SEQUESTER IS HERE

Displaying a stunning lack of leadership, the President of the United States and United States Congress have jumped off the proverbial financial/political cliff.  The finger pointing began immediately.  As of April 1, 2013, mandated spending cuts will be applied to all branches of the federal government.

What will this mean for the Social Security Administration?  It is true that Social Security benefit amounts will not be affected.  But for the staff at Social Security  Field Offices and branches of the Office of Disability Adjudication & Review (ODAR), the sequestration applies.  This may mean a 20% reduction in hours and pay as personnel are “furloughed” one day a week for 22 weeks.  Or employees could be terminated and facilities closed.

The sequester will mean delays in processing time at Field Offices, longer waits for service on the toll free 800 number, longer waits for a hearing at the ODAR, and a longer wait for decisions after the hearing.  An SSA Fact Sheet prepared prior to the sequester predicted a loss of 5,000 employees.  It was estimated the wait for a hearing would increase by a month.  Ironic, after SSA succeeded in reducing the backlog at the ODAR level in the past couple of years through an aggressive judge-hiring and ODAR-building program.

Maybe the sequester won’t prove to be the disaster many have predicted. Maybe we will adjust and digest the “new normal”. But it won’t be without some suffering.