Are Social Security Disability Case Quotas for Judges Reasonable?
A government watchdog report is asking an important question – Does the Social Security Administration’s expectation that judges resolve a minimum number of cases every year place an unfair burden on the administrative law judges who oversee disability hearings?
A report by the United States Government Accountability Office titled Process Needed to Review Productivity Expectations for Administrative Law Judges is asking whether these expectations are reasonable or construe an excessive burden on judges.
The massive backlog in the resolution of Social Security disability cases has long been a problem that has plagued the Social Security Administration. In some cases, applicants who have a claim initially rejected may have to wait more than a year to get their case before an administrative law judge. In 2007, the Social Security Administration decided to tackle the backlog problem head on by stating that judges would be required to resolve a minimum number of cases annually. The agency stated that it expected judges to deliver between 500 to 700 opinions annually.