Social Security Administration More Effort Needed to Assess Consistency of Disability Decisions

Each year, about 2.5 mill. people file claims with the Social Sec. Admin. (SSA) for disabil. ben. If the claim is denied at the initial level, the claimant may appeal to the hearings level. The hearings level has allowed more than half of all appealed claims, an allow. rate that has raised concerns about the consistency of decisions made at the 2 levels. To help ensure consistency, SSA began a process unificationÓ (PU) initiative in 1994 & recently ann'd. a new proposal to strengthen its disabil. programs. This report examines: the status of SSA's PU initiative; SSA's assessments of possible inconsistencies in decisions between adjudication levels; & whether SSA's new proposal incorporates changes to improve consistency in decisions between adjud. levels. Tables.Robertson, Robert E. is the author of 'Social Security Administration More Effort Needed to Assess Consistency of Disability Decisions', published 2004 under ISBN 9780756744687 and ISBN 0756744687.