Approval of social security disability appeals: analysis of judges’ decisions

Abstract

This article is an empirical analysis of decisions by judges regarding requests by individuals for disability benefits. Applicants for disability benefits who are twice denied through the normal process can appeal to one of the Social Security Administration’s administrative law judges, who hold appointed positions. The data for this study are taken from decisions made by approximately 1000 judges for cases heard from 2010 through 2012. Using each judge as a unit of observation, the data reveal the number of cases heard and the number of approvals granted. We augmented the data with additional information on the presiding judge, and with data from the state in which the court resides. The purpose of the study is to determine whether a simple model can explain, first, the volume of decisions rendered at the judge level and, second, the proportion of approvals. Results indicate that the volume of decisions can be explained in part by the judge’s recent record of leniency. Evidence also supports the hypothesis that approval outcomes depend on judges’ professional tenure and economic factors in the state of jurisdiction.

Keywords:

• disability
• benefits
• administrative judgement
• benefit determination

JEL Classification:

• H55
• I18

Notes

¹ Social Security Administration: Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin 2011.

² For additional studies of judicial decisions in employment tribunals, see the brief survey by Marinescu (2011, p. 674) and references therein.

³ Paletta, Damian. ‘Disability Claim Judge Has Trouble Saying “No”: Near Perfect Approval Record; Social Security Strained’. The Wall Street Journal, 19 May 2011.

⁴ Paletta, Damian. ‘Disability Claim Judge Has Trouble Saying “No”: Near Perfect Approval Record; Social Security Strained’. The Wall Street Journal, 19 May 2011.

⁵ Data source: http://www.ssa.gov/appeals/DataSets/Archive/archive_data_reports.html.

⁶ Paletta, Damian. ‘Disability Judge Put on Leave from Post’. The Wall Street Journal, 27 May 2011. Paletta, Damian. ‘Social Security Judge Retires Amid Probe’. The Wall Street Journal, 18 July 18, 2011.

⁷ University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research: www.ukcpr.org

⁸ The authors wish to thank an anonymous referee for this suggestion.