Aug 31, 2021

Trustees Report Finally Released

      From a press release:

The Social Security Board of Trustees today released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance (OASI and DI) Trust Funds are projected to become depleted in 2034, one year earlier than projected last year, with 78 percent of benefits payable at that time. 

The OASI Trust Fund is projected to become depleted in 2033, one year sooner than last year’s estimate, with 76 percent of benefits payable at that time. The DI Trust Fund is estimated to become depleted in 2057, eight years earlier than last year’s estimate, with 91 percent of benefits still payable. ...


ERE Workaround


     Social Security has finally issued an alert about the ERE problem that has mostly been blocking access to its online systems for attorneys and others who represent claimant. The alert includes a workaround. Scroll halfway down the page to where it says "'Click this link to go to login page." That seems to work.

Briefs Filed In Puerto Rico SSI Case


      Probably before the end of this year the Supreme Court will hold an oral argument in the case of U.S. v. Vaello-Madero, which presents the issue of whether it is constitutional to deny SSI benefits to U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico. If the Supreme Court holds that it is unconstitutional it is estimated that several hundred thousand Puerto Ricans will file SSI claims. The brief on the merits on behalf of the U.S. was filed on June 7. The brief on the merits on behalf of Mr. Vaello-Madero was filed on August 30.

Aug 30, 2021

Online System Failure


      There's a major problem with the system that attorneys use to access their clients' files at Social Security. It's mostly been down since sometime Friday. We're getting the screen you see reproduced here. I've heard reports from some that they can get in but most can't. 

     Social Security has our e-mail addresses. Occasionally, they send out a blast e-mail to us all. For this major system failure? Nada. It's not like they can keep this system failure a secret from us. We know it's not working. A little e-mail saying "We're working on it. We'll let you know once we've got it back up and running" would be appreciated.

     By the way, Social Security employees use a somewhat different version of the same system. Is that working?

Social Security Headcount Declines To Lowest Level Since At Least 2008


  The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has posted updated numbers showing the headcount of employees at each agency. Here are Social Security's numbers as of June with earlier headcount numbers for comparison:

  •  June 2021 59,707
  • March 2021 60,675
  • December 2020 61,816
  • September 2020 61,447
  • June 2020 60,515
  • March 2020 60,659
  • December 2019 61,969
  • December 2018 62,946
  • December 2017 62,777
  • September 2017 62,297
  • June 2017 61,592
  • March 2017 62,183
  • December 2016 63,364
  • December 2015 65,518
  • December 2014 65,430
  • December 2013 61,957
  • December 2012 64,538
  • September 2011 67,136
  • December 2010 70,270
  • December 2009 67,486
  • December 2008 63,733

Aug 29, 2021

Good Report From CBO While Social Security Actuary Points Finger At Treasury

      From Marketwatch:

… According to the just-released analysis, Social Security’s Old Age and Survivor Insurance (OASI) trust fund will remain solvent a year longer than previously thought. This is the trust fund from which Social Security benefits are paid. …

This new analysis was produced by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the non-partisan agency that analyzes the budget impact of various legislative proposals. To put its findings in context, it’s helpful to remember that every year the office of Social Security’s chief actuary updates its assessment of the OASI trust fund’s solvency. Its annual report typically is released in the spring.

No such report has been forthcoming this year, however. In an email, the chief actuary’s office told me that the decision about when to release its annual report is not theirs to make but instead is made by the U.S. Treasury Department. An email earlier this summer to that department asking for when this report will be forthcoming went unanswered. …

     Anyone want to speculate on why Treasury is holding this up?

Aug 28, 2021

What's Going On With The Delay In The Trustees Report?


      Senator Mike Crapo, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee (which has jurisdiction over Social Security), is asking the Comptroller General of the United States and the head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to look into the question of why the annual report of the Social Security trustees is so late.

    If nothing else, I think that the public as well as Crapo deserve an explanation on why the trustees report is so late. It was due by April 1, 2021. Nobody gets excited if it's a little late (which it usually is) but a delay of nearly five months needs an explanation.

