2020 Annual Report of the SSI Program

C. Historical Allowance Data

At the end of 2019, 86 percent of federally administered Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients were receiving benefits based on disability or blindness. Individuals file claims at a local Social Security office, and we send claims requiring an evaluation of disability to the State disability determination services (DDS) for a disability decision.¹ Applicants may appeal unfavorable initial DDS decisions. Historically, the State DDS conducted the first level of appeal — the reconsideration appeal step. Claimants denied at the reconsideration level could then request a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ) and if dissatisfied with the hearing decision could request a review by the Appeals Council. Those dissatisfied with the Appeals Council’s action could seek further relief through the Federal court system. This appeals process is still in effect for the majority of new applicants.² However, since the mid-1990s the Social Security Administration (SSA) has conducted small pilots testing revisions to this process and introduced a modification of this process that 10 States use for applications filed on or after October 1, 1999. The revised process eliminates the reconsideration step, so the first level of appeal of an initial determination is a request for hearing before an ALJ.³

This process of application and appeal can span several years. However, before 1993, the only data available on the disability determination process resided in files compiled at each separate stage of the process and only captured various point-in-time snapshots. Only a longitudinal database of administrative records at all stages of appeal can provide a complete picture of the disability determination process. Beginning in 1993, SSA’s Office of Disability Programs constructed such a longitudinal database, the “Disability Research File,” to assist our agency in understanding and managing this process. However, we did encounter some problems in the construction of this database due to inconsistencies in the data collected from all the respective levels of appeal. The following sections present some additional details and qualifications essential to a complete understanding of the resulting data. Following these technical notes, tables V.C1 and V.C2 present the latest available summary of results on disability determinations under Title XVI.

1. Technical Notes on the Disability Research File

Methods used to build the Title XVI Disability Research File — The “base” file for the Title XVI research file is the Supplemental Security Record, the main computerized file for administering the SSI program. We match the “base” file against records from various other administrative sources, including transactions from the disability determination (SSA-831) files, Structured Data Repository (SDR), Social Security number identification records and earnings data, and hearing and Appeals Council level data.

Creating the Disability Research File is a cumbersome process; it involves about 200 steps and generally requires 2 to 4 months to complete. The process is complex because we assemble the file based on filing date cohorts, and many of the source files do not contain a filing date. The basic data sources provide information for the 3 most recent calendar year cohorts. Older calendar year cohorts reflect updated activity since the last time we built the file. Since the process is so time consuming, we update the research file only annually (usually beginning in July); research file data are not yet available for claims filed in 2019.

Methods used for estimating results (through January 2020) for claims filed in 2019 — Although decision counts are available for 2019 filers from many of the source files, those counts do not translate directly into the claims/appeals counts in the following tables because we consolidate multiple transactions and apply claims-based tolerance rules when we build the research file.

To prepare preliminary estimates of results through January 2020 for 2019 filers, we started from the latest available transaction data, such as the SSA-831 data, and took into account recent years’ experience of the relationship between corresponding earlier transaction data and the resulting claims/appeals data in completed research files. We estimate hearing and Appeals Council appeals activity from a file that tracks individual claimants, rather than individual claims, which has resulted in a slight undercount of hearing and Appeals Council individual claims. Recent revocation of the agency’s subsequent application (i.e., an application filed while an earlier claim is pending at a review level) policy should largely eliminate the disparity between the number of claims and claimants.

While we believe that these methods are reasonable, we emphasize that the resulting estimates may not be completely reliable, especially because the estimates give results only through January 2020, whereas the final research files will reflect information through at least June 2020. Actual data for 2019 will replace these estimates in the 2021 Annual Report.

2. General Considerations

Some general points that apply to tables V.C1 and V.C2 are as follows:

•	Data for 1988-2018 filers are as of June 2019 for decisions at the DDS level. Results for those years’ filers include results at the hearing and Appeals Council levels and Federal courts through July 2019.

•

Data for 2019 filers are preliminary estimates as of January 2020, and reflect larger numbers of claims still pending. January 2020 data on number of appeals may be too low because larger numbers of claimants are still within the period allowed for filing an appeal (i.e., larger numbers of recently denied claimants who have not yet filed an appeal may appeal before the time limit runs out).

•	Remaining appeals will affect the results. Since we usually decide allowances more quickly than denials, we expect that the percent allowed will ultimately be lower when the processing of all cases is complete.

