United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2004-07-02 monographic deposited born digital 58 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-656 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-656 P0b002ee18037fa0b f:d04656 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-656 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-656 GAO-04-656 Claims adjudicators Claims processing Claims settlement Decision making Disability benefits Disability insurance Eligibility determinations Federal social security programs Quality control Social security benefits Internal controls Appeals Other Written Product A10714 Each year, about 2.5 million people file claims with the Social Security Administration (SSA) for disability benefits. If the claim is denied at the initial level, the claimant may appeal to the hearings level. The hearings level has allowed more than half of all appealed claims, an allowance rate that has raised concerns about the consistency of decisions made at the two levels. To help ensure consistency, SSA began a "process unification" initiative in 1994 and recently announced a new proposal to strengthen its disability programs. This report examines (1) the status of SSA's process unification initiative, (2) SSA's assessments of possible inconsistencies in decisions between adjudication levels, and (3) whether SSA's new proposal incorporates changes to improve consistency in decisions between adjudication levels. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-656/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-656.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-656/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-656.pdf GAO-04-656 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-656 Other Written Product GAO-04-656; Social Security Administration: More Effort Needed to Assess Consistency of Disability Decisions; Claims adjudicators Claims processing Claims settlement Decision making Disability benefits Disability insurance Eligibility determinations Federal social security programs Quality control Social security benefits Internal controls Appeals Public Law 96-265