Aug 27, 2021

Silly Fibs Happen When SSA Employees Are Stretched Past Their Limits


      I seem to be hearing an increase in silly fibs from Social Security employees designed to terminate telephone calls without the Social Security employee having to actually do something about a problem. Example: We called to ask about a missing SSI attorney fee payment and were told "You've already been paid. What you thought was just your Title II attorney fee payment was actually a payment for both the SSI and Title II attorney fees."  No, it doesn't work like that. Title II and SSI payments are never mixed. Field office employees know this as well as I do. Yes, the windfall offset can wipe out an SSI attorney fee but it would have been simple to have told us that but that's not what we were told and there's certainly been no notice to that effect or we wouldn't have been calling in the first place.
     My point here isn't that Social Security employees are liars. No, they're generally truthful and helpful but things are just a mess at Social Security now. There are huge backlogs everywhere. Field office and payment center employees are overwhelmed. Stretch good employees past their limits and things happen that shouldn't happen. Social Security's grossly inadequate operating budget is the problem here.

Aug 26, 2021

Grim Numbers


      From David Weaver writing for The Hill:

Last week, for the first time, the Social Security Administration (SSA) released information on the number of beneficiaries who died in 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic began. There were nearly 400,000 more beneficiary deaths in 2020 than the agency tabulated for 2019, representing a 17 percent year-over-year increase. ...

SSA’s statistics almost certainly reflect the concentration of COVID-19 deaths among the populations the agency serves. The CDC's death data, which includes all individuals and not just Social Security beneficiaries, indicates about 500,000 more deaths occurred in the United States in 2020 than in 2019. The CDC estimates that approximately 375,000 deaths in 2020 were due to COVID-19. ...


Aug 25, 2021

Republicans Raise Questions About Andrew Saul's Firing And About Acting Commissioner

      Three Republican Senators and two Republican members of the House of Representatives have written the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to raise questions about the legality of the firing of Andrew Saul as Commissioner of Social Security and about Kilolo Kijakazi's tenure as Acting Commissioner. 

     I predict their effort is going nowhere. If the GOP really thought it had a case, it would be suing, not messing with GAO. The questions about Kijakazi are fairly ridiculous. They imply darkly that Kijakazi hadn't served long enough with Social Security to have been eligible to become Acting Commissioner. Leaving aside the question of whether the Vacancies Reform Act even applies in this situation since the Social Security Act itself says specifically that the President can designate anyone to be Acting Commissioner, Kijakazi started work at Social Security in January, 2021, in plenty of time to have been there 90 days, as required by the Vacancies Reform Act, before Saul was fired.

Aug 24, 2021

Getting A Bit Vicious

      From a blog post by the Revolving Door Project, which is sponsored by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington think tank:

HuffPost reported last week that the Biden administration is considering a few unusual names for the long-delayed nomination of Administrator of the Social Security Administration. On one hand, there’s Nancy Altman, the President of Social Security Works who has fought for the economic security of seniors and Social Security recipients for years. She has written three books on the history and economics of Social Security, and currently serves on the Social Security Advisory Board, which provides oversight of the program. In other words, she is eminently qualified for the job.

On the other hand are two well-connected political insiders, both of whom Revolving Door Project has a history with: Seth Harris and Donna Shalala.

Harris is the former Acting Labor Secretary under Obama who later turned to shadow lobbying and legal work for union-busting BigLaw firms. As I wrote for the American Prospect last October, Harris is one of the intellectual architects of Prop 22, the California law which protects companies like Uber and Lyft from having to recognize their workers as full employees entitled to the minimum wage and benefits. That’s actually a Social Security issue, too: now-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland championed a bill in 2019 to require gig economy companies to pay their workers’ Social Security and Medicare taxes, since firms don’t have to pay those taxes for independent contractors (which is how gig economy firms misclassify their workers.)

Harris’ work has rarely touched on Social Security directly, but in his own words, he believes the old retirement formula of Social Security and pensions “is largely gone,” and at least part of the solution involves simply having people work longer. As he said at a Brookings Institution panel in 2019, “we should be encouraging some people to work more unless we are going to really dramatically transform the system that we have. We have transformed it. But let me also say, we’ve transformed it to favor more work, not to favor less work.”

In 2020, notably, Harris was a founding member of a research program funded by the private annuities industry. He also wrote personal finance columns for an annuity company’s website.

For her part, Shalala was a first-term Representative from Florida when the Revolving Door Project helped expose that she hadn’t filed ethics paperwork regarding her personal stock holdings, just as she was appointed to a board overseeing CARES Act funding. That funding could have benefited firms in which Shalala was invested. She ultimately, predictably, lost reelection.

