tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post7610617257350977298..comments2024-03-29T02:05:50.350-04:00Comments on Social Security News: Open Letter From Eight Former Social Security CommissionersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-27015779011132966272013-04-08T22:51:16.536-04:002013-04-08T22:51:16.536-04:00And that's ptobably why Social Security will h...And that's ptobably why Social Security will have a hard time seeing any meaningful reform. Anyone who says changes are needed are seen as the big bad wolf and are going to starve off all the poor disabled people.<br /><br />Maybe we should give everyone on benefits a million dollars each, would that be better? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-30525620277112691792013-04-08T22:44:47.281-04:002013-04-08T22:44:47.281-04:00"Providing service to the nation" doesn&..."Providing service to the nation" doesn't mean coddling everyone who walks through the door! You quit, good for you. If you couldn't have found another job, would you have filed for disability?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-64062358302158128512013-04-08T22:38:26.426-04:002013-04-08T22:38:26.426-04:00We can agree to disagree.We can agree to disagree.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-863037809887537562013-04-08T12:51:22.573-04:002013-04-08T12:51:22.573-04:00Walked away from my SSA GS 11 job because I felt t...Walked away from my SSA GS 11 job because I felt the agency was not doing the best it could for retirement or disability. I went to work for half the money with a NFP and pay 5 times what I paid for health insurance with SSA.<br /><br />As a Certified TII and TXVI CR and Medicare Outreach Coordinator, I think I have an idea. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-55601825052987572312013-04-08T12:32:54.916-04:002013-04-08T12:32:54.916-04:00I was watching a show about polio vaccines in Paki...I was watching a show about polio vaccines in Pakistan (different topic) but I saw this guy whose leg is pretty much useless and he goes up and down stairs, walks cobblestone, dirty streets and works at an automobile shop every single day. My thought? If THIS guy can work, through his pain, then what about the others who are on disability who PROBABLY COULD WORK but don't. I understand there are many many factors (i coordinate a program to help people who are homeless get disability benefits who qualify) and that it's not 'that simple.' However, I do believe there is a segment of the population who feel they're entitled and don't want to work. Case in point: I have a friend who installed pools last summer. He's on medication for some mental health issues but is pretty much under control. in fact i think the meds are making things worse but that's another point. So he installed pools last summer, didn't find work after that and could work installing pools again this summer but chose to apply for disability. I told him 'i've seen you, i've known you, you are not disabled.' he has an attorney helping him who said it's a slam dunk case. I know him and he is one of those who feel entitled to let others take care of him and doesn't want to work. I actually wonder if they really evaluated those on disability every 6 months to a year (like they're supposed to) if they would find people they could move towards work incentive programs, ticket to work, etc. I think that we're raising a whole generation of cradle to grave government subsidized people who will never one day in their life have to work and it's not really going to help those it was intended for (the most vulnerable and in need).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-3992021496340216932013-04-08T11:44:44.704-04:002013-04-08T11:44:44.704-04:00You have no idea what your talking about.You have no idea what your talking about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-82646728897832371862013-04-08T09:33:44.100-04:002013-04-08T09:33:44.100-04:00Nice to see that SSA employees, paid for with our ...Nice to see that SSA employees, paid for with our tax money, with cheap healthcare, are not judgemental against the poor. Sounds like CRs want to do the "judging" of who is disabled at the interview. Goodness knows all CRs have a medical background, have read thousands of pages of medical and know the listings forward and backward to support the attitude displayed here. <br /><br />If that is how you truly feel, you need to resign, you are not provide service to the nation on our dollar, you are shaming the system like those you judge. <br /><br />Shame.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-28593738293877367792013-04-08T08:03:13.482-04:002013-04-08T08:03:13.482-04:00Then why not make CE's a requirement for those...Then why not make CE's a requirement for those with little or no evidence. We waste enough money on other things, might as well spend it toward something that may help. Right now, aren't CE's DDS discretion? In not really sure who decides one is needed, but claimants always ask if they can have a medical examination.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-90654409609698226482013-04-07T22:30:47.833-04:002013-04-07T22:30:47.833-04:00@9:46 AM, April 06
