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Once a claimant submits an application to the Social Security Administration for consideration the responsibilities of the claimant are not over. The claimant is likely going to have to complete some paperwork before the claim is properly considered and that is when the Function Report comes into play. Each state’s Disability Determination agency is in charge of making a disability decision at the early levels of a claim and that agency is interested in the claimant’s day-to-day functioning. Below is a description of the Function Report that claimants are asked to complete. When is it Required? DDS requires the completion of the SSA-3373 when they do not have enough information in the medical records to determine whether the person’s impairments are keeping them from being able to function in a work environment. Some state DDS offices will require an SSA-3373 with every application. Many states will accept a Medical Summary Report (MSR) with a comprehensive description of functioning in place of the official form. Check with the DDS requirements in your state. Completing the SSA-3373 It is important to complete the SSA-3373 in the applicant’s own words. Describe their struggles on their worst days. The applicant needs to describe specific scenarios using open-ended questions. Always expand on the Yes/No answers with more detailed explanations. You may be able to use information gathered from the MSR worksheet to help complete the questions on the SSA-3373. When answering the questions re medications, include prescription and non-prescription medications and focus on the side effects experienced. Utilize the Remarks section and additional pages to provide additional description and examples. Submitting the SSA-3373 Fax the form back to the DDS examiner using the provided bar-coded cover sheet. In some states the SSA-3373 is required for all applications; in these instances complete the report and submit with your complete application packet.

After it was announced that Social Security’s annual cost-of-living increase (COLA) would be 5.9 percent in 2022 for beneficiaries, the largest increase in the last 40 years, it signaled the right time for members of Congress to introduce Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust for consideration. U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut said he plans to introduce the Social Security bill on the heels of the 2022 COLA announcement. The bill would permanently change the COLA formula for future years, repeal the agency’s Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and provide for benefit increases. Larson recently announced his plans to introduce the bill. Through a press release, Larson said the time was right to permanently fix Social Security’s issues. “While this year’s Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is welcome news, it only further underscores the need for Congress to act on Social Security. It has been more than 50 years since Congress has improved Social Security benefits. Seniors are suffering – five million are living below the poverty line – current Social Security benefits are not enough! The COLA simply protects benefits against losing their purchasing power over time when the cost of rent, food, and other expenses increase, and is partially consumed by Medicare premiums,” said Larson. “Congress has failed seniors and that needs to change. Next week we will be introducing the bill, Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust, to strengthen Social Security and expand benefits. The time is now to enhance Social Security.” Many have talked about changing how Social Security determines the COLA increase each year because currently the increase is based on a form of inflation. When inflation increases in certain areas the COLA increase is larger and when inflation is low then the COLA is less than when inflation is higher.  