What makes an unremarkable one-time Congresswoman qualified to lead one of the largest and most popular benefit programs in the federal government? Shalala’s backers point to her eight years as Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Health and Human Services. But that’s an inauspicious credential for the would-be head of a benefits program: Clinton infamously campaigned to “end welfare as we know it,” a crusade against the poor and misfortuned which utterly failed to do anything but make the government less caring to the most vulnerable, as Bryce Covert documented at the New Republic.

Shalala’s HHS work touched Social Security most directly when she appointed the 1994 Advisory Council on Social Security. The Advisory Council originally was the body which provided oversight of Social Security, but was later replaced by today’s Social Security Advisory Board. The bipartisan board Shalala picked ultimately came back with three different recommendations for making Social Security less generous, in the name of balancing budgets. The proposals included taxing some benefits; investing Social Security in stocks and equities; and gradually moving the system over to a set of individual investment accounts, similar to switching out a pension for a 401(k). None of these proposals were ultimately adopted. ...

     At least I'm glad there are people who care who becomes the Commissioner of Social Security. There's always great interest in the programs Social Security administers but usually great apathy about the agency itself.

Aug 23, 2021

No Longer Even Tracking 800 Number Service?


     In the past, Social Security collected data on how well it was able to answer its 800 telephone number, calculating an agent busy rate -- the percentage of callers who receive a busy signal. That percentage for fiscal year 2019 was 14.1%. However, it appears from their recently posted numbers that they're either answering almost all of their calls or their system for tracking busy signals has broken down almost completely. I suppose it's also possible that their system is now set to keep ringing for a set number of minutes before just cutting off the caller and they're pretending that's not a busy signal. In any case, I'm pretty sure the recent numbers they've posted bear no reasonable relationship to caller experience. For the sake of completeness they post their 800 number speed to answer numbers as well but you can easily make those numbers look better just by hanging up on people more quickly.

     The published numbers on field office telephone service aren't so obviously fishy but they also seem way off from what I and my clients have been experiencing.

Aug 22, 2021

Some COLA History


Click on image to view full size

 

From the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

Aug 21, 2021

Good Job!

     From the Twitter feed of Social Security's Office of Inspector General:
Holly (left, pictured with our agent) noticed a customer trying to buy gift cards and asked a few questions. Holly saved the customer from being scammed out of thousands of dollars. Thank you Holly! #SlamtheScam #SocialSecurity #HollySlammedtheScam #GiftCardsAreForGifts
Image

Aug 20, 2021

Relief For Some Disabled People With Student Loans


      From National Public Radio:

The U.S. Education Department announced Thursday that it is discharging the outstanding student loans of more than 323,000 borrowers who have significant, permanent disabilities, and will remove barriers for borrowers who qualify for this relief in the future. The announcement will erase some $5.8 billion in debt and marks a significant step toward fixing a troubled debt relief program meant to help borrowers with disabilities. ...

Now, relief will become automatic for those who are identified through a data match with the Social Security Administration. The next match is in September, and based on those who were identified in June, the department expects more than 323,000 people to receive relief amounting to $5.8 billion. ...

     This won't be for all recipients of Social Security disability benefits -- just those assigned to the MINE (Medical Improvement Not Expected) category. Those who are not in the MINE category may still get relief they must apply and it's not automatic.

Aug 19, 2021

Social Security Benefits Suspended Because Of The Pandemic

U.S.-Mexico Border Crossing In Normal Times

      I received a message recently from a woman whose Social Security benefits have been suspended because of the pandemic. (Note the contact form on the right side of this page which allows you to send me a message, anonymously if you wish.) You may wonder how Covid-19 could lead to suspension of benefits but you'll see how this is happening.

     This woman was receiving widows benefits on the account of her late husband who was a U.S. citizen but she's not a U.S. citizen. She's a Mexican national living in Mexico. A somewhat odd provision of the Social Security Act says that she can only receive dependent benefits while living outside the U.S. if she comes to the U.S. on a regular basis, either at least once every 30 days or at least once every six months if she stays in the U.S. at least 30 days. 42 U.S.C. §402(t). Before the pandemic, this wasn't a problem for her. I don't know her circumstances but she probably lives near the border. In normal times, she might have crossed the border frequently to visit family or friends or do some shopping but border crossings are now limited to "essential travel" so she can't visit the U.S. which means her widows benefits are suspended.

