It was announced by the SSI, or Supplemental Security Income, commissioner, Martin O’Malley, that a database of jobs used when assessing claims would be getting a much-needed update, the first in almost 50 years. The Social Security Administration dropped 114 obsolete jobs from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), a database used to determine potential careers that could be done by some disability claimants. Some of these entries cited on rejected claims were reptile farmer and nut sorter, creating an almost impossible system for applicants to be accepted for benefits. This is a major shift in standards for disability advocates and individuals who are filing for disability.
Historical Issues with the Job Database
When applying for disability, Social Security can decide to deny a claimant Supplemental Security Income if they find sedentary work in the DOT database that the claimant could feasibly perform. They also check things such as age, education, and work experience. On paper, this sounds reasonable. However, the Washington Post conducted an investigation back in 2022 that found that Social Security had been denying people’s claims and denying them SSI based on jobs that no longer exist. The DOT had last been updated in 1977 and still contained jobs that had either been replaced by automation or outsourced overseas, meaning that these jobs were virtually non-existent in the US. Even the Department of Labor stopped using the database 33 years ago because of the shift from blue-collar, or hard labor jobs to information and services. In the Washington Post’s investigation, they stated that the use of this outdated information led to “thousands upon thousands” of rejected claims. The exact number of claims denied due to these obsolete job entries is unknown, but Social Security stated in 2020 that the average rate of denied claims was 67%.
Impact on Claimants and the System
A man named Robert Heard, who was previously an electrician before he suffered two strokes, was told by the vocational expert hired by the Social Security Administration, or SSA, that he would be capable of being a nut sorter, a dowel inspector, or an egg inspector when they denied his claim. He even stated in the Washington Post investigation that if they could see the tremor in his hands, there was no way they would say he was qualified to be a nut sorter.
The US government was already aware of these issues for some time as both Social Security and the Veteran Affairs’ disability programs were both classified as “high risk.” This means that the programs were either at risk of abuse, fraud, waste, or in need of being updated. The Government Accountability Office, a US agency that manages taxpayer dollars and monitors the effectiveness of certain government programs, states both of these programs were in need of an update and that they were using out-of-date information.
The Path to Improved Disability Claims
After this change is applied, it still won’t be an easy feat to get a disability claim approved. Applicants will still have to wait to 6 to 8 months to receive their initial decision for Social Security. However, striking obsolete jobs from that database will remove one hurdle that could be stretching out the process of getting their benefits.
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