State cuts delaying many SSI disability benefits

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top Social Security official says benefits for tens of thousands of people with severe disabilities are being delayed by furloughs and layoffs of state employees around the country.

The official, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of Social Security, said Sunday that “governors are hurting their own states, their own citizens, and increasing the backlog of claims” by furloughing workers who make disability decisions.

“The states’ response is completely illogical,” Mr. Astrue said.

State officials have announced furloughs, layoffs and hiring freezes to help balance budgets battered by the recession.

Claims are evaluated by state employees, but the federal government reimburses states for the salaries of those employees and pays the full cost of benefits for people found to be disabled.

“We pay the full freight,” Mr. Astrue said. “States do not save any money when they furlough or lay off these employees. They only delay payments to disabled citizens who rely on the monthly benefits.”

The cutbacks come as disability claims are rising because of high unemployment, the weak economy and the aging of the baby boom generation.

The Social Security Administration expects nearly 3 million new disability claims this year, up from 2.6 million in 2008. Each month the agency pays $12 billion in disability benefits to more than 13 million people.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a Republican, cited “an unprecedented fiscal crisis” in ordering state employees to take off two days a month without pay
through June 2010.

Dr. C. Richard Dann, a California state employee who reviews claims for benefits, said, “Claimants are not getting the service they are supposed to get.”

Dr. Dann said he had to take off every other Friday. “I can review about 20 disability cases a day, and I am off two days a month,” he said. “So I do 40 fewer cases a month.”

Aaron B. McLear, a spokesman for Mr. Schwarzenegger, said: “The governor has not made exemptions to the furlough order because he believes that the state government needs to cut back, just as every California family and business is doing. We hope the furloughs have a minimal effect on state services, but understand that services very well may suffer.”

Mr. Astrue has expressed “grave concern” over such personnel actions in letters to governors, including Jon Corzine of New Jersey and David A. Paterson of New York, both Democrats, and Mr. Schwarzenegger.

In a letter to New York employees last week, Mr. Paterson said he intended to lay off 8,700 state workers by July 1.

Peter E. Kauffmann, a spokesman for Mr. Paterson, said, “The governor is aware of the concerns raised by the Social Security Administration and will act carefully.”

The Social Security system is so clogged with disputed disability claims that some people wait years for hearings. The stimulus bill signed by President Obama in February provided $500 million to “reduce the backlog of disability claims.”

But the impact of such spending could be offset by state cutbacks. In a report last month, Patrick P. O’Carroll Jr., the inspector general of the Social Security Administration, said that at least five states accounting for 15 percent of all disability cases — California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and Oregon — had decided to furlough some disability workers, freeze hiring or impose other restrictions. Social Security officials said about 10 other states were taking or considering similar actions.

The agency said it was looking for ways to avoid the delays. The federal government could, for example, take over work performed by the states, but such a change could probably not be made without action by Congress.