Requiring medical evidence bef...@9:46 AM, April 06<br /><br />Requiring medical evidence before filing a claim would make things faster no doubt. Unfortunately it would leave a lot of genuinely disabled people without help. <br /><br />I grant you it's frustrating, but it is a fundamental access to justice issue, especially for low income claimants. No claim can be ultimately granted without medical evidence, and it's a fact that many claimants don't have the money, knowledge,or ability to gather that evidence on their own.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-59483070040149483412013-04-07T09:05:58.335-04:002013-04-07T09:05:58.335-04:00@ 12:07. Priority 1, disposing cases. Priority 1...@ 12:07. Priority 1, disposing cases. Priority 1A, paying cases. SSA goes out of their way to find people disabled.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-17914196502769841352013-04-07T00:07:32.768-04:002013-04-07T00:07:32.768-04:00The standard for SSA is not strict. While disbled...The standard for SSA is not strict. While disbled means cannot work at any job for at least one year, once weighing a person's credibility enters the picture, so goes the strict standard. It may be more fair or compassionate, but any strictness is gone.<br /><br />Perhaps many in SSA are concerned with proper stewardship, and perhaps many are concerned with accurate decisions. However, SSA management's policies, and particularly Astrue's, only play lip-service to that. SSA management does not care whether too many or too few cases are paid, and they do not care whether the people granted or denied were actually disabled, they just want the cases moved, so they can go to Congress and show how much work they are doing. <br /><br />A real critique of SSA would include an intelligent and informed discussion of how ODAR judges can do 500 cases a year when their cases can easily be 500-1000 pages long. Let's see how those high producing judges do that. The number of cases granted or denied is only part of the picture. It is only a problem if the wrong ones are granted or denied, and SSA is mostly concerned with disposing of cases and not the correct decision -- that is the real problem. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-18533432036769647812013-04-06T15:20:14.509-04:002013-04-06T15:20:14.509-04:00In response to Anon 12:42 PM, April 06, 2013
Oh, ...In response to Anon 12:42 PM, April 06, 2013<br /><br />Oh, for an original retort. This is hackneyed rhetoric lacking facts and probably FOX-induced<br />“Nanny state and Titanic “<br />People are not chairs or valves. <br /> And Speculation <br />“those who find little incentive to provide for themselves or for them to develop and apply necessary job skills...”<br />is not fact. <br /> <br />Change is more than pointing a finger at those who are the weakest amongst us.<br /> <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-9995979294272098632013-04-06T15:05:24.020-04:002013-04-06T15:05:24.020-04:00I'm a beneficiary too, no one at the SSA asked...I'm a beneficiary too, no one at the SSA asked Me to sign up or join, I became one cause I felt I could go no farther, My income was not the problem, My body had just had enough and being homeless isn't appealing and dying is not either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-16832836042528250292013-04-06T13:52:17.366-04:002013-04-06T13:52:17.366-04:00"ADA, work and hiring incentives for the disa..."ADA, work and hiring incentives for the disabled".<br /><br />Currently i'm a beneficiary. The ADA does not provide full protection against hostle employers and co workers although it may provide some relief but it can be considered barely relief. I wish the government would sponsor certain employers similar to an enhanced ADA act that would give employers more incentive to not only help a person with disabilities but treat that impaired person with respect and or dignity.<br /><br />Such a sponsorship would perhaps be effective in lowering the disability rolls.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-69633426935920978502013-04-06T12:49:39.815-04:002013-04-06T12:49:39.815-04:00Denial rates don't back up your claim. If SSA...Denial rates don't back up your claim. If SSA would stop taking apps for broken toes and the " I just don't like people, they make me mad" syndrome, I think those denial rates would decline.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-75173334813764091782013-04-06T12:47:32.582-04:002013-04-06T12:47:32.582-04:00Where I work, an urban, lower income area, disabil...Where I work, an urban, lower income area, disability claims with zero documentation other than an allegation are the norm, not the exception.