A quandary Congress and Social Security must tackle

Whoever assumes control of the Social Security Administration under President Trump will have a big job. The next commissioner will have many challenges, foremost of which is ensuring the financial stability and service levels of the entire Social Security system. But that’s not all.

Another, lesser known crisis is brewing within Social Security. This one involves the disability program that is supposed to help millions of Americans but is actually ruining lives. Applicants to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program are unable to work because of illness or injury. They already paid for the insurance through their payroll or FICA tax contributions when they were still working. Yet many of these same individuals are routinely forced to wait years to learn if they will get the benefits at all.


The Social Security Administration says reducing this backlog to acceptable levels will take five years, until 2022, extending a nightmarish situation. This is unacceptable.
One cause of this tragedy is lack of permanent leadership at the top of the Social Security Administration, a problem that only the president and Congress can solve. The agency hasn’t had a Senate-confirmed leader since 2013 when the term of Michael J. Astrue ended. Many other top executives there are also “acting” rather than confirmed.

Without a firm, steady strategic vision, the program’s problems have been allowed to fester. For example, for an initial claim, applicants must wait an average of 110 days. More than two thirds of those claims must be reconsidered and that additional wait time is up to an average of 103 days. After that phase, in which only 12 percent of applicants are granted benefits, the wait time balloons to an unbelievable average of 583 days. This is expected to increase to 605 days by the end of September.

Read more at The Hill