Audit set for city's processing of disability claims

Retirement panel vows to improve

The Boston Retirement Board has commissioned an audit of the way it administers disability retirement applications, to smooth out the process and in the future avoid incidents of suspected fraud and abuse such as those currently under investigation by federal authorities, a board official said at a City Council hearing yesterday.

Kathleen Kiely-Becchetti, acting executive officer of the Retirement Board, said the panel has tapped the auditing firm Ernst & Young to study flaws in the application system and make recommendations within 10 days. The work could begin next week.

Kiely-Becchetti said the audit is just one strategy to reform the Retirement Board's application process, particularly on applications for disability retirements, after the system came under fire over allegations of fraud and abuse.

The US attorney's office is investigating questionable injury claims following a Globe report in January that 74 percent of Boston firefighter retirements between 2005 and 2007 were due to disabilities resulting from accidents, more than twice the rate of similarly sized cities. A significant portion of the firefighters reported they suffered injuries while filling in for a superior, allowing them to retire at a higher pay scale.

Also, dozens of firefighter disability retirement applications languished for months, in some cases years, at the Retirement Board while the applicants collected 100 percent of their salaries, tax-free. If approved, the applicants would receive 72 percent of their salary, tax-free.

Robert Tierney retired as the board's executive director last month amid complaints over the backlog and the controversial case of former firefighter Albert Arroyo, who had competed in a bodybuilding competition while his disability application was pending. The firefighter was dismissed after refusing orders to return to work, maintaining he was injured.

Kiely-Becchetti said she has worked to process applications better and eliminate the backlog since she took over Aug. 5.

"We are putting measures in place to make sure this will never happen again," she said. She said she could not discuss any case that may be under investigation by the US attorney's office.

The Retirement Board has a backlog of 289 disability applications, 145 of which were submitted by firefighters, Kiely-Becchetti said. By law, applications are supposed to be processed within 180 days of being filed, but exemptions can be made, she said.

Kiely-Becchetti spoke before the City Council's Committee on Government Operations, which held a hearing yesterday on the backlog and allegations of fraud. The Globe has reported that the delay in processing applications is costing taxpayers at least $44,000 per week, money that firefighters are paid while their application for disability retirement is pending.

"What we've really discovered over the last budget period is time is money," said Maureen E. Feeney, City Council president.

Kiely-Becchetti said that the audit will help determine ways to speed up the process, but that the Retirement Board is also using new technology and is implementing new protocols to review applications more quickly. She said other factors can delay applications beyond the Retirement Board's control, such as slowness in receiving medical reports.

Councilor Stephen J. Murphy questioned whether the city could implement new measures to give the Retirement Board a better overview of disability claims, such as alerting the board to injuries when they occur rather than when an application is filed. By state law, a city worker has two years to file an application after an injury occurs.

"Wouldn't it make sense to put that as part of the timeline, the protocol?" he said. "Why shouldn't we adopt something internally . . . that gives everyone the same 20/20 vision."

Samuel R. Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, said at the hearing yesterday that the board has taken steps to improve the application process, by hiring more staff and installing new data systems. While standards require an employer to respond to an application within 15 days of its filing, the Fire Department implemented its own protocol to respond within five days, he noted.

Still, he said, the controversy highlighted flaws in the application process that may have to be addressed at the state level.

"I think . . . you'll see changes in state law and practices that will filter down" to all retirement boards, he said.

Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.