A bipartisan panel of lawmakers demanded answers from Social Security for why the agency continues to face major backlogs and service failures.
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.
“What’s clear here is that Social Security has a severe customer service problem,” said Rep. Brian Higgins . “It’s not only inefficient, it’s awful, it’s inhumane. We have to explain to people who call our office ... and with a straight face tell them, by the way, you’re going to be denied, that’s a complete waste of time that begins another lengthy process” of appeals.
Pascrell said he was particularly galled by a policy affecting veterans that allows Social Security to refuse to be bound by a 2017 court ruling giving substantial weight to Veterans Affairs disability ratings. “The agency has been aware of this problem for 20 years,” said Mark Warshawsky, deputy commissioner for retirement and disability policy during the Trump administration, who testified Thursday. Warshawsky said it’s unclear why the agency isn’t using the more modern list of jobs. “The data is in. It’s been validated, it’s been published. It’s a mystery to me why it hasn’t been used.”
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