Social Security Releases More Information to Public

Commissioner Astrue announced it will be making new data about Social Security available to the general public. This is part of President Obama's transparency and open government initiative. It is available at www.data.gov . I took a quick look at the webpage and I can tell you it is far from user-friendly at this stage. In the press release they did stay they plan to make the database more user-friendly in the future. I hope this is the case and that they are able to make the information understandable for the average person applying for Social Security disability benefits. The information is supposed to include information about hearing workloads and types of decisions made by administrative law judges. It is also supposed to help give people an estimated timeline as to when they can expect to have a hearing held or when a decision will be made on their SSD or SSI claim. When I have time I plan to further review this new data program and its usability and as always will post my thoughts about how this new program could benefit those applying or receiving Social Security disability benefits. My first take on the database is that it is pretty overwhelming and confusing but I have to admit I did not spend much time with it. If you are looking for information on how to win your Social Security disability claim I do not expect them to help you with that so I suggest at least for the time being you continue to read my website, the Social Security website and other informative websites that try to explain the Social Security system in plain English.