•

In certain pilot activities and under the revised process introduced October 1, 1999 in 10 States, individuals can appeal initial denials directly to the hearing level without a separate reconsideration step. As a result, the appeals of initial denials in these tables include cases that will not receive a decision at the reconsideration level.4

•	The tables do not show the cases appealed to the Office of the Federal Reviewing Official level under the DSI process separately, but we included these cases in the reconsideration counts.

•

In reports issued in 2010 and earlier, we counted allowances at the highest adjudicative level a filer reached. Beginning with data in the 2011 Annual Report for claims filed after 1999, we now count allowances at the earliest adjudicative level of allowance. For claims filed prior to 2000, we continue to count allowances at the highest adjudicative level reached.

 

 

Table V.C1.—Disabled Adult Claims: Disposition of Applications for SSI
Disability Benefits by Year of Filing^a and Level of Decision^b  

Calendar year of filing		Total claims filed	Initial decisions
			Pending	Allowances		Denials		Appeals of initial denials
				Number	Percent c	Number	Percent c	Number d	Percent e
1988		946,603	—	272,204	28.8	674,399	71.2	265,151	39.3
1989		969,218	—	292,044	30.1	677,174	69.9	274,823	40.6
1990		1,099,805	—	347,823	31.6	751,982	68.4	320,207	42.6
1991		1,288,331	—	415,336	32.2	872,995	67.8	383,669	43.9
1992		1,415,624	—	436,888	30.9	978,736	69.1	433,244	44.3
1993		1,503,278	—	416,300	27.7	1,086,978	72.3	485,166	44.6
1994		1,436,958	—	353,995	24.6	1,082,963	75.4	482,533	44.6
1995		1,318,416	—	323,084	24.5	995,332	75.5	439,166	44.1
1996		1,247,926	—	305,351	24.5	942,575	75.5	406,425	43.1
1997		1,110,898	—	292,839	26.4	818,059	73.6	357,973	43.8
1998		1,108,957	—	322,734	29.1	786,223	70.9	339,288	43.2
1999		1,105,109	—	326,734	29.6	778,375	70.4	340,114	43.7
2000		1,139,623	—	347,024	30.5	792,599	69.5	338,664	42.7
2001		1,216,040	—	368,981	30.3	847,059	69.7	360,793	42.6
2002		1,322,451	—	374,373	28.3	948,078	71.7	405,333	42.8
2003		1,403,003	—	382,013	27.2	1,020,990	72.8	431,548	42.3
2004		1,475,149	—	387,857	26.3	1,087,292	73.7	434,291	39.9
2005		1,470,300	—	373,582	25.4	1,096,718	74.6	420,445	38.3
2006		1,499,551	—	367,973	24.5	1,131,578	75.5	428,193	37.8
2007		1,506,654	—	376,632	25.0	1,130,022	75.0	436,462	38.6
2008		1,602,444	—	418,258	26.1	1,184,186	73.9	486,770	41.1
2009		1,831,721	—	465,276	25.4	1,366,445	74.6	571,418	41.8
2010		1,881,418	—	450,337	23.9	1,431,081	76.1	611,099	42.7
2011		1,842,499	—	425,626	23.1	1,416,873	76.9	626,100	44.2
2012		1,794,616	—	414,620	23.1	1,379,996	76.9	616,106	44.6
2013		1,633,124	—	382,749	23.4	1,250,375	76.6	574,503	45.9
2014		1,496,914	—	355,295	23.7	1,141,619	76.3	522,449	45.8
2015		1,411,989	—	334,641	23.7	1,077,348	76.3	462,663	42.9
2016		1,324,374	—	322,520	24.4	1,001,854	75.6	424,933	42.4
2017		1,267,508	—	307,867	24.3	959,641	75.7	386,582	40.3
2018		1,196,776	29,947	283,282	24.3	883,547	75.7	338,763	38.3
2019		1,239,537	280,639	305,883	31.9	653,015	68.1	204,785	31.4
Calendar year of filing	Reconsiderationsf						Appeals beyond reconsideration g
	Pending	Allowances		Denials	Appeals of  reconsideration denials			Allowances
		Number	Percent c		Number h	Percent e	Pending i	Number	Percent j	Denials k
1988	—	38,385	14.5	226,766	140,663	62.0	—	82,414	58.6	58,249
1989	—	43,505	15.8	231,318	146,082	63.2	—	90,169	61.7	55,913
1990	—	52,055	16.3	268,152	175,520	65.5	—	109,098	62.2	66,422
1991	—	59,157	15.4	324,512	221,816	68.4	—	139,698	63.0	82,118
1992	—	58,819	13.6	374,425	260,554	69.6	—	159,084	61.1	101,470
1993	—	57,938	11.9	427,228	294,801	69.0	—	170,402	57.8	124,399
1994	—	55,822	11.6	426,711	293,448	68.8	—	164,537	56.1	128,911
1995	—	51,697	11.8	387,469	264,270	68.2	—	143,582	54.3	120,688
1996	—	49,263	12.1	357,162	242,407	67.9	—	133,323	55.0	109,084
1997	—	47,573	13.4	306,561	213,969	69.8	—	121,619	55.8	96,189
1998	—	46,507	13.7	292,272	203,767	69.7	—	115,323	56.5	88,953
1999	—	40,375	12.5	283,475	199,371	70.3	—	117,431	54.5	98,204
2000	—	37,768	13.4	243,790	173,465	71.2	—	122,829	53.3	107,742
2001	—	37,388	13.2	246,613	174,286	70.7	—	133,018	53.0	118,060
2002	—	38,617	12.2	277,567	195,633	70.5	—	150,228	52.8	134,554
2003	—	39,086	11.5	300,283	210,228	70.0	—	159,464	52.7	142,943
