Glenn Sklar, Social Security's Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR,) spoke yesterday at the semi-annual conference of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) in Chicago. Here are some points from his presentation:
- ODAR has now cleared almost all cases that have been pending more than 825 days.
- ODAR's virtual screening units will continue through at least the end of fiscal year (FY) 2011 (September 30, 2011).
- Several new hearing offices will open in the near future but no mention was made of the new office that I care the most about, the one in Fayetteville, NC.
- Sklar warned that the new hearing offices will have a lot of new employees who will make a lot of mistakes. He prefers that these mistakes be sorted out at the local hearing offices or the regional offices rather than at his level.
- ODAR has opened two new hearing assistance offices, a large one in St. Louis and a smaller one in McLean, VA, to help with "pulling" exhibits and writing decisions.
- Going into the NOSSCR Conference there were 491 people who represent Social Security claimants who were active users of Social Security's efolders, which give online access to claimant files. 248 more users were signed up during the NOSSCR Conference up to the point at which Sklar spoke. Presumably, more have signed up since.
- By mid-November Social Security hopes to start signing up attorneys and other representatives for efolder access at hearing offices. Social Security's goal is to sign up 500 a month for a year. [Two points on this: I did not get the impression that Sklar was completely confident that his agency will accomplish this. Second, would you make up your mind what this is called? It has been called EDIB, electronic filel, efiles and efolders and maybe other names. It is time to decide on a name and stick to it!]
- Sklar was asked about attorney's office staff accessing efolder records. There has been concern that it may be Social Security's view that only attorneys could access the records. Sklar said that he was aware that many attorneys were using workarounds to allow their staffs to access the efolders and that Social Security's Office of General Counsel was working on the problem. [I think there are enough real problems at Social Security that the agency does not need to waste its time on something as silly and theoretical as this. The tone of Sklar's voice suggested that he might agree with me.]
- CDs being given to those who represent Social Security claimants who lack efolder access will soon be encrypted. Sklar said these would be easy to use. [I am glad that I have efolder access.]
- Sklar seemed surprised at a question from the audience about decisions and other correspondence from hearing offices arriving at attorneys' offices a week or ten days after the date they were supposedly mailed. This has happened since Social Security centralized printing and mailing. [Sklar's surprise surprised me. I am just about certain this is a national problem.]
- Sklar was asked about allowing attorneys and others who represent Social Security claimants to appear on a three way video linkup. This would allow someone to represnet a Social Security disabisity claimant without ever meeting them. Sklar said that this issue was being litigated in the Eastern District of New York and that he could not comment. [This confirms a rumor that Binder and Binder has sued over this issue. I will write more on this subject next week. I will say for now that I am extremely unsympathetic to Binder and Binder's position.]
Regarding who has access to people's most sensitive information, I'm taken aback by the cavelier tone about SSA feeling responsible that only people who be able to see files are the ones who do. Seriously, given the ability of people of ill intent to access all sorts of sensitive data, it is not overly conservative for the agency to want to know who the the people are accessing files and that what they are doing is in accordance with their role and job duties.
ReplyDeleteIt'll take one bad workaround that somehow spills sensitive data "out there" for the press and Congress to question why SSA put up such a shoddy access program. Attorneys and Glen Sklar are not doing anyone any favors if they turn a blind eye to processes that could be exploited and which could require SSA shut this down due to a breach.
"Sklar warned that the new hearing offices will have a lot of new employees who will make a lot of mistakes."
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that SSA then needs to look at the people they hire and/or the training.
Only government would accept that people they hired are going to make a lot of mistakes.
I hope hospitals don't have that attitude. LOL
This belongs under a different post but it's relevant.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13208070
I'm i missing something or i'm i right that the claimant is actually at fault?
I am not sure how accessing the files online will be such a huge benefit. Our firm scans everything and pretty much mirrors what is on electronic folder with the exhibit file they send us a few months prior to the hearing.
ReplyDeleteI am curious about the plan to have reps conduct hearings in their offices via VTC. This would help everybody and speed up the process. Speeding up the process is the ultimate goal.
The statement about ODAR is no surprise; I work in a field office where a lot of new employees make a lot of mistakes. Of course they do, because they have *zero* time to look anthing up, and have to adjudicate one person's claim while at the same time half listening to another person's issue on the phone, which rings nonstop. (If you ever call a field office and can hear the representative typing, chances are they are making inputs on someone else's record while you are talking!) Management never says anything about quality or doing things right, the only thing we hear from them is lectures about numbers and percentages of cases cleared and how our numbers compare to those of other field offices in the area. There's tremendous pressure from management to clear cases even if they are done wrong; our supervisor even does it himself!
ReplyDeleteAbsoulutely spot on. No one who does not work in a field office has any idea about the conditions and what transpires. The comment about typing while answering the phone would reverberate in the consciousness of thousands of fo employees every day. The concept of new employees making lots of mistakes is self-evident. I am a mentor who has only about one-fourth of the mentoring time I need, and there is no one else to help mentor because no one else who would be qualified is left. I imagine if ODAR is hiring lots of new employees to cut the hearings backlogs, the same would be true.
ReplyDeleteLearn on your own, and do the best you can.