Report Claims Social Security Judges Rubber-Stamp Claims

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four Social Security judges are headed to Capitol Hill to face accusations they rubber-stamped claims for disability benefits, approving billions of dollars in lifetime payments.

A new report by the Republican staff of the House Oversight Committee says each of the judges approved more than 90 percent of the cases they heard from 2005 to 2013. The report says the high approval rates indicate the judges did not follow proper procedures or conduct meaningful hearings.

The administrative law judges are scheduled to testify before the Oversight Committee on Tuesday. In written testimony, Judge Gerald I. Krafsur of Kingsport, Tennessee, says he has heard thousands of cases and never had one overturned because the applicant was not disabled.

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