2004	—	37,197	10.9	302,649	211,583	69.9	—	163,800	53.5	142,228
2005	—	34,753	10.6	293,829	205,752	70.0	—	163,212	54.8	134,403
2006	—	34,145	10.3	298,918	210,427	70.4	—	169,878	55.6	135,679
2007	—	35,893	10.6	304,060	214,678	70.6	—	170,932	54.9	140,255
2008	—	40,868	10.7	341,794	244,060	71.4	—	186,883	53.7	161,285
2009	—	43,507	9.7	406,284	293,512	72.2	—	205,087	49.4	210,052
2010	—	41,231	8.5	441,260	326,451	74.0	—	204,095	44.9	250,964
2011	—	42,102	8.5	451,375	338,103	74.9	—	195,535	41.5	275,191
2012	—	40,786	8.4	444,905	336,984	75.7	4,476	179,662	38.8	283,261
2013	—	37,169	8.2	415,114	320,876	77.3	5,299	164,116	37.5	273,681
2014	—	35,411	8.6	376,297	286,372	76.1	7,065	146,979	37.7	243,069
2015	—	34,105	9.4	330,081	245,199	74.3	14,774	122,507	37.2	206,395
2016	—	31,832	9.4	306,119	226,784	74.1	48,610	100,892	38.1	164,264
2017	—	28,866	9.2	283,721	207,979	73.3	135,136	54,943	37.4	91,895
2018	44,670	20,994	8.8	216,728	145,127	67.0	181,611	6,146	30.9	13,741
2019	66,978	13,312	11.4	103,062	54,659	53.0	73,692	738	30.8	1,662
Calendar year of filing			Selected summary case information by decision status: Numbers of cases
			Total claims filed	Initial decisions pending	Total initial decisions	Allowances	Denials
							Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending
1988			946,603	—	946,603	393,003	—	553,600
1989			969,218	—	969,218	425,718	—	543,500
1990			1,099,805	—	1,099,805	508,976	—	590,829
1991			1,288,331	—	1,288,331	614,191	—	674,140
1992			1,415,624	—	1,415,624	654,791	—	760,833
1993			1,503,278	—	1,503,278	644,640	—	858,638
1994			1,436,958	—	1,436,958	574,354	—	862,604
1995			1,318,416	—	1,318,416	518,363	—	800,053
1996			1,247,926	—	1,247,926	487,937	—	759,989
1997			1,110,898	—	1,110,898	462,031	—	648,867
1998			1,108,957	—	1,108,957	484,564	—	624,393
1999			1,105,109	—	1,105,109	484,540	—	620,569
2000			1,139,623	—	1,139,623	507,621	—	632,002
2001			1,216,040	—	1,216,040	539,387	—	676,653
2002			1,322,451	—	1,322,451	563,218	—	759,233
2003			1,403,003	—	1,403,003	580,563	—	822,440
2004			1,475,149	—	1,475,149	588,854	—	886,295
2005			1,470,300	—	1,470,300	571,547	—	898,753
2006			1,499,551	—	1,499,551	571,996	—	927,555
2007			1,506,654	—	1,506,654	583,457	—	923,197
2008			1,602,444	—	1,602,444	646,009	—	956,435
2009			1,831,721	—	1,831,721	713,870	—	1,117,851
2010			1,881,418	—	1,881,418	695,663	—	1,185,755
2011			1,842,499	—	1,842,499	663,263	—	1,179,236
2012			1,794,616	—	1,794,616	635,068	4,476	1,155,072
2013			1,633,124	—	1,633,124	584,034	5,299	1,043,791
2014			1,496,914	—	1,496,914	537,685	7,065	952,164
2015			1,411,989	—	1,411,989	491,253	14,774	905,962
2016			1,324,374	—	1,324,374	455,244	48,610	820,520
2017			1,267,508	—	1,267,508	391,676	135,136	740,696
2018			1,196,776	29,947	1,166,829	310,422	226,281	630,126
2019			1,239,537	280,639	958,898	319,933	140,670	498,295
Calendar year of filing		Selected summary case information by decision status
		Numbers as a percentage of total claims filed				Numbers as a percentage of total initial decisions
		Initial decision pending	Allowances	Denials		Allowances	Denials
				Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending		Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending
1988		—	41.5	—	58.5	41.5	—	58.5
1989		—	43.9	—	56.1	43.9	—	56.1
1990		—	46.3	—	53.7	46.3	—	53.7
1991		—	47.7	—	52.3	47.7	—	52.3
1992		—	46.3	—	53.7	46.3	—	53.7
1993		—	42.9	—	57.1	42.9	—	57.1
1994		—	40.0	—	60.0	40.0	—	60.0
1995		—	39.3	—	60.7	39.3	—	60.7
1996		—	39.1	—	60.9	39.1	—	60.9
1997		—	41.6	—	58.4	41.6	—	58.4
1998		—	43.7	—	56.3	43.7	—	56.3
1999		—	43.8	—	56.2	43.8	—	56.2
2000		—	44.5	—	55.5	44.5	—	55.5
2001		—	44.4	—	55.6	44.4	—	55.6
2002		—	42.6	—	57.4	42.6	—	57.4
2003		—	41.4	—	58.6	41.4	—	58.6
2004		—	39.9	—	60.1	39.9	—	60.1
2005		—	38.9	—	61.1	38.9	—	61.1
2006		—	38.1	—	61.9	38.1	—	61.9
2007		—	38.7	—	61.3	38.7	—	61.3
2008		—	40.3	—	59.7	40.3	—	59.7
2009		—	39.0	—	61.0	39.0	—	61.0
2010		—	37.0	—	63.0	37.0	—	63.0
2011		—	36.0	—	64.0	36.0	—	64.0
2012		—	35.4	0.2	64.4	35.4	0.2	64.4
2013		—	35.8	.3	63.9	35.8	.3	63.9
2014		—	35.9	.5	63.6	35.9	.5	63.6
2015		—	34.8	1.0	64.2	34.8	1.0	64.2
2016		—	34.4	3.7	62.0	34.4	3.7	62.0
2017		—	30.9	10.7	58.4	30.9	10.7	58.4
2018		2.5	25.9	18.9	52.7	26.6	19.4	54.0
2019		22.6	25.8	11.3	40.2	33.4	14.7	52.0

