suffering a heart attack caused in part by delays in processing his own disability claim.
• A former cook and professional musician in Idaho with cancer pawned his belongings to survive while waiting for his hearing. Without health insurance, he was not able to receive consistent medical care for his cancer.
• To survive while waiting for a hearing decision, an Iowa woman cashed out her work pension plan, paying early withdrawal penalties. She borrowed money and took out a lien on her car. She receives inadequate medical care because she has no insurance.
• A veteran in Kansas has been unable to pay the rent for his VA transitional program and is homeless. There has been no response to requests for an expedited hearing.
• A Kentucky father of five (his wife committed suicide last year) with heart problems and other conditions is waiting for a hearing. He had to give up a promising heart treatment when he lost his medical insurance.
• A Maine father became homeless with his wife and two children while waiting for a hearing. After eviction, the family could not stay in a shelter because of the children and they lived in his car.
• A Massachusetts mother of two young daughters lived in a shelter after leaving an abusive domestic situation. Her hearing request, filed in January 2006, was lost and logged in 15 months later in April 2007 when she obtained an attorney. A hearing has not yet been held.
• A woman in Montana lives in an 8 foot by 20 foot building, with no plumbing. She previously lived in a mold-infested trailer without running water, a bathroom, or cooking facilities. She has no insurance and has been unable to pay her doctor for four years.
• A New Mexico father of four with leukemia, who is a former pipeline inspector, has filed for bankruptcy because his wife’s income cannot support the family. Another New Mexico man was evicted in August 2006.
• A New York mother, a former State employee, was evicted and lost custody of her children when she could not provide a home for them. She lived in a homeless shelter for four months. Her depression, which worsened due to stress, resulted in a hospitalization.
• A former tugboat captain in North Carolina has no insurance and cannot obtain surgery for his back. A request to expedite his hearing to avoid foreclosure was denied. He lost his home, forcing him to move in with his elderly and ailing mother.
• Even though a man in North Dakota has a rare form of a brain tumor and failing kidneys, his claim was denied and he filed an appeal. He and his wife are having financial problems paying for his medications and medical bills and they applied for heating assistance.
• An Ohio man with diabetes requires multiple surgeries because of an open stomach wound. He lost his apartment and moved in with a friend, which is detrimental to his wound because he requires a very clean environment. His hearing request was filed in December 2005.
• An Oregon man died in June 2005 at age 41 because of heart disease. He was homeless and moved frequently. His hearing, requested in 2004, was held in 2007, long after his death.
• A Pennsylvania woman spent all of her savings and had to apply for welfare. Her house went to foreclosure but was saved by her fiancé. He has cancer and a poor prognosis and she is worried that she will lose him and her house and will become homeless.
• The file of a Rhode Island resident sat in the SSA district office for more than two years after a hearing was requested in 2004. The hearing office returned the request to the SSA district office because it did not have a claims folder attached. The hearing request and folder were finally sent to the hearing office in January 2007, after an attorney became involved.
• A Texas woman, a former broker who has a Master’s Degree, lost her income and health insurance after filing for benefits. She also lost her home and has exhausted her savings to pay for medical care. After living with friends, she now lives with her elderly parents.
• While his hearing was pending, a Washington veteran became homeless and lived at a local mission. Before becoming disabled, he successfully sold cars. Upon leaving his hearing, his attorney drove him to the mission to pick up a paper bag with all of his possessions and then drove him to the local VA hospital for in-patient medical treatment.
• A long-time municipal government employee in West Virginia is having serious financial problems. He has received eviction notices, which have been forwarded to the hearing office but no response has been received.

The impact of providing SSA with inadequate funding. As amply demonstrated in recent Senate and House hearings, processing times are reaching intolerable levels and the number of pending cases continues to increase dramatically. Staffing levels have decreased, resulting in diminished services in many key areas such as processing a report that a check has not been received or promptly dealing with earnings reports. Even though they result in program savings, fewer continuing disability reviews (CDRs) are conducted. In addition, new SSA workloads have been added without providing additional funds to implement them.

Without adequate funds, the crisis will continue to worsen for people with disabilities. The President’s budget proposal for FY 2008 assumes that SSA will need to reduce its staff even further, despite an expected increase in the number of disability claims to be filed. This expected staffing reduction comes on top of a drop in the number of staff since FY 2006.

Recommendation: SSA must be given enough funding to make disability decisions in a timely manner and to carry out other critical workloads. Due to the serious consequences of continued funding of SSA’s administrative expenses at inadequate levels, we strongly recommend that SSA receive the full amount allowed by the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Resolution – $10.1 billion. While we believe that SSA needs at least the Commissioner’s budget request of $10.44 billion for its Limitation on Administrative Expenses, we believe that the amount allowed for in the Budget Resolution is the minimum necessary for SSA.

On behalf of people with severe disabilities who have been bearing the brunt of SSA’s disability decision backlog crisis, we urge you to provide SSA with adequate funding to eliminate the disability claims backlog and to carry out its other mandated workloads.

Sincerely,

Marty Ford
The Arc of the United States and United
Cerebral Palsy Disability Policy Collaboration

Susan Prokop
Paralyzed Veterans of America

Ethel Zelenske
National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives

Co-Chairs, CCD Social Security Task Force

ON BEHALF OF:

American Association of People with Disabilities
Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation
Epilepsy Foundation
Goodwill Industries International
Helen Keller National Center
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Association of Disability Representatives
National Association of Private Special Education Centers
National Association of Social Workers
National Coalition on Deaf-Blindness
National Disability Rights Network
National Down Syndrome Society
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives
NISH
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Research Institute for Independent Living
The American Network of Community Options and Resources
The Arc of the United States
Title II Community AIDS National Network
United Cerebral Palsy
United Spinal Association
World Institute on Disability