     The provision cutting off this woman's benefits doesn't apply if the U.S. has a Social Security treaty with the other country providing an exception. 42 U.S.C. §402(t)(3). The U.S. has a Social Security treaty with seven countries providing an exception but not with Mexico. We might have a Social Security treaty with Mexico covering this issue except that some years ago Republicans got word that the U.S. had negotiated a Social Security treaty with Mexico and went ballistic, spewing ridiculous lies about what a Social Security treaty with Mexico would mean. A Social Security treaty with Mexico would only address boring, uncontroversial issues such as this lady's situation, avoiding double taxation of wages, mutual assistance between social security agencies, totalizing wages for a handful of people who have legally worked on both sides of the border but who couldn't otherwise qualify for benefits in either country, etc. The result of the Republican lies is that the treaty that was negotiated in 2004 has never been officially approved and that for years Social Security's appropriations have included a provision that no money can be used to implement a Social Security agreement with Mexico. 

     I think it is long past time to approve the U.S.-Mexico Social Security agreement and remove the restrictive provision in Social Security's appropriations. Quit appeasing the racists.

     I also wonder about the provision in 42 U.S.C.§402(t)(2) that says that the limitation on paying benefits to non-resident non-U.S. nationals doesn't apply if the "Commissioner of Social Security finds [that the other country] has in effect a social insurance or pension system which is of general application" and meets certain requirements. I know that Mexico has a social security system but I don't know enough about it to say whether it technically meets the requirements of this provision. I can't even find a list of countries who do qualify under this provision. I'd be grateful if somebody could point me to a list.

     By the way, don't waste your time trying to post racist MAGA crap in response to this. I'll never allow it to show up.

AARP Concerned About Idea Of SSA Administering Paid Leave Plan


     From the AARP:

...  Lawmakers are considering a paid leave benefit that is funded by taxpayers.  Such paid leave benefits would be administered through an existing federal agency.  Currently, the Social Security Administration is being considered to manage the paid leave benefit.

AARP sought to understand the views of voters 50-plus on the topic.  While there is broad support for such a program, older voters are concerned that administering this benefit through the SSA would negatively impact the administration of Social Security benefits to retirees. ...

     This is the first I've heard that Social Security might be involved in administering a paid leave plan. If that's to happen, the agency certainly needs a lot more resources. It would be a throwback to the 1960s when Social Security was running Medicare and to the 1930s and early 1940s when Social Security was running a number of other programs. Social Security's administrative funding was vastly better in those days.

Aug 18, 2021

Candidates For Commissioner Position

     From HuffPost:

An aide to President Joe Biden on labor issues is among the top contenders to lead the Social Security Administration, though he faces competition from a longtime expert on the agency and a high-profile former member of Congress. 

Seth Harris, a former deputy labor secretary who is now a member of the National Economic Council, is one of the leading contenders for the post, according to multiple sources, alongside former Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), who was secretary of health and human services in the Clinton administration; and Social Security Works President Nancy Altman. All three have engaged in a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to win support from members of Congress and unions.  ... 

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), who chairs a key subcommittee overseeing Social Security in the House, has also quietly weighed in with a letter to Biden backing Altman.  ...


Andrew Saul Sounds Bitter


      From a piece by former Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul for Townhall.com, a right wing website:

Even though my time as the Social Security Administration (SSA) commissioner has ended, the partisan attacks on the agency and my record have not. Just this week, U.S. Reps. John Larson (D-CT) and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) continued to repeat false claims about my tenure as SSA commissioner. ...

On April 21, 2021, I sent a letter to Rep. Larson outlining the need for additional  funding to make up for the budgetary and workforce challenges SSA was facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rep. Larson and the House of Representatives ignored this request and as a result, SSA was forced to operate on a budget that was $900 million less than I requested.  ...

The only solution to addressing the backlogs of unprocessed mail and other SSA services was to bring SSA workers back to the office. SSA informed Larson and his staff in August of 2020 we needed to start bringing union employees back to the offices involuntarily, but safely, to address workloads that couldn’t be done virtually, such as mail. Despite our warnings, on February 11, 2021, Rep. Larson and his staff objected to our putting a handful of employees in an office in Houston, Texas, to address problems similar to those noted in the recent SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report. Rep. Larson insisted I call him, despite the fact he refused to take my calls when I was seeking assistance in funding. ...

