Disability-Benefits System Faces Review

The Social Security Administration has commissioned an independent review of the federal disability system amid concerns it awards benefits to those who don’t deserve them and denies benefits to those who do.

A focus of the study is expected to be the work of roughly 1,500 administrative-law judges, who hear appeals by applicants but whose award rates vary widely.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Administration next week plans to stop notifying people applying for benefits of which judge they’ve been assigned for their case. This is being done, someone briefed on the plan said, to prevent applicants and their lawyers from trying to shop their appeals to the most lenient judges.

The review will be undertaken by the Administrative Conference of the United States, which studies government policy in Washington. The conference said it planned to release recommendations for overhauling the disability-appeals process next year.