---

a

Data for claims filed in 1988‑2018 reflect results as of June 2019 at the DDS level and as of July 2019 at the hearing and Appeals Council levels. The
numbers of total claims filed for 2016-2018 are subject to change. Data for claims filed in 2019 are preliminary estimates as of January 2020. The ultimate numbers of allowances and denials are subject to change until all initial decisions have been completed and all appeals are final.

b

For claims filed in 2000 or later, we count allowances at the earliest adjudicative level of allowance. We count allowances for claims filed prior to 2000 at the highest adjudicative level reached.

c

Percentage of decisions at this level.

d

Includes certain cases that can be appealed directly to the hearing level.

e

Percentage of denials at this level appealed to next level.

f

Includes cases reviewed by the Office of the Federal Reviewing Official (OFedRO) during the period August 2006 through November 2008 as part of the DSI process.

g

Includes cases appealed to the hearing and Appeals Council levels and cases appealed to the to the Federal courts.

h

Number of persons appealing beyond the reconsideration level.

i

Includes cases remanded to SSA from the Federal courts.

j

Percentage of decisions at this level. For years in which decisions are still pending, the preliminary percentage shown is expected to ultimately be lower as all cases are processed. This occurs because allowances are generally processed more quickly than denials.

k

Includes denied claims where the final administrative action was a dismissal of an appeal request (e.g., the appeal was not filed timely or the applicant failed to appear at the scheduled hearing).

