Barnhart: Tidbits on Her Future and Her Plan's Future

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of SSA's front line managers, has published the minutes of its annual meeting held in November. Present at the meeting was Mary Chatel, SSA's Director of Disability Service Improvement, who had, curiously enough, been President of NCSSMA at one time in her career. Chatel told NCSSMA that "The implementation [of the Commissioner's plan] will hopefully begin in the Spring of 2006 and will go region by region – probably taking about 5 years to complete."

The summary of the meeting also includes this interesting exchange which tells us that at least some people in Baltimore believe that Jo Anne Barnhart may be nominated for a second term as Commissioner of Social Security:

Q: What will happen to this new approach in January 2007 when the Commissioner’s term ends?

A: Since they do not know if the Commissioner will serve another term, they need to approach this in the belief that she may actually be gone in January. The Commissioner strove to work on changes that could at least be begun in some regions before her term ends. Hopefully, Jo Anne will be here beyond January 2007 to see the process even farther down the pathway. The publication of a final rule should help to see that this work continues.