It is hypocritical that Rep. Larson now faults me for backlogged workloads when he and his union bosses at SSA stymied my efforts to address these challenges.  ...

My office briefed Larson’s staff multiple times a week throughout the pandemic. If he had concerns with our response to the pandemic, he should have raised these issues to my attention or even offered to work with me to solve problems. His response then, as it is now, was to engage in political grandstanding and take his direction from the unions. Rep. Larson was the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Social Security the entire time I served as SSA commissioner. If he was so concerned about my management, why didn’t he hold an oversight hearing to address his concerns? He failed to hold a single hearing on the service challenges facing SSA. One might think he was negligent in his duties as Chairman and should resign, but I know he was afraid to allow real facts to come forward. For instance, he avoided my calls when I sought his support for funding and to get cooperation from unions. Rather than conduct meaningful oversight, Rep. Larson prefers to hide behind union talking points and issue uncontested press releases full of lies.

     Blaming Larson for Social Security's operating budget is mostly ridiculous. Larson isn't even a member of the Appropriations Committee that has jurisdiction over the agency's operating budget. The real problem was primarily in the Senate which was then controlled by Republicans. However, it is possible that if Larson had held hearings about Social Security's service delivery problems that the agency's appropriation might have been increased.

     By the way, why is Saul only now admitting that his agency was unable to provide adequate service and that the agency's operating budget was the main reason? I know that insulting people you need to work with isn't a good plan but being completely quiet in public about a severely inadequate agency budget isn't such a good plan either.

     Also, by the way, I'm glad that Saul is no longer making any effort to obscure the obvious -- he's a highly partisan Republican. That's how he ran the agency. That's why he had to be fired. He never should have tried to hang on after Inauguration Day.

Aug 17, 2021

My Take On Encouraging Representation

     I had posted a link earlier to Social Security's request for opinions about how to increase equity in Social Security's programs and services. One question they asked specifically is "Are there incentives or other changes you suggest for encouraging attorney and non-attorney representation for claimants of color and other underserved communities?" I addressed myself primarily to this issue since it's the one I know best. Below is a somewhat edited version of what I posted. Post your own opinions on Social Security's website.

I represent Social Security claimants so I have some knowledge of this subject as well as a self-interest which I acknowledge.

I suggest that the agency admit it lacks manpower to provide effective assistance to claimants. Since that is the case, it should enable third parties to make money providing those services. This may be a bitter pill for the agency to swallow but it is time to be honest about the situation.

The Social Security Act says that fees for representing claimants must be approved by the agency. 42 U.S.C. §406(a)(1). The agency has interpreted this provision broadly. Its position is that charging a fee just to help a claimant file a claim or an appeal must be approved by the agency. As a result no one is providing these services for a fee apart from those seeking contingent fees for much broader representation. This leaves a large number of people to seek services that the Social Security Administration is unable to supply. Social Security should announce that that merely helping a claimant file a claim or an appeal is not the sort of representation for which fee approval is required. This would allow attorneys and H.&R. Block and whoever else to provide these services for modest fees. As an alternative, if the agency still wants to control these fees, the Social Security Act provides authority for the Commissioner to simply approve a maximum fee. ("The Commissioner of Social Security may, by rule and regulation, prescribe the maximum fees which may be charged for services performed in connection with any claim ...) The Commissioner could announce that the maximum fee to help file a claim is, let's say, $250 and the maximum fee for helping to file an appeal is $100. Those providing these services would not have to submit a fee petition. I will concede that this suggestion helps those with some money more than it helps the destitute but one would hope that even the poor could come up with the modest fees I'm talking about. It would also free up agency personnel to provide more help for poor claimants. If Social Security cannot itself provide these services to all who need them, why stand in the way of others providing these services for modest fees?

We also need to have more disability claimants represented throughout the process.

When it's hard to make a living as a Social Security attorney, as it is now, the first thing you do is to be more careful about the cases you take on. This leaves more claimants with marginal cases without representation. This has the effect of discouraging them from pursuing claims. I'm sure that hearing offices notice that a significant percent of claimants never appear for their hearings. Do they notice that almost all of the no shows are unrepresented? Probably the biggest reason for the no shows is that the claimants have tried to find an attorney but became discouraged when they were turned down several times. Less obviously, potential claimants never file a claim to begin with because they couldn't find an attorney. However, cases that may appear weak when an attorney makes a quick decision on whether to take on a client may actually be much stronger than they appear.

