• 22
  • December
    2011

The backlog of applications led senior managers at the Baltimore Social Security Administration (SSA) to have a serious meeting with the agency's physicians. According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, the doctors were told they would be paid $80 per case instead of $90 an hour.

Considering that a review of a Social Security disability case often takes 60 to 90 minutes, the message essentially was that the doctors needed to work faster. It was also determined that doctors could work outside of their areas of expertise, thus eye doctors could be assigned back pain cases, and so forth. Physicians uncomfortable with evaluating cases in certain specialties were given the option of taking brief refresher seminars. For example, physicians unfamiliar with blood diseases could go to an hour long class.

In the months that followed, 45 of the 140 doctors at the agency either resigned or were fired. One doctor from the Baltimore office explained his frustration, "People who shouldn't be getting [disability] are getting it and people who should be getting it aren't getting it." He was not alone in his opinion, many former officials and physicians felt the quality of disability determinations was being threatened by the changes.

An SSA spokesperson would not comment to the Wall Street Journal directly, but said the changes were aimed at "providing the agency with a more accurate and cost-effective business process."

The pressure of the case backlog on the agency only seems to be growing. The backlog of appeals was at 771,318 this past September, compared to 705,367 in 2010 and up from 392,397 in 2001.

Considering that the Baltimore office is considered a flagship agency, it is possible these changes may become more widespread practices across the country. Although it is promising that the SSA wants to take steps to address the backlog, the measures taken may give rise to new issues concerning the quality of decisions.

Source: Wall Street Journal, Doctor Revolt Shakes Disability Program, Damian Paletta, 21 November 2011