Dec 31, 2024
Electronic Payroll Data Rules Are Now Final
The final rules on "Use of Electronic Payroll Data To Improve Program Administration" are published in the Federal Register today. They become effective on March 3, 2025.
What If?
It's unlikely to happen but let's say that just before Inauguration Day, the Social Security Administration finally releases its new occupational information system and let's say it shows no unskilled, sedentary jobs. People would reasonably ask why it wasn't released earlier but, still, this would be a nice bomb for the Biden Administration to leave behind for a new Commissioner.
As I say, it's unlikely to happen but a guy can have dreams.
Dec 30, 2024
WEP/GPO Legislation Contains A Year Of Back Benefits
The interesting wrinkle about the bill that will eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset is that it’s retroactive. If President Biden signs the bill, and I’ve seen no indication that he won’t, it’s effective January 2024. Those who have been subjected to WEP or GPO will get back benefits going back to the beginning of this year. I’m surprised the back benefits part made it through the legislative process.
Dec 29, 2024
Jimmy Carter 1924-2024
It is a long-standing tradition that federal offices are closed on the day of the funeral of a former President. At Social Security, this has meant the cancelling of all appointments and hearings on that day as employees have the day off.
Dec 27, 2024
What Happened To Michelle Murray's Lawsuit?
I posted this on October 31, 2023:
Michelle Murray, Chief Counsel of Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG), has filed suit on her own behalf pro se (meaning she is representing herself) in federal court in Pennsylvania against Debbie Shaw (Supervisory Attorney at the Office of the Counsel for Investigations and Enforcement -- or OCIE -- at OIG), Joscelyn Funnie (Senior Executive at OCIE), Lisa Rein (a reporter at the Washington Post), WP Company (which owns the Washington Post -- identified in the complaint as "left-centered"), Faith Williams (Director of the Effective and Accountable Government Program at the Project on Government Oversight) and the Project on Government Oversight. The complaint alleges defamation, tortious interference, and false light invasion of privacy. My name is mentioned but not as a defendant.
Does anyone know what ever happened to this suit? Is it still around?
Dec 26, 2024
Dec 25, 2024
A Christmas Question: Can You Overturn It?
From the Baltimore Sun:
… Martin O’Malley has been called to testify before the House Oversight Committee next month about an agreement he signed to allow some Social Security employees to work remotely through 2029.
O’Malley signed the agreement in late November, two days before leaving his Social Security Administration position.
James Comer, a Republican representative from Kentucky who serves as the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, wrote in a letter to O’Malley that his agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees to guarantee a minimum amount of telework for 42,000 Social Security employees through 2029 “will tie the hands of your successor at SSA for the duration of the next administration, and beyond.”
Dec 24, 2024
Dec 23, 2024
WSJ Wants To Know "Who Needs 1,000 Social Security Offices?"
The Wall Street Journal asks "Who Needs 1,000 Social Security Offices?" Of course, they think the field offices can be replaced by online services. I'll bet the authors couldn't define the difference between Disabled Adult Child and SSI Disabled Children's benefits. In other words, they assume that paying retirement benefits is basically all that Social Security does because they really know little about what the agency does.
Dec 22, 2024
Dec 21, 2024
WEP/GPO Bill Passes
The bill to end the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset has passed its final Congressional step and will become law once President Biden signs it.
I have a few questions about this:
- What’s the effective date?
- Can Social Security implement this without manual recalculations?
- Were there any other provisions in the bill apart from WEP/GPO?
Goss Retiring
Stephen Goss is retiring as Social Security’s Chief Actuary. He has been a public servant for 51 years. Republicans have complained about Goss over the years, basically because he told them the truth rather than the fantasies they like to believe. I fear that a right wing nut job will replace him.
Dec 20, 2024
Chiropractic Office Involved In Fraud Scheme
From a press release:
The 25th patient of a Jefferson County, Missouri chiropractic office involved in a multi-million dollar disability fraud conspiracy was sentenced Wednesday as part of an ongoing fraud investigation. Six more patients are set for sentencing next year. ...
