Social Security Pays Docs to E-file

The Social Security Administration, bogged down with a backlog of disability claims and oncoming onslaught of baby boomer paperwork, is trying to expedite processing by paying medical providers $15 to submit applicants' records electronically.

"We are experiencing a significant increase in the number of initial claims for disability insurance benefits and Supplemental Security Income payments on the basis of disability, and we expect this trend to continue," states a Jan. 11 Federal Register notice. "The increasing volume of claims, coupled with the backlog of disability cases in the hearings process, underscores our need to process cases more efficiently by using advanced technologies."

The agency usually makes more than 15 million requests a year for patient records from providers to determine the severity of disability applicants' medical conditions. Waiting for the information can take months.

Social Security officials said they determined that $15 is a reasonable reimbursement rate for the cost of transmitting medical records through a secure data exchange system but said they will periodically review and adjust the rate as technologies advance.

"By using health IT, we will be able to request and receive medical information within minutes, rather than the days or months it may take to receive medical evidence by traditional methods," which are largely paper-based, labor-intensive and manual, the notice states.