HISTORICAL ALLOWANCE DATA

At the end of 2010, 85 percent of 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 DDS for a disability determination. Applicants may appeal initial DDS decisions that are unfavorable. Historically, the State DDS conducted the first level of appeal — the reconsideration appeal step. Persons 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 via the Federal court system. This appeals process is still in effect for the majority of new applicants.¹ However, since the mid-1990s SSA has conducted small pilots testing revisions to this process and introduced a modification of this process that 10 States utilize 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.

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 the 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.

Methods used to build the title XVI Disability Research File — The “base” file for the title XVI research file is the Supplemental Security Record (SSR). We match the “base” file against records from various other administrative sources, including transactions from the disability determination (SSA-831) files, Social Security number identification records and earnings data, and Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) appeals 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 three 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). Therefore, research file data are not yet available for claims filed in 2010.

Methods used for estimating results (through February 2011) for claims filed in 2010 — Although decision counts are available for 2010 filers (from many of the “source” files), those counts do not translate directly into the claims/appeals counts in the following tables, since we consolidate multiple transactions and apply claims-based tolerance rules when we build the research file.

To prepare preliminary estimates of results (through February 2011) for 2010 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 ODAR appeals activity from a file that tracks individual claimants, rather than individual claims, which may result in a slight undercount of ODAR activity.

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 February 2011, whereas the final research files will reflect information through June 2011. Actual data for 2010 will replace these estimates in the 2012 Annual Report.

•

Data for 2010 filers are preliminary estimates as of February 2011, and reflect larger numbers of claims still pending. February 2011 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).

•

In certain pilot activities and under the revised process introduced October 1, 1999 in 10 States, individuals can appeal initial denials directly to ODAR 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.

•

In previous reports, we counted allowances at the highest adjudicative level a filer reached. Beginning with data in this report for claims filed in 2000 and later, 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	360,790	42.6
2002	1,322,451	—	374,373	28.3	948,078	71.7	405,322	42.8
2003	1,403,003	—	382,013	27.2	1,020,990	72.8	431,556	42.3
2004	1,475,149	—	387,857	26.3	1,087,292	73.7	434,305	39.9
2005	1,470,300	—	373,582	25.4	1,096,718	74.6	420,489	38.3
2006	1,499,551	—	367,972	24.5	1,131,579	75.5	428,287	37.8
2007	1,506,654	—	376,631	25.0	1,130,023	75.0	436,673	38.6
2008	1,603,832	—	414,505	25.8	1,189,327	74.2	488,482	41.1
2009	1,834,501	25,780	449,054	24.8	1,359,667	75.2	553,736	40.7
2010	1,928,461	326,107	457,404	28.5	1,144,950	71.5	376,458	32.9

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
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	174,271	70.7	—	133,008	53.0	118,052
2002	—	38,617	12.2	277,567	195,597	70.5	—	150,199	52.8	134,536
2003	—	39,086	11.5	300,283	210,263	70.0	220	159,369	52.7	142,861
2004	—	37,197	10.9	302,649	211,696	69.9	904	163,377	53.5	141,874
2005	—	34,753	10.6	293,829	205,932	70.1	2,689	162,018	54.9	133,132
2006	—	34,146	10.2	299,568	211,317	70.5	8,169	166,762	56.0	130,959
2007	—	35,894	10.5	305,822	217,266	71.0	29,516	161,815	57.2	120,892
2008	—	40,057	10.1	355,636	257,062	72.3	98,082	148,333	58.9	103,436
2009	41,750	27,905	7.0	368,835	271,489	73.6	284,424	60,840	59.5	41,471
2010	90,140	22,130	9.8	202,703	72,717	35.9	121,781	8,426	67.8	3,995

Table V.C1.—Disabled Adult Claims: Disposition of Applications for SSI Disability Benefits by
Year of Filing a and Level of Decision b (Cont.)
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	539,377	—	676,663
2002	1,322,451	—	1,322,451	563,189	—	759,262
2003	1,403,003	—	1,403,003	580,468	220	822,315
2004	1,475,149	—	1,475,149	588,431	904	885,814
2005	1,470,300	—	1,470,300	570,353	2,689	897,258
2006	1,499,551	—	1,499,551	568,880	8,169	922,502
2007	1,506,654	—	1,506,654	574,340	29,516	902,798
2008	1,603,832	—	1,603,832	602,895	98,082	902,855
2009	1,834,501	25,780	1,808,721	537,799	326,174	944,748
2010	1,928,461	326,107	1,602,354	487,960	211,921	902,473

