Improving and Modernizing Federal Disability Programs

Why It's High Risk

Designated a high-risk area in 2003, federal disability programs remain in need of modernization. Almost 200 federal programs provide a wide range of services and supports, resulting in a patchwork of policies and programs without a unified strategy or set of national goals. Further, disability programs emphasize medical conditions in assessing work incapacity without adequate consideration of work opportunities afforded by advances in medicine, technology, and job demands. Beyond these broad concerns, the largest disability programs—managed by the Social Security Administration (SSA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Department of Defense (DOD)—are experiencing growing workloads, creating challenges to making timely and accurate decisions.

^ Back to topWhat We Found

GAO's work has shown that there are several aspects of federal disability programs that require attention. We found that:

• Some agencies have taken steps to modernize their disability programs, such as updating and revising their eligibility criteria. However, such revisions have not fully incorporated a modern understanding of how technology and labor market changes could affect eligibility for disability benefits. Moreover, there is no set of agreed upon governmentwide outcomes for disability policies and programs as well as strategies to achieve them. Key stakeholders agree that a stronger federal role is needed to focus and align efforts across numerous federal agencies and programs that play a role in supporting individuals with disabilities. In ongoing discussions with GAO, the administration and Office of Management and Budget have said they are considering a course of action going forward.
• SSA has taken steps to address challenges with claims processing, but it continues to struggle with growing workloads and long waits for decisions. For example, SSA developed a plan that has helped the agency reduce its hearing-level backlog from over 760,000 in fiscal year 2008 to about 697,000 in fiscal year 2010. SSA's goal is to reduce the number of pending hearing-level claims to below 466,000 by the end of fiscal year 2013. Workloads, however, are increasing at SSA's initial claims level, where pending claims exceeded 1 million in fiscal year 2010. The agency has developed additional strategies to deal with its workload challenges. Effective management of SSA's disability claims process will require comprehensive planning and monitoring going forward.
• VA has made progress in some areas of its claims process and faced continued challenges in others. In fiscal year 2008, VA completed nearly 66 percent more initial compensation claims than in fiscal year 2000 and reduced pending appeals from about 127,000 to 95,000. However, in fiscal year 2008, it took VA on average 776 days to resolve an appeal. We reported in January 2010, that VA has implemented several improvement initiatives, including expanding its practice of workload distribution and testing new claims-processing approaches—such as shortening response periods for certain claims and appeals and reorganizing its claims-processing units. Per our recommendations, VA recently completed evaluations of some key initiatives, and continues to evaluate others. Thus, their long-term impact on the timeliness and accuracy of veterans' claims is not yet known.
• Through their pilot of an integrated disability evaluation system (IDES), DOD and VA have made some progress toward addressing inefficiencies associated with operating two separate yet similar disability systems, but full implementation will require careful monitoring. DOD's and VA's recently completed evaluation of the pilot has generally shown positive results. In support of plans to expand the IDES militarywide, DOD and VA have identified actions needed to address staffing, logistical, and other challenges. However, they do not have a monitoring process for identifying emerging problems such as staffing shortages in order to quickly take remedial actions.

^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done

SSA, DOD, and VA leadership have demonstrated a strong commitment and invested additional resources to address claims workloads and taken steps to manage their growing workloads, but more progress is needed to achieve fundamental program reform. For example:

• SSA needs to employ a comprehensive plan that considers its entire disability process.
  GAO-10-667T   GAO-08-40
• VA needs to complete evaluating its claims processing initiatives to assess return on nvestment.
  Highlights of GAO-10-213 (PDF)
• As VA and DOD proceed with a joint disability evaluation system, they need to develop a systematic monitoring process and ensure adequate staffing is in place.
  Highlights of GAO-08-1137 (PDF)
• Beyond improvements in agency operations, modernizing federal disability programs calls for a stronger federal role to align disability policies, services, and supports across federal agencies and programs.
  Highlights of GAO-08-635 (PDF)

^ Back to topKey Reports

Veterans' Disability Benefits

Social Security Disability

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