In an editorial, the Tampa Bay Times calls for action to reduce the hearing backlog at Social Security.
6 comments:
Anonymous
said...
My two cents concerning the backlog as a long time insider:
1. Lack of appropriate funding from Republican dominated Congress over the past several years. (We already know the Republicans do not want to appropriate funds to administratively operate SSA/OHO, so they can argue the massive backlog and wait times demonstrate SSA Disability and Retirement benefits are not sustainable and that it is inevitable the Agency will go broke in the next several years. Of course, none of this is true, as raising, or completely eliminating the cap on earnings would solve the problem, not too mention SSA taxes on non-earned income, such as investments. Thus, the Republicans pretend to care about constituents of theirs seeking SSA benefits by sending meaningless letters to SSA on their behalf, while simultaneously refusing to appropriate necessary funds to administratively run SSA year after year. Quite a game, the Republicans engage).
2. The sudden and obsessive preoccupation of quality over quantity those who run SSA/OHO pushed for years in the recent past reached the point of ridiculousness and went far beyond the bounds of reasonableness. Although this, and the destruction of the SAA Program, was largely a response to the Huntington debacle, decision writing quality had absolutely nothing to do with Huntington, and quality of SAA O-T-R decisions should never have been an issue, providing the favorable decisions were supported by the evidence. By and large, questions raised over a portion of SAA decisions some of TPTB questioned were directly correlated with SAA’s in HO’s whose performance was almost exclusively evaluated by production numbers, EVEN THOUGH AGENCY POLICY WAS CONTRARY TO THIS. Thus, these actions and overreactions by those who run SSA/OHO substantially led to the unprecedented backlog which currently exists. Even when experienced ALJ’s and SAA’s repeatedly tried to warn TPTB of the inevitable increased backlog and suggested innovative ways to improve efficiency, they were met with deaf ears.
3. Misguided PRIORITIES of those who run SSA/OHO. For example, believing the best and most efficient way to operate the Agency is through oppressive, punitive, and extreme micromanagement of the workforce, and refusal to encourage employee engagement and listen to what those on the line have to say. This is not an effective and efficient manner to run a workforce in the 21st century.
I could continue with more specifics, but surely, you get the point.
The Democrats were in power for decades and with that said, they were and are just as responsible for the SSA/Medicare deliberate ineptness. Not acting on specifics for those disabled whether on the job or not, allowing injured workers to not collect worker comp benefits but be automatically shifted to SSDI but get SSI instead and having to pay for Medicare instead of receiving worker comp medical care benefits, all of them on both sides of the aisle since the early 60's ( the baby boomers ) turning a deaf ear is just as complicit as the republicans. The AFLCIO wrote up the contracts for their unions to do so. It was and is all planned out to screw and continue to screw those who worked for decades and there are millions of U.S. disabled citizens to prove it. Any democrat or republican who signed off of any of this sullies the very elected seat they sit on. Shame on all of them for taking money from corporations whether national or international. allowing them to store their taxes, WC & SSA/Medicare benefits to the tune of 2.7 trillion and the insurers with over 4 and half trillion in profits. The corporations only get their 21% tax break, WHEN they bring that 2.7 trillion back to the U.S. The sleeping giant is waking up and in part, as to why Trump was elected!
We are collecting billions of dollars from citizen's paychecks and making it near impossible for them to collect if they become disabled.
Imagine paying your car insurance for 30 years and getting into your first accident. The insurer tells you "ok we will look into this and perhaps get your car fixed in about 3 years"
This is exactly what social security is doing to people. Taking their money and not paying it back.
At what point will citizens refuse to pay FICA anymore due to the fact their money is going into a black hole basically being donated.
Bad analogy, in the car insurance you have proof of the accident, they don't send you a check just for alleging and accident with your car. Then you have to get repair estimates and then they will review and handle the claim. If your insurance covers it. You could choose to have liability and the damage to the other car is covered but not your own and you have the lower premium. Then you are left with nothing. Also your car insurance can drop you or charge you more based on your history of filing.
In disability you are stating that you cannot work at SGA levels or have a condition that will end in death. You have to prove that with medical documentation.
2:20 PM Actually, you would have proof of a fender bent in to a wheel, which is clearly out of alignment with the other front wheel. The mechanic says he can't fix it, but the judge, based on testimony of a so-called expert, claims that although your car can no longer drive at 55 MPH, it might still be able to go 15 MPH. "Therefore, it is not eligible, under our rules." Whether it can go 15MPH is irrelevant, it has been declared able to!
The SSA works just like any unscrupulous insurance company. 1. Pay only the most obvious (e.g. listing level) 2. Deny all others even if they are legitimate.
It's a numbers game. It's not the actual denying that irks me. It's that it takes 2-3 years to get a decision. This is unacceptable. Agree w/ 1:32 about the FICA taxes. This taxpayers insurance premiums. They should demand better service when having a claim.
The SSA and IRS are pretty timely in collecting those taxes. The SSA is just another horrible insurance company.
