Anything attached to the phrase Social Security seems to move at a snail’s pace even if Social Security itself has nothing to do with the process.
Andrew Eanes, who was nominated to become the deputy commissioner of Social Security, had been waiting for the Senate Finance Committee to consider his nomination since it was originally scheduled March 2. Finally, after postponements, the committee considered the Eanes nomination April 18 with pretty successful results for the new deputy nominee.
With only one vote against Eanes, it puts him in line to become the next deputy chief of Social Security. It is unclear how this move might impact current Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin, who has served as the Social Security boss for the last few years.
Approval Ratings By The Numbers
One of the most important factors in deciding a claimant’s fate for Social Security disability is the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that has been assigned to the case. An ALJ is given broad leeway in deciding whether someone meets the definition of being disabled under Social Security’s rules and ALJs are all over the map on their approval ratings.
Instead of looking at specific ALJs, we decided to look at approval and denial rates from state to state in relation to Social Security disability hearings. There were two jurisdictions, Hawaii and Puerto Rico where ALJs approved disability cases at a rate of 61 percent, which was highest in the nation. These states were followed by Maine with a 56 percent approval rating and Nebraska with a 53 percent approval rating. Undoubtedly, the state with the lowest approval rating is Alaska at 21 percent, followed by Kansas at 32 percent and Connecticut at 36 percent approval. To take a closer look at specific approval ratings for each state click here.
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