[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 115 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    THE INTRODUCTION OF THE TIMELY DUE PROCESS FOR THE DISABLED ACT

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                           HON. KATHY CASTOR

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 14, 2008

  Ms. CASTOR. Madam Speaker, today I rise to begin to address an 
overwhelming problem currently faced by far too many of our most 
vulnerable neighbors by introducing the Timely Due Process for the 
Disabled Act.
  Every year, thousands of Americans lose the ability to work due to 
illness or injury. But as paychecks stop coming in, bills do not. For 
many of these people, the only thing that can prevent them from having 
to share their time between medical treatment and phone calls from 
collection agencies and attempts to avoid foreclosure is Social 
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
  But, today, the system of enrolling in SSDI is broken. The average 
wait for an Administrative Law Judge hearing to contest a faulty 
disability determination has climbed in the past 8 years from an 
already outrageous 275 days to 481 days, with 28% of claims taking over 
600 days to receive a hearing. This figure does not even include the 
initial determination, and reconsideration phases, which together push 
the average wait time for an Appeals Hearing case to well over 2 years.
  One of my constituents called my office in Tampa, frantic that his 
home was in foreclosure proceedings, and though he knew he was eligible 
for Disability, he simply had not been given a hearing. Facing the 
prospect of homelessness with a young daughter, he still was not able 
to break through the crushing bureaucracy that has taken over the 
Disability appeals process.
  One woman I worked with had had multiple surgeries due to 
debilitating problems with her spine. She was in excruciating pain, and 
was completely unable to work, but was denied disability payments. The 
Social Security Administration eventually conceded that she was, in 
fact, eligible for disability payments. But before that happened, she 
had to endure three long years of financial uncertainty, near 
bankruptcy, and the near repossession of her home.
  Another constituent of mine was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. 
She started to have balance problems. At one point she lost her balance 
and was injured in a bad fall. Still, she was denied disability. Her 
husband had to come out of retirement to take a part-time job in order 
to avoid financial ruin while they waited, and waited, and waited for 
their appeals hearing. Finally, the Social Security Administration came 
back and said that yes, she should have been receiving payments for 
years.
  A system that leaves our neighbors in limbo while their financial 
problems continue to mount is not a system that is working. The Timely 
Due Process for the Disabled Act will begin to move us in the right 
direction by setting a standard of treatment for disability patients. 
It instructs the Social Security Administration to, within 5 days of 
receiving an appeal, set a date for a hearing. After a 60-day time 
period for claimants to prepare and gather evidence, the hearing must 
be held within 15 days. A final determination will be required in 
another 15 days. These benchmarks are ambitious, but they are not out 
of line with timeliness requirements in other agencies.
  The Timely Due Process for the Disabled Act will also allow a more 
complete picture of the magnitude of the problems inherent in the 
system. It requires local offices to share more data about the first 
phase of the appeals process, the reconsideration phase. While SSA 
already reports data about the initial claims phase, the Administrative 
Law Judge hearing phase, and the appeals council, which is the last 
level of appeals, there is far less data available about the 
reconsideration phase that takes place at the State disability offices. 
This is the first level of appeal, and in many cases, is a formality 
where the same office that denied the claim looks at the same material 
again, eating up an additional average of about 2 months time. This 
bill will give a clearer idea of how long these reconsiderations are 
taking, and how we can speed them up.
  Ultimately, the way we treat people with disabilities reflects the 
values we have as a nation. Over the past 8 years, that treatment has 
gone from bad to worse, leaving thousands of Americans who need help to 
struggle on without it. I urge my colleagues to support the Timely Due 
Process for the Disabled Act and begin to place a priority on doing 
right by our neighbors who need us the most.

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