 

Table V.C2.—Disabled Child Claims: Disposition of Applications for SSI
Disability Benefits by Year of Filing^a and Level of Decision^b  

Calendar year of filing		Total claims filed	Initial decisions
			Pending	Allowances		Denials		Appeals of initial denials
				Number	Percent c	Number	Percent c	Number d	Percent e
1991		250,962	—	148,220	59.1	102,742	40.9	24,702	24.0
1992		372,971	—	189,079	50.7	183,892	49.3	49,297	26.8
1993		496,131	—	212,268	42.8	283,863	57.2	75,967	26.8
1994		525,013	—	172,219	32.8	352,794	67.2	92,093	26.1
1995		487,730	—	144,231	29.6	343,499	70.4	86,841	25.3
1996		453,473	—	127,416	28.1	326,057	71.9	75,013	23.0
1997		332,032	—	106,528	32.1	225,504	67.9	51,493	22.8
1998		335,732	—	123,249	36.7	212,483	63.3	50,110	23.6
1999		342,162	—	129,375	37.8	212,787	62.2	49,996	23.5
2000		349,285	—	138,262	39.6	211,023	60.4	48,156	22.8
2001		367,726	—	152,651	41.5	215,075	58.5	49,013	22.8
2002		402,116	—	165,220	41.1	236,896	58.9	55,863	23.6
2003		425,336	—	172,655	40.6	252,681	59.4	59,700	23.6
2004		435,562	—	174,514	40.1	261,048	59.9	58,534	22.4
2005		424,876	—	163,705	38.5	261,171	61.5	55,364	21.2
2006		432,747	—	160,959	37.2	271,788	62.8	58,609	21.6
2007		433,941	—	160,261	36.9	273,680	63.1	60,031	21.9
2008		449,451	—	171,593	38.2	277,858	61.8	66,058	23.8
2009		516,130	—	193,872	37.6	322,258	62.4	79,924	24.8
2010		517,642	—	186,513	36.0	331,129	64.0	82,422	24.9
2011		505,692	—	179,592	35.5	326,100	64.5	82,819	25.4
2012		491,691	—	174,882	35.6	316,809	64.4	80,091	25.3
2013		444,226	—	158,730	35.7	285,496	64.3	69,547	24.4
2014		416,653	—	155,077	37.2	261,576	62.8	60,206	23.0
2015		417,877	—	159,188	38.1	258,689	61.9	54,323	21.0
2016		392,637	—	156,986	40.0	235,651	60.0	49,364	20.9
2017		375,227	—	153,926	41.0	221,301	59.0	45,759	20.7
2018		359,384	5,293	150,683	42.6	203,408	57.4	38,301	18.8
2019		350,433	69,784	147,621	52.6	133,028	47.4	20,696	15.6
Calendar year of filing	Reconsiderations f						Appeals beyond reconsideration g
	Pending	Allowances		Denials	Appeals of  reconsideration denials			Allowances
		Number	Percent c		Number h	Percent e	Pending i	Number	Percent j	Denials k
1991	—	5,605	22.7	19,097	9,196	48.2	—	3,884	42.2	5,312
1992	—	9,463	19.2	39,834	19,770	49.6	—	7,523	38.1	12,247
1993	—	11,338	14.9	64,629	31,193	48.3	—	10,638	34.1	20,555
1994	—	11,332	12.3	80,761	38,433	47.6	—	12,954	33.7	25,479
1995	—	10,287	11.8	76,554	35,592	46.5	—	10,924	30.7	24,668
1996	—	9,355	12.5	65,658	27,920	42.5	—	8,853	31.7	19,067
1997	—	8,266	16.2	42,705	18,916	44.3	—	7,027	36.2	12,411
1998	—	7,799	15.6	42,237	18,762	44.4	—	7,034	37.3	11,802
1999	—	6,475	13.8	40,423	18,164	44.9	—	7,558	35.5	13,704
2000	—	6,043	16.0	31,741	14,366	45.3	—	8,451	34.2	16,287
2001	—	5,839	16.1	30,318	13,448	44.4	—	8,825	33.6	17,479
2002	—	6,360	15.4	34,842	15,216	43.7	—	9,909	33.2	19,968
2003	—	6,644	14.8	38,275	16,208	42.3	—	10,237	33.0	20,752
2004	—	6,209	14.1	37,948	15,758	41.5	—	10,021	33.3	20,114
2005	—	6,020	14.2	36,306	15,188	41.8	—	9,578	33.9	18,648
2006	—	6,158	13.6	39,049	16,436	42.1	—	10,828	36.3	19,010
2007	—	6,016	12.9	40,557	17,141	42.3	—	11,154	36.5	19,445
2008	—	6,888	13.2	45,196	19,639	43.5	—	11,786	35.1	21,827
2009	—	7,704	12.3	54,757	24,476	44.7	—	12,974	30.9	28,965
2010	—	7,548	11.6	57,616	26,093	45.3	—	12,107	27.9	31,244
2011	—	7,492	11.3	58,563	27,272	46.6	—	11,740	26.7	32,296
