.c The Associated Press
By MATTHEW BROWN
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A federal judge has approved a settlement that could
return millions of dollars in Social Security benefits to thousands of
disabled and homeless people whose claims were wrongfully denied.
U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell signed the settlement order Wednesday,
saying the process of locating those who could receive retroactive benefits
should start right away.
``It's very clear the longer this matter goes on, the more these people
suffer,'' Campbell said.
The settlement will also fund a search for some 5,000 people, some of them
homeless, who were denied benefits between January 1991 and February 1994. The
settlement allows the plaintiffs to have their claims reviewed.
A government attorney said paying them could take years.
The Social Security Administration has estimated the retroactive payouts may
total $22 million, an estimate plaintiff's attorney Brent Manning said was
low.
``We have been inundated by requests and questions on the settlement,''
Manning told the judge.
He said some plaintiffs could be owed as much as $170,000.
All were denied Social Security benefits for mental disabilities which kept
them from easily finding jobs.
The lead plaintiff, David Goodnight, was in a powered wheelchair and needed
oxygen when he was denied benefits and told to find a job as a security guard.
``That's what got this started,'' said Barbara Toomer, a disabled rights
activist. ``We were just appalled.''
Goodnight died four months ago. Outside the courthouse, Kari Faerber wept as
she contemplated receiving benefits. Faerber, 33, of Salt Lake City, has
multiple sclerosis and is expected to qualify for a re-examination of her
rejected application.
``I hear about all of these medications they've discovered and I don't have
the money to pay for them,'' she told The Salt Lake Tribune. ``I'll be more
able to take care of myself.''
The lawsuit was filed in 1992 against the Utah Disability Determination
Services, the Social Security Administration and various officials with both
agencies, alleging that overworked and unqualified clerks instead of
physicians were denying claims.
A physician's review is required under federal law. But plaintiffs' attorneys
said at least two doctors admitted they never reviewed some claimants' files
before deciding whether to approve benefits.
``Frankly it appears what happened was they were trying to deal with a huge
workload in an entirely inappropriate way,'' Manning said.
Justice Department John Niemeyer said the problem was not as widespread as the
plaintiffs contended and the government was poised to go to trial to prove its
point.
Settlement talks narrowed the number of people considered eligible for claims
to 5,000 from 8,000. Niemeyer said the size of the case was rare.
``These are people who are at the end of their rope and at the end of their
lives in some circumstances,'' Manning said, explaining why he agreed to
settle rather than go to trial.
Government agencies and local advocacy groups will help in trying to locate
those whose claims were denied during the three-year period and want to be
reconsidered.
Niemeyer said the process of locating those people and reviewing their claims
should take about seven years.