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Are insurance companies contributing to the problems at the Social Security Administration?

So goes the claim in a group of lawsuits cited by The New York Times. The paper reported that the suits filed by whistleblowers claim the insurance companies are forcing disabled customers to file claims for Social Security even though they likely won't qualify.

Social Security has a much higher threshold for disability cases than do private insurers, and are more like to reject claims. But the lawsuits claim the insurers require customers to file appeals, which adds to the paperwork at the government office.

The bureaucratic backlog is reportedly delaying payments to qualified applicants, in addition to wasting the Social Security Administration's increasingly precious funding.

For their part, the insurers say they're doing nothing wrong. Their policies require claimants to secure benefits from all possible sources, which includes Social Security.