2012	—	7,036	11.0	56,822	26,217	46.1	203	10,544	25.0	31,703
2013	—	6,038	11.0	48,733	22,527	46.2	226	9,468	25.5	27,609
2014	—	5,633	11.9	41,846	18,095	43.2	330	8,166	26.8	22,326
2015	—	5,528	12.9	37,353	15,294	40.9	1,005	6,574	25.5	19,157
2016	—	5,247	13.2	34,400	13,523	39.3	3,876	5,380	27.8	13,984
2017	—	4,868	13.1	32,403	12,238	37.8	10,452	2,782	27.1	7,492
2018	4,072	3,871	13.8	24,237	7,845	32.4	12,656	255	19.5	1,055
2019	5,754	2,165	16.3	11,094	3,041	27.4	4,551	26	15.0	147
Calendar year of filing			Selected summary case information by decision status: Numbers of cases
			Total claims filed	Initial decisions pending	Total initial decisions	Allowances	Denials
							Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending
1991			250,962	—	250,962	157,709	—	93,253
1992			372,971	—	372,971	206,065	—	166,906
1993			496,131	—	496,131	234,244	—	261,887
1994			525,013	—	525,013	196,505	—	328,508
1995			487,730	—	487,730	165,442	—	322,288
1996			453,473	—	453,473	145,624	—	307,849
1997			332,032	—	332,032	121,821	—	210,211
1998			335,732	—	335,732	138,082	—	197,650
1999			342,162	—	342,162	143,408	—	198,754
2000			349,285	—	349,285	152,756	—	196,529
2001			367,726	—	367,726	167,315	—	200,411
2002			402,116	—	402,116	181,489	—	220,627
2003			425,336	—	425,336	189,536	—	235,800
2004			435,562	—	435,562	190,744	—	244,818
2005			424,876	—	424,876	179,303	—	245,573
2006			432,747	—	432,747	177,945	—	254,802
2007			433,941	—	433,941	177,431	—	256,510
2008			449,451	—	449,451	190,267	—	259,184
2009			516,130	—	516,130	214,550	—	301,580
2010			517,642	—	517,642	206,168	—	311,474
2011			505,692	—	505,692	198,824	—	306,868
2012			491,691	—	491,691	192,462	203	299,026
2013			444,226	—	444,226	174,236	226	269,764
2014			416,653	—	416,653	168,876	330	247,447
2015			417,877	—	417,877	171,290	1,005	245,582
2016			392,637	—	392,637	167,613	3,876	221,148
2017			375,227	—	375,227	161,576	10,452	203,199
2018			359,384	5,293	354,091	154,809	16,728	182,554
2019			350,433	69,784	280,649	149,812	10,305	120,532
Calendar year of filing		Selected summary case information by decision status
		Numbers as a percentage of total claims filed				Numbers as a percentage of total initial decisions
		Initial decision pending	Allowances	Denials		Allowances	Denials
				Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending		Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending
1991		—	62.8	—	37.2	62.8	—	37.2
1992		—	55.2	—	44.8	55.2	—	44.8
1993		—	47.2	—	52.8	47.2	—	52.8
1994		—	37.4	—	62.6	37.4	—	62.6
1995		—	33.9	—	66.1	33.9	—	66.1
1996		—	32.1	—	67.9	32.1	—	67.9
1997		—	36.7	—	63.3	36.7	—	63.3
1998		—	41.1	—	58.9	41.1	—	58.9
1999		—	41.9	—	58.1	41.9	—	58.1
2000		—	43.7	—	56.3	43.7	—	56.3
2001		—	45.5	—	54.5	45.5	—	54.5
2002		—	45.1	—	54.9	45.1	—	54.9
2003		—	44.6	—	55.4	44.6	—	55.4
2004		—	43.8	—	56.2	43.8	—	56.2
2005		—	42.2	—	57.8	42.2	—	57.8
2006		—	41.1	—	58.9	41.1	—	58.9
2007		—	40.9	—	59.1	40.9	—	59.1
2008		—	42.3	—	57.7	42.3	—	57.7
2009		—	41.6	—	58.4	41.6	—	58.4
2010		—	39.8	—	60.2	39.8	—	60.2
2011		—	39.3	—	60.7	39.3	—	60.7
2012		—	39.1	l	60.8	39.1	l	60.8
2013		—	39.2	0.1	60.7	39.2	0.1	60.7
2014		—	40.5	.1	59.4	40.5	.1	59.4
2015		—	41.0	.2	58.8	41.0	.2	58.8
2016		—	42.7	1.0	56.3	42.7	1.0	56.3
2017		—	43.1	2.8	54.2	43.1	2.8	54.2
2018		1.5	43.1	4.7	50.8	43.7	4.7	51.6
2019		19.9	42.8	2.9	34.4	53.4	3.7	42.9

