Disability Reform – It’s the System, Not the Individual

As a judge who has handled Social Security disability cases for 16 years, I do not believe that there is as much fraud as the press and the public believe

[Editor – President Obama’s discussion of disability reform usually becomes reduced to a discussion of fraud. This five part series from the New York Times, looks at the issues from the viewpoint of experts.]

It’s the System, Not the Individual

By Judge Morley White – As a judge who has handled Social Security disability cases for 16 years, I do not believe that there is as much fraud as the press and the public believe when it comes to the individuals who are making the claims for supplemental security benefits.

That does not imply that is no fraud. I generally believe in the sincerity of what they say. They are poor and the benefits they receive are now only $674 a month for an eligible individual.

What are these people supposed to do in this economy with the limitations they say they have?

There is too much emphasis on reputed individual fraud and not enough on how the system itself can be reformed.

A number of my fellow judges share my views. Right now, the judge wears three hats: one hat is to represent the claimant, the other is to represent the government, and the third is to represent the Social Security trust fund.

I have advocated for a long time that the government needs to have its own representative in these hearings. I do not advocate making the hearings adversarial, but that government attorneys act as an ombudsman, charged with the duty of getting the pertinent facts.

Right now, it is the obligation of the judge, through this staff, to compile a full file. As judges we are responsible for making sure that the record is fully developed. The staff has to assist claimants, even though the claimants may have attorneys, and get all of the appropriate evidence before us. The staff must call hospitals and doctors to request the appropriate evidence.

Morley White is an administrative law judge in Cleveland for the Social Security Administration. The views here are his own and in no way are they expressions of the Social Security Administration.