SSA
disability determination changes threaten jobs of members
One of the potential threats to PEF members and other New Yorkers coming out of
Washington is a major overhaul of the process for deciding who is eligible to
receive Social Security income for the disabled.
August 1, the Social Security Administration (SSA) plans to begin phasing in a
new disability determinations process on a region-by-region basis, beginning
with the Boston Region (New England states) this summer.
New York may begin in 2009.
PEF believes these changes could create longer delays, slow the determination
process, add a federal layer to the state process and cost its members’ jobs at
the state Office of Disability Determinations through federalization or
privatization.
PEF is concerned with certain elements of the new process for adjudicating
initial disability claims. These elements include:
• A 20-day “quick” disability determination (QDD) process for obvious
disabilities and a QDD unit to handle them;
• Origination of claims anywhere in the U.S. through a Virtual Disability
Quality Branch and an electronic disability system (now being piloted in
Albany);
• Development of a “predictive model” to screen potential QDD cases;
• Lack of a single decision maker;
• New qualification standards for medical experts; and
• A new Medical-Vocational Expert System and a Medical-Vocational Expert Unit.
PEF is reviewing its options for how best to head off the risks associated with
these regulatory changes. — Sherry Halbrook
The Communicator May 2007
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