The waiting lines for
social security disability benefits are about to get shorter. The
Commissioner of Social Security announced last month that Social
Security will extend the quick disability determination (QDD) process
to all states. Under QDD, a computer analyzes certain parts of
all new claims to identify those where there is a high potential
that the claimant is disabled and where evidence of the person’s allegations can be quickly
and easily obtained. “In essence what QDD does is look at the condition
of the individual application,” said Mark Lassiter, Press Officer of Social
Security. “The QDD takes certain factors into account, and if the application
matches our requirements, then this person is immediately approved for benefits.
This is not temporary, but permanent approval.”
“The quick disability determination has been very successful
and efficient so far in New England,” said Commissioner Michael
J. Astrue, “and I am happy to say it will help people filing
for disability benefits anywhere in the United States. This is a
very important step we are taking at Social Security to improve our
disability programs. I also am proud of our improvements with pending
disability cases that have reached 1,000 days waiting for an appeal
hearing. We have aggressively worked on these cases and now have
fewer than 600 pending, down from more than 63,000 cases in October
of last year.”
Social Security currently receives more than 2.5 million new Social
Security disability cases and more than 2.3 million Supplemental Security
Income cases each year. In New England, where QDD began on a test basis,
cases constituted slightly less than three percent (3%) of all new
cases. Of those, 97 percent of the cases identified have been decided
within 21 days and the average decision time is 11 days. Since the
model does not yet incorporate as many diseases as it can, Commissioner
Astrue has committed to expanding the number of cases that can be identified
while maintaining the same level of accuracy.
“The length of time many people wait for a disability decision
is unacceptable,” Commissioner Astrue said. “I am committed
to a process that is as fair and speedy as possible. While there is
no single magic bullet, with better systems, better business processes
and better ways of fast-tracking targeted cases, we can greatly improve
the service we provide this vulnerable population.”
The final regulation is effective as of Sept. 5, 2007, and will be
gradually implemented over the next several months. For more information
about Social Security’s disability programs, go to www.socialsecurity.gov ![]()
Source:
Social Security Administration
