Abstract
Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Drug Addiction and Alcoholism (DA&A) benefits had the opportunity to appeal their termination during the six months prior to the end of the DA&A program in January 1997. In this study, we examined factors that affected transition from the DA&A program to continuing SSI benefits based on other qualifying impairments. We treated requalification for SSI as the outcome of two processes: a beneficiary's submission of a request for reconsideration and the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Disability Determination Senvices’ efforts to document a qualifying impairment, culminating in a decision to approve or to deny the appeal. We developed two multivariate statistical models. The first specified factors that predict beneficiaries’ submission of appeals and the second articulated factors affecting the SSA's disposition. We tested the models using data from nine metropolitan areas in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Illinois and Michigan. We found that the likelihood of appeal submission increased with the severity of physical and mental health problems, social support, institutional integration and employment status. The SSA's disposition was predicted by a beneficiary's frequency of alcohol consumption, economic status, level of institutional integration, functional capacity for daily living, and the metropolitan area in which he or she resided.