Acting Social Security Commissioner Nancy A. Berryhill issued a May 5 message to all Social Security employees about issues related to the 2017 fiscal year budget and how Social Security will be impacted. The news could be a lot worse than it is.
The 2017 fiscal year budget, which provides government spending through the end of September of this year, was signed by President Donald Trump last week and according to Berryhill there is funding to “increase [Social Security’s] program integrity funding.” This type of funding allows Social Security to continue to conduct disability reviews and re-determinations. She also indicated that there were additional funds to focus on reducing hearing backlogs which now affect more than 1 million people across the country.
The appropriations bill is available for those who would like to page through the more than 1,600 pages included in the bill and can be found here. Specific funding for Social Security begins on page 1,042. Unfortunately Berryhill does not go into specifics about how this funding is going to address the unprecedented backlog for disability hearings.
Berryhill’s full memo to Social Security employees can be found below:
A Message To All SSA Employees
Subject: FY 2017 Budget
I have some good news to share about the budget. This afternoon, President Trump signed the omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2017, which provides the Federal Government with funding for the remainder of the fiscal year.
The omnibus appropriation includes an increase to our agency’s program integrity funding, which will allow us to conduct additional continuing disability reviews and redeterminations. It also sets aside funds to focus on reducing our hearings backlog.
I appreciate your patience during the latest budget negotiations. Thanks again for all you do each day to support our mission.
Nancy A. Berryhill
Acting Commissioner