<br /><br />I'm not saying there aren't deserving people of all ages that need assistance. I just wish our government would stop telling them to give up and rely on the goverment programs to survive. I'm sure that existence can't be all that great, although plenty in my area seem to do just fine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-71105427747539890292013-04-06T12:42:21.815-04:002013-04-06T12:42:21.815-04:00Is it hard to believe that improvements in health ...Is it hard to believe that improvements in health care and medication, rehab and physical therapy services, ADA, work and hiring incentives for the disabled, etc. over the last 20 years have such poor results? We are moving backwards. I guess this matches the success of the government's wars on poverty and drugs over even a longer period. There are people who are disabled and cannot work whatsoever even with improvements in health care and the incentive programs that are now in place, and they should be helped. However, disability benefits have become a relief valve for both those who find little incentive to provide for themselves or for them to develop and apply necessary job skills, and for the failures of government imposing itself on businesses and individuals in the creation of the nanny state. Fundamental change is needed, and the solutions proposed are little more than moving the deck chairs on the Titanic. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-19470022391145961172013-04-06T11:41:18.340-04:002013-04-06T11:41:18.340-04:00@ 10:57 am: Even if it is the SSA responsibility t...@ 10:57 am: Even if it is the SSA responsibility to do this and that, without proper medical evidence that are verifiable, one won't get any benefits, their very strict about that and that's not fraud or waste. Objecting to someone getting benefits when their disabled and have gone through the process, is based on ignorance, possibly jealousy and being a 'know it all' who is not an expert w/a medical degree and a license, except at flapping their jaws...<br /><br />Just sayin...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-83987083130571414422013-04-06T10:57:03.775-04:002013-04-06T10:57:03.775-04:00Even with zero documents, 404.1512 and 416.912 pre...Even with zero documents, 404.1512 and 416.912 pretty clearly state that it is SSAs responsibility to help a claimant develop the record, and if the development is insufficient, to obtain a consultative exam(s). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-49411812614292740052013-04-06T10:15:11.594-04:002013-04-06T10:15:11.594-04:00@ 9:59
I get your point.But after having been in ...@ 9:59<br /><br />I get your point.But after having been in the process, on both sides for over thirty years, the numbers of claims lacking any, or very little, documentation, represent an exceedingly small percentage of the cases. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-54478729153062258752013-04-06T09:59:58.926-04:002013-04-06T09:59:58.926-04:00@ 9:46 - the end result of getting the benefits is...@ 9:46 - the end result of getting the benefits is what matters to the people that only look at the budgetary side. The real problem with letting EVERYONE file with little or no documentation is why so many cases are back logged. Sure, they may file an initial claim with no evidence and get denied. Justice served, right? Wrong, they then file an appeal and then a hearing and then add to the "log jam" of claims in back log. That was the point of the comment. It slows down the process for the ones who may truly have a case. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-56651832823794684342013-04-06T09:46:54.315-04:002013-04-06T09:46:54.315-04:00"Anyone can walk in an office and apply for ..."Anyone can walk in an office and apply for disability with zero documentation to back it up"<br /><br />Yes, anyone can file an application without medical documentation, but you can't get benefits without documentation. It is the "getting" of benefits that matters. <br /><br />This reminds me of a Seinfeld sketch about having a reservation for renting a care and being told they have the reservation, just not the car.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-45086879770535363682013-04-06T07:05:02.955-04:002013-04-06T07:05:02.955-04:00As usual, the "higher ups" view of the p...As usual, the "higher ups" view of the programs is usually quite different from the people at the field office levels dealing with it daily. I have no problem with a "safety net" being in place for those in need. We just need to bring the programs up to date. <br /><br />As for the letter, I strongly disagree with one section. The former commissioners stated "extensive medical documentation is needed at all levels during the disability process". This is NOT true. Anyone can walk in an office and apply for disability with zero documentation to back it up. This, in my opinion, is one of the reasons DDS gets so back logged leading to hearings backlogs. If SSA required medical documentation to file, I bet the number of initial app denials would decline over time. Maybe it's just my office's service area, bust most people come in to file expecting Social Security to send them to a doctor so the can get evaluated. It shouldn't be the federal govts responsibility to prove the applicant is disabled. I believe this is a major disconnect they needs to be addressed in the near future. Lots of wasted time on unfounded claims.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com