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	l	58.6	41.4	l	58.6
2004	—	39.9	0.1	60.0	39.9	0.1	60.0
2005	—	38.8	.2	61.0	38.8	.2	61.0
2006	—	37.9	.5	61.5	37.9	.5	61.5
2007	—	38.1	2.0	59.9	38.1	2.0	59.9
2008	—	37.6	6.1	56.3	37.6	6.1	56.3
2009	1.4	29.3	17.8	51.5	29.7	18.0	52.2
2010	16.9	25.3	11.0	46.8	30.5	13.2	56.3

a Data for claims filed in 1988‑2009 reflect results as of June 2010 at the DDS level and as of October 2010 at the ODAR level. The numbers of total claims filed for 2007-2009 are subject to change. Data for claims filed in 2010 are preliminary estimates as of February 2011. The ultimate numbers of allowances and denials are subject to change until all initial decisions have been completed and all appeals are final.

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	59,701	23.6
2004	435,562	—	174,514	40.1	261,048	59.9	58,539	22.4
2005	424,876	—	163,705	38.5	261,171	61.5	55,367	21.2
2006	432,747	—	160,959	37.2	271,788	62.8	58,620	21.6
2007	433,941	—	160,261	36.9	273,680	63.1	60,048	21.9
2008	449,823	—	171,941	38.2	277,882	61.8	66,101	23.8
2009	516,900	6,111	192,757	37.7	318,032	62.3	76,776	24.1
2010	526,100	74,915	187,693	41.6	263,492	58.4	53,917	20.5

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	15,215	43.7	—	9,909	33.2	19,967
2003	—	6,644	14.8	38,275	16,208	42.3	7	10,233	33.0	20,750
2004	—	6,209	14.1	37,948	15,764	41.5	46	10,008	33.2	20,092
2005	—	6,020	14.2	36,306	15,196	41.9	171	9,513	33.9	18,553
2006	—	6,158	13.6	39,096	16,488	42.2	659	10,645	36.5	18,550
2007	—	6,016	12.9	40,777	17,384	42.6	2,830	10,632	38.2	17,177
2008	—	6,831	12.7	46,920	21,184	45.1	10,237	8,805	37.8	14,492
2009	7,085	5,797	10.9	47,317	22,573	47.7	29,938	3,222	35.0	5,990
2010	11,001	3,868	12.3	27,510	8,057	29.3	18,361	352	28.5	882

Table V.C2.—Disabled Child Claims: Disposition of Applications for SSI Disability Benefits by
Year of Filing a and Level of Decision b (Cont.)
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	189,532	7	235,797
2004	435,562	—	435,562	190,731	46	244,785
2005	424,876	—	424,876	179,238	171	245,467
2006	432,747	—	432,747	177,762	659	254,326
2007	433,941	—	433,941	176,909	2,830	254,202
2008	449,823	—	449,823	187,577	10,237	252,009
2009	516,900	6,111	510,789	201,776	37,023	271,990
2010	526,100	74,915	451,185	191,913	29,362	229,910

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	l	55.4	44.6	l	55.4
2004	—	43.8	l	56.2	43.8	l	56.2
2005	—	42.2	l	57.8	42.2	l	57.8
2006	—	41.1	0.2	58.8	41.1	0.2	58.8
2007	—	40.8	.7	58.6	40.8	.7	58.6
2008	—	41.7	2.3	56.0	41.7	2.3	56.0
2009	1.2	39.0	7.2	52.6	39.5	7.2	53.2
2010	14.2	36.5	5.6	43.7	42.5	6.5	51.0

SSA first implemented the Disability Service Improvement (DSI) process in the Boston region in August 2006. 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. It is SSA’s intention to eventually return the Boston region completely to the national appeal system.


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2011 Annual Report of the SSI Program