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 2007-04-05 monographic deposited born digital 52 p. GA 1.13:GAO-07-331 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-331 P0b002ee1803781bf f:d07331 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-331 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-331 GAO-07-331 Appeals Appellate courts Claims processing Data collection Data integrity Disability insurance Eligibility determinations Federal courts Federal social security programs National policies Persons with disabilities Program evaluation Social security beneficiaries Social security benefits Policies and procedures SSA Disability Insurance Program SSA Supplemental Security Income Program Other Written Product A67844 The Social Security Administration's (SSA) Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs provided around $128 billion to about 12.8 million persons with disabilities and their families in fiscal year 2005. Claimants who are denied benefits by SSA may appeal to federal courts. Through current initiatives, SSA is attempting to reduce the number of cases appealed to courts and remanded back to SSA for further review. In addition, there have been long-standing concerns about how SSA responds to court decisions that conflict with its policies. GAO was asked to examine: (1) trends over the past decade in the number of appeals reviewed by the courts and their decisions, (2) reasons for court remands and factors contributing to them, and (3) SSA's process for responding to court decisions that conflict with agency policy. GAO reviewed SSA data and documents on court decisions, remands and SSA's processes and interviewed agency officials and stakeholders on data trends, reasons for remands, and SSA processes. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-331/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-331.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-331/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-331.pdf GAO-07-331 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-331 Other Written Product GAO-07-331; Disability Programs: SSA Has Taken Steps to Address Conflicting Court Decisions, but Needs to Manage Data Better on the Increasing Number of Court Remands; Appeals Appellate courts Claims processing Data collection Data integrity Disability insurance Eligibility determinations Federal courts Federal social security programs National policies Persons with disabilities Program evaluation Social security beneficiaries Social security benefits Policies and procedures SSA Disability Insurance Program SSA Supplemental Security Income Program Title 20 Part 404.985 20 CFR Part 404.985