Social Security Disability: Reviews of Beneficiaries' Disability Status Require Continued Attention to Achieve Timeliness and Cost-Effectiveness

SSA will likely face a backlog of about 200,000 continuing disability review (CDR) cases by the end of fiscal year 2003. SSA officials attribute the pending backlog to its decision to reduce the number of cases reviewed as a result of the delay in obtaining fiscal year 2003 funding. In addition, the pending backlog resulted from putting more emphasis on initial applications over CDRs. To ensure CDRs receive adequate attention, SSA has requested some fiscal year 2004 funds be "earmarked" for these reviews. Given SSAs ability to eliminate its previous CDR backlog using targeted funds, this maneuver could help SSA. Over the next 5 years, SSA has estimated that 8.5 million CDRs, costing about $4 billion, are needed to stay current. If SSA generates another backlog, cost savings and program integrity may be compromised by paying benefits to disability beneficiaries who are no longer eligible.