Since President Joe Biden removed Andrew Saul as Social Security’s commissioner the former commissioner has been relatively quiet even though he initially claimed that Biden did not have the authority to fire him. Saul is now speaking up and recently wrote an op ed that was published by the Wall Street Journal. In it, Saul claimed that it was partisan employee unions that were responsible for his ousting. There is no doubt Social Security employee unions were no fan of Saul and put pressure on the Biden Administration to remove him, but Saul’s claim that he ran the administration in a nonpartisan fashion is simply not true. Saul made it clear he was no fan of the unions and under his leadership Social Security made several moves that made it even more difficult to qualify for Social Security disability benefits. Below is a portion of what Saul wrote in the Wall Street Journal. To view the entire op ed click here. The name of the Social Security Administration’s commissioner isn’t one most Americans would recognize. This is largely by design. Congress, presidents from both parties, and previous commissioners have made it a point to ensure the commissioner’s role remains nonpartisan. That is why President Biden’s decision to fire me is so unsettling. I was only two years into my six-year term as SSA commissioner. By targeting me, the administration has politicized the SSA. The Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of Since President Joe Biden removed Andrew Saul as Social Security’s commissioner the former commissioner has been relatively quiet even though he initially claimed that Biden did not have the authority to fire him. Saul is now speaking up and recently wrote an op ed that was published by the Wall Street Journal. In it, Saul claimed that it was partisan employee unions that were responsible for his ousting. There is no doubt Social Security employee unions were no fan of Saul and put pressure on the Biden Administration to remove him, but Saul’s claim that he ran the administration in a nonpartisan fashion is simply not true. Saul made it clear he was no fan of the unions and under his leadership Social Security made several moves that made it even more difficult to qualify for Social Security disability benefits. Below is a portion of what Saul wrote in the Wall Street Journal. To view the entire op ed click here. The name of the Social Security Administration’s commissioner isn’t one most Americans would recognize. This is largely by design. Congress, presidents from both parties, and previous commissioners have made it a point to ensure the commissioner’s role remains nonpartisan. That is why President Biden’s decision to fire me is so unsettling. I was only two years into my six-year term as SSA commissioner. By targeting me, the administration has politicized the SSA. The Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994 brought the SSA out from under the Department of Health and Human Services and made it an independent agency. The law established that an SSA commissioner “may be removed from office only pursuant to a finding by the president of neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.” The email asking for my resignation gave no reason for termination. Throughout my career, I have worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations to serve the American people. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama trusted me to serve as chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. SSA commissioners, given their term length, have served different administrations in the past. Following his 2007 appointment by Mr. Bush, Commissioner Michael Astrue served through Mr. Obama’s first term and into his second. Mr. Biden should remember this well since he was vice president at the time. 1994 brought the SSA out from under the Department of Health and Human Services and made it an independent agency. The law established that an SSA commissioner “may be removed from office only pursuant to a finding by the president of neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.” The email asking for my resignation gave no reason for termination. Throughout my career, I have worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations to serve the American people. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama trusted me to serve as chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. SSA commissioners, given their term length, have served different administrations in the past. Following his 2007 appointment by Mr. Bush, Commissioner Michael Astrue served through Mr. Obama’s first term and into his second. Mr. Biden should remember this well since he was vice president at the time.

When the term backlog is used when discussing a Social Security disability case it usually meant the backlog of cases that were waiting for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Claimants were waiting sometimes 18 months or longer before they could appear before an ALJ, but Social Security has improved wait times for hearings and now there is another problem. The backlog problem is now at the initial application level and Social Security officials are indicating the COVID-19 pandemic played a large part in creating this backlog. Since March of 2020 Social Security offices closed to the public and it slowed things down. One area this we most evident was at Disability Determination Services (DDS), the state agencies that issue decisions on initial disability applications. President Joe Biden’s plan to increase Social Security funding could have a direct impact on the backlog. Below is an outline of how Social Security might be able to solve the problem with increased funding. To Problem Disruptions due to the pandemic caused a backlog of initial disability cases. Between September 2019 and April 2021, the backlog grew by approximately 115,000 cases. While applications for benefits were lower than we projected prior to the pandemic, our pending level of cases rose significantly because we were not able to complete as many cases. It was difficult to complete disability cases due to a reduced number of medical providers to conduct CEs, an inability to reach individuals by phone, and a lag in receiving mailed documents. These factors, along with the operating adjustments made to safely serve the public, reduced our ability to complete our workloads and contributed to increased backlogs and wait times. The Solution We must work down this backlog while also handling an increase in disability applications that we project to see in the second half of FY 2021 and in FY 2022. We received nearly 190,000 fewer applications in FY 2020 than we expected. We expect many of these individuals to apply for benefits as we emerge from the pandemic. During the pandemic, some people may have been isolated from the community groups who would normally assist them and provide them with information about our programs. We are conducting outreach to reach these vulnerable communities who may be eligible. In FY 2021, we are replacing DDS staff losses and providing an additional 1,300 hires to position the DDSs to address the disability claims backlog and a potential spike in claims. The Budget will support maintaining these new hires in FY 2022 and fund increased overtime for a total FY 2022 increase of nearly 1,400 work years or 10 percent, allowing us to significantly increase our capacity to process disability claims. Compared to FY 2020, we plan to complete nearly 300,000 more claims in FY 2021 and over 700,000 more claims in FY 2022. However, the backlog will continue to grow until we work through the influx of initial claims, which will require a multi-year effort.