Prototype Model Ending in Pennsylvania
Posted April 19, 2019 by Premier Disability Services, LLC®The process of applying for federal disability assistance will change this week in Pennsylvania — and for many applicants, it will become longer and more complicated. Anyone applying for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits, Supplemental Security Income, or both, will face an additional step in what already can be a lengthy process. The change is being criticized by disability advocates, attorneys and members of Congress.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., last week called the change “an attack on individuals with disabilities,” and said the extra step will make “obtaining disability benefits more complicated and more frustrating for Pennsylvanians.”
Currently, anyone applying for disability assistance whose initial application is denied can request a hearing before an administrative law judge. The average wait from a hearing request until disposition of a claim is 524 days, roughly 17 months. Starting April 20, 2019, an applicant denied at this first stage must instead file an appeal in a process called reconsideration. If they are turned down a second time, then they can request a hearing.
Pennsylvania is one of 10 states that has not had reconsideration since 1999. The reconsideration process is being reinstated so that there is a uniform process for disability claimants across the country, said Daniel O’Connor, a regional spokesman for the Social Security Administration. Mr. O’Connor said this will also lead to earlier decisions for some applicants.
Nationally, about 13 percent of applicants are approved at the reconsideration stage, but for those who aren’t approved, it adds an average of 101 days to the process. It will also halt the process for some altogether, advocates say.
“Many claimants and representatives view reconsideration as a meaningless step, a rubber stamp, of the decision of the original denial,” advocate Lisa Ekman testified last year before a Congressional subcommittee on Social Security. “This procedural hurdle can cause many claimants to abandon their appeals despite the fact that they meet the statutory definition of disability,” testified Ms. Ekman, now director of government affairs for the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives.
Existing applications are impacted by the change and are not grandfathered in to the prior process.
The change “will be very confusing and time consuming for people with disabilities,” said U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, speaking at a press conference Wednesday at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. He encouraged Pennsylvanians impacted by the change to contact their members of Congress. “We will be very vigilant in following up on this particular issue,” he said.
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By: Joyce Trudeau of Premier Disablity Services, LLC®