How do we encourage attorneys to take on more cases? The incentives must be economic so, yes, my recommendations will be self-serving. Raising the fee cap and indexing it for inflation is the obvious start but that only gets us so far. Notice that SSI claimants are represented at a lower rate than Title II claimants. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that SSI claimants have less access to medical care, but the lower benefit rate for SSI claimants is a major factor, since that means a lower average fee. It would take legislation but the attorney fee in SSI cases could be changed to 1/3 of back benefits or there could be a minimum fee for SSI cases. 

 If you really want to encourage representation, extend the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) to Social Security. EAJA shifts the fee burden to the agency when it loses. EAJA covers most adjudication at other agencies. Why except Social Security?

It would also be great if Legal Services had much higher funding so that its affiliates could once again represent claimants in a big way. That hasn't happened since the 1980s!

Aug 16, 2021

SSA Wants Input On Hidden Barriers

Input on Equity in SSA Programs: Hidden Barriers

Our next National Disability Forum (NDF) is scheduled for September 15, 2021, and is titled Equity in SSA Programs: Hidden Barriers. To prepare for the NDF, we are seeking feedback on questions related to the forum’s topics, Advancing Equity and Equity in Claimant Representation. We are using an online tool called Engage SSA to collect suggestions from claimants, advocates, the public, civil rights organizations, community-based organizations, representatives, and other governmental agencies about enhancing equity in SSA’s programs and services.

Below are some sample questions.

  • Are you aware of any unique needs for people of color and other underserved communities that we should consider when evaluating our programs? If so, how can we meet these needs?
  • How can we help underserved communities and their members overcome barriers they may encounter when enrolling in and accessing benefits?
  • Are there incentives or other changes you suggest for encouraging attorney and non-attorney representation for claimants of color and other underserved communities?

You can provide input on the Engage SSA from now until Friday, August 20, 2021. Please see the Engage SSA guide for details on using the site.



Aug 15, 2021

Pandemic Has Had Quite An Effect On Disability Claims

      From The Impact of Covid-19 on Older Workers’ Employment and Social Security Spillovers by Gopi Shah Goda, Emilie Jackson, Lauren Hersch Nicholas and Sarah See Stith, a presentation given at a conference presented by the Retirement and Disability Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison:

Click on image to view full size

     

     So, what happens when the pandemic is over?

Aug 13, 2021

Maximus Loses Ticket To Work Contract

      From Washington Technology:

Maximus has lost an incumbent contract at the Social Security Administration after the company saw its protest denied by the Government Accountability Office.

The company has held the Ticket Program Manager contract since at least 2015. But this time around, Cognosante won the contract and Maximus took its challenge to GAO. Maximus argued that the evaluation of proposals was not conducted properly.

According to the GAO protest docket, the Maximus protest was denied Aug. 6. ...

The Ticket Program Manager contract is worth $79.6 million and runs for five years. Cognosante and Maximus were the only two bidders on the contract, according to the Federal Procurement Data System. ...


Aug 12, 2021

Senior Staffers Added At Social Security


      From Politico(emphasis added):

The Biden administration is racing to rebuild senior agency roles depleted by the previous president, hiring at the fastest rate in decades, a POLITICO analysis found.

In the first three months of 2021, the Biden administration hired more than twice as many senior government executives than Donald Trump did in the same timeframe, a staffing spree aimed at rebuilding agencies rocked by turmoil during Trump’s war on the so-called “deep state.”

All told, Biden hired at least 319 senior executives in his first three months. The biggest beneficiaries? The Department of Housing and Urban Development tops the list, with Biden increasing senior staffing by 6 percent from Trump’s September 2020 levels. That’s followed by the Social Security Administration and the Treasury Department, with 4 percent and 3 percent bumps respectively. ...


 

Legal Immigrants Can Now Get Green Card And Social Security Card At The Same Time


      From the Miami Herald:

One of the first things immigrants in the United States often do right after becoming legal permanent residents is go to a Social Security Administration office to get a new Social Security number or card replacement, which allows its holder to work anywhere in the country without conditions. 

