[nfb-talk] Letter to Congress Concerning Social Security Administration:

[Kenneth Chrane]

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Message sent to the following recipients:
Senator Cardin
Senator Mikulski
Message text follows:

Kenneth Chrane
6839 Parsons Avenue
Baltimore,, MD 21207-6423


June 14, 2007

[recipient address was inserted here]


Dear [recipient name was inserted here],

Please urge your colleagues on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, 
HHS, and Education to support an appropriation for the Social Security 
Administration (SSA) for its Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) 
of, at a minimum, the amount allowed in the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget 
Resolution Conference Report - $10.1 billion.

SSA's administrative funding shortfalls have resulted in growing backlogs 
in initial and hearing decisions on disability claims, the largest in 
history, that have been described by Members of Congress as "tragic," 
"unconscionable," and "an unmitigated disaster."  The impact of the delays 
on individuals with disabilities has been extremely detrimental.  Behind 
each number and claim is an individual with disabilities whose life is 
coming unraveled while waiting for his or her claim to be properly decided 
- families are torn apart; homes are lost; medical conditions deteriorate; 
once stable financial security crumbles; and many claimants die while 
waiting for a decision.  Please see 
http://www.thearc.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?&id=395 for individual 
stories on the effect the backlog of SSA hearings has had on people with 
disabilities from across the country. 

People with disabilities rely on SSA to promptly and fairly:
. adjudicate their applications for disability cash benefits (Supplemental 
Security Income and Title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability 
Insurance)); and . provide monthly benefits with accurate withholding of 
Medicare Parts B and D premiums and  timely determinations on 
post-entitlement issues (e.g., overpayments, income issues, prompt 
recording of earnings).  

Under the current budget situation, people with severe disabilities have 
experienced increasingly long delays and decreased services in accessing 
these critical benefits.  Processing times, especially at the hearing 
level, have reached intolerable levels.  In some locations, claimants wait 
as long as three years just to receive a hearing.

The main reason for the increase in the disability claims backlogs is that 
SSA has not received adequate funds to provide its mandated services.  In 
every fiscal year since FY 2000, Congress has appropriated less than both 
the Commissioner and the President have requested.  The result is a 
shortfall in appropriations for SSA totaling over $4 billion since FY 
2000.  

I urge you to work to ensure that SSA is provided with adequate funding to 
eliminate the disability claims backlog and to carry out its other 
mandated workloads

Thank you,


Kenneth Chrane
(410) 486-1569