First in line: prioritizing receipt of Social Security disability benefits based on likelihood of death during adjudication.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Given the complexity of the adjudication process and volume of applications to Social Security Administration's (SSA) disability programs, many individuals with serious medical conditions die while awaiting an application decision. Limitations of traditional survival methods called for a new empirical approach to identify conditions resulting in rapid mortality.

Objective

To identify health conditions associated with significantly higher mortality than a key reference group among applicants for SSA disability programs.

Research design

We identified mortality patterns and generated a survival surface for a reference group using conditions already designated for expedited processing. We identified conditions associated with significantly higher mortality than

SUBMITTER: Rasch EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4196714 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature