The Washington Post: Lawmakers Grill Social Security Leader over Disability System’s Failures

In her latest piece for The Washington Post, Lisa Rein provides a breakdown of a recent hearing by the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security. The hearing featured NOSSCR Interim CEO David Camp, who discussed ways to improve the Social Security disability claims process.

Lawmakers in both parties Thursday pressed a top Social Security Administration official to defend what they described as widespread failures in the disability benefits system, from chronic claims backlogs to growing customer service phone delays.

Instead of recovering from pandemic closures and slowdowns, Social Security’s drawn-out claims system has treaded water for close to two years, experts told the congressional panel. More than 1 million Americans are still waiting for initial decisions on benefits that now take an average of 220 days, agency data shows — almost double the processing time in 2019 and far above the 60 days Social Security itself defines as its minimum level of performance.

“The consequences are devastating,” said Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), chairman of the Social Security panel of the House Committee on Ways and Means, which held Thursday’s 2 1/2-hour hearing.

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