 But starting now, for the first time, all new lawful permanent residents will have a chance to avoid this dual process.

The Biden administration announced on Monday a partnership between the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) that will allow immigrants to apply for their residence or green cards, as well as their Social Security number (SSN) in one fell swoop. ...


Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article253399675.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article253399675.html#storylink=cpy

Aug 11, 2021

I Understand The Frustration But ...

      From Michael Hiltzig writing in the Los Angeles Times:

The career of Garrison Keillor, the folksy host who revived the American tradition of gathering every week in front of the radio, appears to be in something of an eclipse. ...

An allegation of “inappropriate behavior” with a female assistant spurred Minnesota Public Radio, his broadcast home for more than four decades, to sever its ties with Keillor. ...

So it’s conceivable that a recent column posted on his website in which he equates the Social Security Administration with the Nazi Schutzstaffel — that is, the SS — represents nothing more than his attempt to grasp at the public attention that has been slipping away. Even in those terms, however, it’s over-the-top and repugnant.

Describing his travails getting caught in Social Security phone message hell when he tried to obtain a replacement Medicare card, Keillor wrote of “Social Security, whose initials are the same as Hitler’s Schutzstaffel, which is no mere coincidence.” ...

Social Security Administration has been systematically underfunded for years, leading inexorably to a decline in customer service. ...

President Biden is calling for a 10% increase in the program’s budget, but that’s not nearly enough to bring customer service up to where it should be — indeed, where it was more than a decade ago. ...


Aug 10, 2021

Reopening Plans Are Up In The Air


     The Washington Post reports that plans to reopen federal offices are up in the air across the board, including at Social Security. 
     I'm amazed the reporter got someone on the phone at Social Security's field office in Fayetteville, NC. I need to ask them how they did it.

Aug 9, 2021

Productivity Down, Backlog Up

        The report shown below was obtained from Social Security by the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) and published in its newsletter, which is not available online to non-members. It contains basic operating statistics for Social Security's Office of Hearings Operations (OHO). 

     Note that despite the availability of overtime at OHO, the backlog has been creeping up as productivity has declined.

Click on image to view full size

 

Aug 8, 2021

Social Security Reviewing SSI Reductions Due To Covid Financial Assistance

     From a recent new posting to Social Security's Covid-19 page:

We recently changed our rules about what financial assistance can affect your eligibility for SSI or your monthly SSI payment amount. Specifically, we no longer count the financial assistance listed below against your eligibility or payment amount. We are reviewing SSI claims and other SSI records going back to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to restore SSI payments for people whose SSI was affected by receiving any of the assistance listed below. ...

  • Economic Impact Payments (EIP)
  • State Stimulus Payments (Some exclusions may apply.)
  • Unemployment Assistance (also includes regular unemployment)
  • Paycheck Protection Program (PPP): Loan Forgiveness to Employers and Self-Employed Individuals
  • Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program: Loans/Grants to Employers and Self-Employed Individuals /Grants
  • Coronavirus Food Assistance Program – Direct Payments to Farmers and Ranchers
  • COVID-19 Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program
  • COVID-19 Funeral Assistance
  • Emergency Rental Assistance Fund
  • Emergency Assistance for Rural Housing/Rural Rental Assistance
  • Homeowner Assistance Fund
  • Housing Assistance and Supportive Services Programs for Native Americans
  • Tribal Payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund and the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
  • Supporting Foster Youth and Families
  • Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
  • Emergency Assistance to Children and Families through the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund
  • Farm Loan Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers
  • USDA Assistance and Support for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers, Ranchers, Forest Land Owners and Operators, and Groups ...

Aug 6, 2021

Visitors To Federal Offices Must Be Vaccinated Or Show A Negative Test Result -- Except That Doesn't Apply To Social Security

      From a set of questions and answers for federal agencies issued by the White House:

... Visitors to Federal buildings should be asked to provide information about vaccination status. ... Visitors who are not fully vaccinated or who decline to provide information about their vaccination status must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test from no later than the previous 3 days prior to entry to a Federal building. ...

Agencies should provide visitors with the Certification of Vaccination form when they enter a Federal building or Federally controlled indoor worksite. ...

Individuals entering a Federal building, Federally controlled indoor worksite, or Federal land to obtain a public service or benefit do not need to complete the form or show documentation of a negative COVID-19 test result. However, if they are not fully vaccinated, they must comply with all relevant CDC guidance and safety protocols, including mask-wearing and physical distancing requirements. ...

