Indiana Social Security Disability Attorney

As noted yesterday, with the recently released statement of Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, commending the President’s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request, SSA posted a link to a document that spoke about the priorities of SSA and the proposed budget. Here are some more statements of interest:

“SSA is responsible for the Nation’s two primary Federal disability programs: Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income. Over the last 5 years, our disability workloads have grown significantly, and this trend will accelerate as baby boomers reach their most disability-prone years. We cannot lose sight of the fact that this longer-term increase in disability claims is coming, regardless of when the American economy begins to recover.

The time is now, despite the challenges of the economic downturn and the hearings backlog, to modernize the disability process to avoid future backlogs and provide applicants with speedy decisions. Technological improvements alone cannot remedy the issues in the disability process. We must revise the policy and medical guidance at the core of the program to align with medical technology and knowledge. A modernized disability process will help us to better serve the public and fulfill our obligation to provide a fair process to the American people. The following initiatives form the core of our disability modernization program in FY 2010:

Improve Occupational Information for Making Disability Determinations and Decisions

SSA is working on the development of a new occupational information system that will replace the out-of-date Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) used in SSA’s disability determination process. The DOT was originally created by the Department of Labor (DOL) and has become a cornerstone of our disability policy. We rely on the descriptions of work in the DOT to determine whether individuals can do their usual work or any other work in the U.S. economy. However, DOL has not updated the DOT since 1991 and has no plans to do so. DOL’s replacement for the DOT, O*NET, does not serve SSA’s purposes. It is critical that we base disability determinations on current job information.

SSA awarded contracts in 2008 for the use and evaluation of updated occupational information. In December 2008, Commissioner Astrue established the Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel to provide advice and recommendations on plans to replace the DOT. The panel advises SSA on the creation of an occupational information system for disability programs and adjudicative needs. Specifically, the panel will advise on medical and vocational analysis, occupational analysis, data collection, use of occupational information, and other areas. The panel had its first meeting in February 2009 and has three more meetings scheduled this year.

SSA will continue its efforts to replace the DOT in FY 2010, when the agency will begin identifying the physical and mental abilities and skill levels that occupations require, developing the means of gathering occupational information, and researching assessment of residual functional capacity.

Update Medical Listings

SSA uses the Listings of Impairments to describe impairments considered severe enough to prevent an individual from working and earning above a defined level. The listings are a critical factor in our disability determination process; however, we have not updated some listings in decades. We are working to expand the listings to include rare disease and permanently disabling conditions. We are also working to update all of our existing listings by the end of FY 2010. We have also developed a long-term schedule to ensure that in the future we update all listings, as needed, but at least every 5-7 years. Updated listings allow disability examiners and SSA adjudicators to identify eligible applicants early in the disability determination process and result in improved disability decisions.”

All of this sounds good in the abstract. However, ONET was going to replace the DOT for disability hearings until it was determined it would not actually work in a disability hearing. Listings have been updated and some old listings have been completely removed because the listing was supposed to be covered by the new listing; however, the ALJ’s and Medical Experts do not always understand this. SAA has rolled out other plans that were supposed to help but only made things worse. Time will tell if these “improvements” actually improve things in the real world.