GAO Follows SSA's Efforts to End Hearings Delays

In a report released this month by the US Government Accountability Office, the Social Security Administration is still plugging along in its efforts to speed up the approval process of SSD claims. Following a plan that started in 2007, the GAO reviewed the May update and noted that the SSA must continue to move forward to reduce the backlog by 2013. Much of the effort centers on Administrative Law Judges, focusing on the hiring of judges, their availability to hear cases and their productivity. According to the GAO, claims are now at 446,000 and the SSA needs to set up performance goals and measures in order to be productive.

This article was written by Todd P. Oxner