    This is nuts. First, you say that visitors to federal offices must provide information about vaccination status or show proof of a negative test result but a few paragraphs later you say that doesn't apply if the visitor is there to "obtain a public service or benefit." Is keeping Social Security employees safe not as important as keeping other federal employees safe? Are you trying to make it hard to reopen Social Security offices? Why are we appeasing the anti-vaccine nutjobs?

Where Is The Trustees Report?

      The ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Mike Crapo, is asking why we haven't yet seen the annual report of the Social Security Trustees. It's now more than four months overdue. I don't know if the report has ever been this late before. Crapo's staff has been informally asking about the report but not getting answers so Crapo is now writing a letter to the Trustees and issuing a press release. I suppose the delay is related to the pandemic in one way or another but this is getting ridiculous. Senator Crapo certainly deserves an answer.

Aug 5, 2021

Joondeph Named SSAB Chair


     From a press release:

President Joe Biden has named Bob Joondeph Chair of the Social Security Advisory Board. Joondeph replaces Kim Hildred, who was designated Chair by President Donald Trump in July 2017.  ...

Joondeph has a 25-year plus tenure as Executive Director of Disability Rights Oregon, a state protection and advocacy organization. Joondeph graduated from Brown University and Case Western Reserve Law School.

Aug 4, 2021

Social Security Reopening Plan Pending At OMB


      FCW (which used to be called Federal Computer Weekly, I think) has a piece up on labor relations at Social Security. It's mostly union griping that there hasn't been enough change since Trump and Saul left office. However, buried 20 paragraphs down is the news that Social Security submitted its reopening plan to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on July 26. Previously, we knew that Social Security had obtained an extension of time to submit a plan but we didn't know when it was due. It's apparent from the FCW piece that the unions know nothing about the reopening plan. They would have preferred to negotiate it before any plan was submitted to OMB and still hope to negotiate it after a plan is approved.

Aug 3, 2021

New Vulnerable Populations Liasions


      From Emergency Message EM-21035 REV:

... The Social Security Administration is working diligently to ensure that we continue to provide the same level of service to all our customers, including People Facing Barriers (PFBs, formerly referred to as Vulnerable Populations), as offices remain open by appointment only for limited, critical situations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the purpose of this EM, PFBs are limited to the aged; children with disabilities; individuals with limited English proficiency; individuals experiencing homelessness; individuals diagnosed with mental illness; individuals recently released from incarceration; and veterans.

As of June 26, 2021, SSA selected Claims Technical Experts or Claims Representatives for the Vulnerable Populations Liaison (VPL) position in Field Offices (FOs) across the country. The VPL will ensure that SSA provides quality and compassionate service to the most vulnerable communities who experience challenges in contacting SSA due to physical or language barriers, medical conditions, or inadequate access to the internet. ...

     How do I find out who the VPL is for a field office? Will they be any less difficult to reach than other field office employees?


Aug 2, 2021

So True


      From The Tax Time by Annie Lowrey in The Atlantic about what she calls " 'time tax'—a levy of paperwork, aggravation, and mental effort imposed on citizens in exchange for benefits that putatively exist to help them": 

... American benefit programs are, as a whole, difficult and sometimes impossible for everyday citizens to use. Our public policy is crafted from red tape, entangling millions of people who are struggling to find a job, failing to feed their kids, sliding into poverty, or managing a disabling health condition. 

The United States government—whether controlled by Democrats, with their love of too-complicated-by-half, means-tested policy solutions; or Republicans, with their love of paperwork-as-punishment; or both, with their collective neglect of the implementation and maintenance of government programs—has not just given up on making benefits easy to understand and easy to receive. It has in many cases purposefully made the system difficult, shifting the burden of public administration onto individuals and discouraging millions of Americans from seeking aid. The government rations public services through perplexing, unfair bureaucratic friction. And when people do not get help designed for them, well, that is their own fault. ...


Aug 1, 2021

The Case For Updating SSI

      Jonathan M. Stein and Chi-Ser Tran have written a piece for Common Dreams giving a strong argument for updating Supplemental Security Income. 
     I think there's good reason for hope that the budget reconciliation bill the Senate will consider later this year will contain positive SSI provisions, although probably not all that's really needed.