6 comments:
My two cents concerning the backlog as a long time insider:
1. Lack of appropriate funding from Republican dominated Congress over the past several years. (We already know the Republicans do not want to appropriate funds to administratively operate SSA/OHO, so they can argue the massive backlog and wait times demonstrate SSA Disability and Retirement benefits are not sustainable and that it is inevitable the Agency will go broke in the next several years. Of course, none of this is true, as raising, or completely eliminating the cap on earnings would solve the problem, not too mention SSA taxes on non-earned income, such as investments. Thus, the Republicans pretend to care about constituents of theirs seeking SSA benefits by sending meaningless letters to SSA on their behalf, while simultaneously refusing to appropriate necessary funds to administratively run SSA year after year. Quite a game, the Republicans engage).
2. The sudden and obsessive preoccupation of quality over quantity those who run SSA/OHO pushed for years in the recent past reached the point of ridiculousness and went far beyond the bounds of reasonableness. Although this, and the destruction of the SAA Program, was largely a response to the Huntington debacle, decision writing quality had absolutely nothing to do with Huntington, and quality of SAA O-T-R decisions should never have been an issue, providing the favorable decisions were supported by the evidence. By and large, questions raised over a portion of SAA decisions some of TPTB questioned were directly correlated with SAA’s in HO’s whose performance was almost exclusively evaluated by production numbers, EVEN THOUGH AGENCY POLICY WAS CONTRARY TO THIS. Thus, these actions and overreactions by those who run SSA/OHO substantially led to the unprecedented backlog which currently exists. Even when experienced ALJ’s and SAA’s repeatedly tried to warn TPTB of the inevitable increased backlog and suggested innovative ways to improve efficiency, they were met with deaf ears.
3. Misguided PRIORITIES of those who run SSA/OHO. For example, believing the best and most efficient way to operate the Agency is through oppressive, punitive, and extreme micromanagement of the workforce, and refusal to encourage employee engagement and listen to what those on the line have to say. This is not an effective and efficient manner to run a workforce in the 21st century.
I could continue with more specifics, but surely, you get the point.
The Democrats were in power for decades and with that said, they were and are just as responsible for the SSA/Medicare deliberate ineptness. Not acting on specifics for those disabled whether on the job or not, allowing injured workers to not collect worker comp benefits but be automatically shifted to SSDI but get SSI instead and having to pay for Medicare instead of receiving worker comp medical care benefits, all of them on both sides of the aisle since the early 60's ( the baby boomers ) turning a deaf ear is just as complicit as the republicans. The AFLCIO wrote up the contracts for their unions to do so. It was and is all planned out to screw and continue to screw those who worked for decades and there are millions of U.S. disabled citizens to prove it. Any democrat or republican who signed off of any of this sullies the very elected seat they sit on. Shame on all of them for taking money from corporations whether national or international. allowing them to store their taxes, WC & SSA/Medicare benefits to the tune of 2.7 trillion and the insurers with over 4 and half trillion in profits. The corporations only get their 21% tax break, WHEN they bring that 2.7 trillion back to the U.S. The sleeping giant is waking up and in part, as to why Trump was elected!
SOMETHING needs to be done, that's for sure.
We are collecting billions of dollars from citizen's paychecks and making it near impossible for them to collect if they become disabled.
Imagine paying your car insurance for 30 years and getting into your first accident. The insurer tells you "ok we will look into this and perhaps get your car fixed in about 3 years"
This is exactly what social security is doing to people. Taking their money and not paying it back.
At what point will citizens refuse to pay FICA anymore due to the fact their money is going into a black hole basically being donated.
What a scam!
Bad analogy, in the car insurance you have proof of the accident, they don't send you a check just for alleging and accident with your car. Then you have to get repair estimates and then they will review and handle the claim. If your insurance covers it. You could choose to have liability and the damage to the other car is covered but not your own and you have the lower premium. Then you are left with nothing. Also your car insurance can drop you or charge you more based on your history of filing.
In disability you are stating that you cannot work at SGA levels or have a condition that will end in death. You have to prove that with medical documentation.
2:20 PM Actually, you would have proof of a fender bent in to a wheel, which is clearly out of alignment with the other front wheel. The mechanic says he can't fix it, but the judge, based on testimony of a so-called expert, claims that although your car can no longer drive at 55 MPH, it might still be able to go 15 MPH. "Therefore, it is not eligible, under our rules." Whether it can go 15MPH is irrelevant, it has been declared able to!
The SSA works just like any unscrupulous insurance company. 1. Pay only the most obvious (e.g. listing level) 2. Deny all others even if they are legitimate.
It's a numbers game. It's not the actual denying that irks me. It's that it takes 2-3 years to get a decision. This is unacceptable. Agree w/ 1:32 about the FICA taxes. This taxpayers insurance premiums. They should demand better service when having a claim.
The SSA and IRS are pretty timely in collecting those taxes. The SSA is just another horrible insurance company.
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