Social Security: Selective Face-to-Face Interviews With Disability Claimants Could Reduce Appeals: HRD-89-22

In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on certain aspects of the Social Security Administration's (SSA) appeals process, including: (1) the reasons for administrative law judges' (ALJ) high reversal rates for state disability determination services' (DDS) decisions; and (2) suggestions for improving the SSA appeal process.
GAO reviewed state DDS decisions for 1986, and found that: (1) ALJ reversed over 60 percent of DDS denials of benefits; (2) ALJ questioned benefit claimants extensively during hearings and determined that their functional capacity was more limited than DDS had determined; (3) most claimants appealed DDS decisions, and were often represented by attorneys on a contingency-fee basis; (4) ALJ generally requested medical advisers' and vocational experts' opinions and often sent claimants to independent physicians for medical examination; (5) ALJ usually reversed DDS determinations in cases involving older claimants; and (6) ALJ less frequently reversed determinations in cases where state DDS conducted personal interviews with claimants at the reconsideration stage of the appeal procedure.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1287192653
• ISBN13: 9781287192657
• Release Date: May 2013
• Publisher: Bibliogov
• Length: 38 Pages
• Weight: 0.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 7.4" x 9.7"