The two chiropractors who owned and operated PowerMed Inc., Thomas G. Hobbs and Vivian Carbone-Hobbs, are in federal prison, serving four-year prison terms. Hobbs was ordered to repay $4.3 million; Carbone-Hobbs was ordered to repay $16.4 million. ...
Many patients worked at Anheuser-Busch. ...
[The chiropractors] charged patients fees of thousands of dollars to prepare disability forms and coach them on how to lie about their ability to perform basic daily tasks such as lifting, standing, walking, sitting and taking care of their personal needs. According to evidence and testimony presented at the trials ... some patients were presented with a “Disability Package Pricing” sheet that listed the fees ranging as high as $8,600 for PowerMed to handle various disability claims options, including qualifying for Social Security disability, short-term disability, private insurance and insurance that would pay off auto or other loans. The total fees exceeded more than $13,000 for some patients. ...
I don't understand how anything coming from a chiropractor's office could have much impact on a disability claim. They sure don't when they come up -- legitimately -- in my clients’ cases.
Dec 19, 2024
WEP/GPO Bill Advances While Government Shutdown Looms
The Hill reports that the bill to end the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset passed a crucial vote in the Senate yesterday 73-27. This isn’t final passage but the margin suggests that the bill is likely to pass. It has already been passed the House of Representatives.
In other legislative news, President-elect Trump seems to be ordering a government shutdown. At least he’s ordering Republican legislators not to vote for the Continuing Resolution they just negotiated with Democrats. The GOP can’t pass the CR without Democratic votes in this Congress and probably not in the next. Most of Social Security will stay open if the shutdown happens beginning December 20 but there would be no money to continue paying salaries for long. I have no idea what the endgame is here.
If you voted for Trump, this is the chaos you voted for.
Dec 18, 2024
CR Contains Nothing For Social Security
The text of the Continuing Resolution to prevent a government shutdown is out. I see no additional funding for Social Security operations, not that I was expecting any.
WEP/GPO Bill Expected To.Reach Senate Floor Today
The bill to end the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, which has already passed the House of Representatives, is expected to reach the Senate floor today.
Regulations Advance
Two non-controversial regulatory packages have moved forward. The Use of Electronic Payroll Data To Improve Program Administration package has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget for publication as final regs. Final rules on Availability of Information and Records to the Public, concerning Freedom of Information Act requests have been published in the Federal Register today.
Dec 17, 2024
Honor For Social Security Foremother
From a press release:
Today [December 16] President Biden will sign a proclamation establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine, to honor the historic contributions of America’s first woman Cabinet Secretary and the longest-serving Secretary of Labor.
Frances Perkins was the leading architect behind the New Deal and led many labor and economic reforms that continue to benefit Americans today. During her 12 years as Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she envisioned and helped create Social Security ...
Frances Perkins deserves more credit for the creation of Social Security than anyone else.
Dec 16, 2024
Crunch Time For Continuing Resolution
From Newsweek:
Customer services from the Social Security Administration (SSA) could be subject to delays in 2025 if [no additional] funding is agreed on by lawmakers before the end of the year.
The government agency was forced to implement a hiring freeze in November after Congress denied additional funding for the SSA in its September continuing resolution. ...
However, in September, House Republicans blocked what is known as a budget anomaly request by the Biden administration for an increase in the SSA's current 2024 annual funding level... . With a December 20 deadline set for another stopgap government funding bill, it remains to be seen whether the same request will be granted to fund the agency through to March 2025. ...
SSA spokesperson Mark Hinkle told news outlet Government Executive that, without the funding, the agency is being forced to "operate conservatively."
"We have been forced to restrict hiring to critical targeted areas and will not be able to invest in new information technology development," Hinkle said.