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a

Data for claims filed in 1988‑2018 reflect results as of June 2019 at the DDS level and as of July 2019 at the hearing and Appeals Council levels. The numbers of total claims filed for 2016-2018 are subject to change. Data for claims filed in 2019 are preliminary estimates as of January 2020. The ultimate numbers of allowances and denials are subject to change until all initial decisions have been completed and all appeals are final.

b

For claims filed in 2000 or later, we count allowances at the earliest adjudicative level of allowance. We count allowances for claims filed prior to 2000 at the highest adjudicative level reached.

c

Percentage of decisions at this level.

d

Includes certain cases that can be appealed directly to the hearing level.

e

Percentage of denials at this level appealed to next level.

f

Includes cases reviewed by the Office of the Federal Reviewing Official (OFedRO) during the period August 2006 through November 2008 as part of the DSI process.

g

Includes cases appealed to the hearing and Appeals Council levels and cases appealed to the Federal courts.

h

Number of persons appealing beyond the reconsideration level.

i

Includes cases remanded to SSA from the Federal courts.

j

Percentage of decisions at this level. For years in which decisions are still pending, the preliminary percentage shown is expected to ultimately be lower as all cases are processed. This occurs because allowances are generally processed more quickly than denials.

k

Includes denied claims where the final administrative action was a dismissal of an appeal request (e.g., the appeal was not filed timely or the applicant failed to appear at the scheduled hearing).

l

Less than 0.05 percent.

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1

A relatively small number of cases are sent for evaluation to Extended Service Team, Flexible Disability Unit, and Disability Processing Branch sites. All references to “State DDS” include these sites as well.

2

SSA first implemented the Disability Service Improvement (DSI) process in the Boston Region in August 2006 (for the SSI program and disability claims filed under the Social Security program). The DSI process eliminated reconsideration as the first level of appeal of an initial disability determination and introduced review by the Office of the Federal Reviewing Official (OFedRO) in its place. By final rule published in the Federal Register (73 FR 2411), SSA suspended new claims to the OFedRO level; this change was effective March 23, 2008 (73 FR 10381). For those initial disability appeals that had not been transferred to OFedRO on or before the effective date, the procedure for the first level of appeal reverted to that which was in place prior to August 2006, (i.e., reconsideration). The DSI regulations also modified administrative appeal of an ALJ’s decision or dismissal by: (1) setting requirements on the timeliness for submission of evidence for consideration by the ALJ; and (2) eliminating the Appeals Council as a separate appeals step. By final rule (76 FR 24802), we restored the Appeals Council appeal step, although the other modifications concerning which evidence can be considered remain in effect in the Boston Region.

3

SSA began reinstating the reconsideration level of appeal in these States via a staged roll-out on January 1, 2019, and completed this process by April 1, 2020.

4

SSA began reinstating the reconsideration level of appeal in these States via a staged roll-out on January 1, 2019, and completed this process by April 1, 2020.