"In addition, we have reduced overtime to historically low levels and essentially have no overtime to serve the customers who are waiting in our lobbies late in the day or to clear workloads that we are unable to get to during core hours of operations." ...
The deadline for the next continuing resolution is December 20.
Dec 15, 2024
Dec 14, 2024
Uneven Benefits Of Education In Reducing Disability
From Educated but on Social Security Disability Insurance: Minorities’ Diminished Returns by Shervin Assari, Babak Najand, Hossein Zare and Amanda Sonnega:
... The primary aim of this study was to examine the relationship between educational attainment (measured in years of schooling) and the likelihood of receiving SSDI, with a specific focus on exploring how this relationship varies by race and ethnicity ...
Higher educational attainment was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of receiving SSDI in the overall sample. However, consistent with the MDRs framework, the protective effect of education was significantly weaker for both Black and Latino individuals compared to non-Latino Whites. Black and Latino participants with similar levels of education as their non-Latino White counterparts were more likely to receive SSDI, reflecting diminished returns on educational attainment for these groups. ...
Dec 13, 2024
New 1696 Asks For Info On Kids -- Why?
Above is a part of the new form SSA-1696 used to appoint a person as a Social Security claimant's attorney. Notice that it asks for the names of Social Security numbers of the claimant's dependents. This was not required in the past.
Obtaining this information isn't as easy as one might thing. Parents don't have the Social Security numbers of their children handy. Fathers who are estranged from the mothers of their children may find it impossible to come up with the Social Security numbers. Social Security itself isn't trying to gather the Social Security numbers of dependents at the time a claim is filed.
What's the point of this? Does Social Security want to play a gotcha game, refusing to pay a fee on dependent benefits unless the name and Social Security number are listed properly?
Dec 12, 2024
Senate Vote Coming On WEP-GPO Bill
Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, has promised that there will be a vote on the bill to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offsets which reduce Social Security benefits for those receiving pension benefits not based upon earnings upon which there had been no FICA withheld. This is mostly former employees of state and local governments which did not pay the FICA tax. The bill has already passed the House of Representatives.
Dec 11, 2024
How Do You Pronounce Bisignano?
Dec 10, 2024
Will Frank Bisignano Telework?
 |
| Coming back to Social Security? |
You may remember that former Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul tried to end telework at Social Security while he was teleworking himself. He never moved from New York City to the Baltimore area. That didn't go over well with agency employees.
The newly nominated Commissioner of Social Security is the CEO of Fiserv which is based in Milwaukee. However, Bisignano never moved from his hometown of New York City when Fiserv moved its corporate headquarters to Milwaukee raising the question of whether Bisginano will move to the Baltimore area if he is confirmed as Commissioner. I don't think that we can say he's teleworking at Fiserv. There may be good reasons why the CEO of a financial services company would be located in New York City but after Saul you have to wonder whether Bisignano intends to move. Trying to end telework for everyone else when you're teleworking yourself isn't a good look. In any case, if you're serious about being Commissioner of Social Security you should be living and working in the Baltimore area.
I hope this issue comes up in Bisignano's confirmation hearing.
Dec 9, 2024
Does Frank Bisignano Realize What He's Gotten Himself Into?
I'm surprised that Frank Bisignano wants the job as Social Security Commissioner. He's now the highly paid CEO of a very successful corporation. It's his niche and apparently he's very good at it. Is he aware of the problems he'll face at Social Security?
- If he thinks he'll lead Social Security out of its long term financing problems, he's deluded. Senators of both parties will demand that he promise that he will stay completely away from long term financing issues. He can't be confirmed without making such promises. For that matter, I'm pretty sure that Trump would want him to stay away from such issues. Also, if he actually looks into the political thicket surrounding it, he'll want nothing to do with Social Security "reform." Let Elon Musk take that bullet.
- If he thinks he can in any sense "transform" Social Security, he's deluded. There's no simple fix, technical or otherwise, for Social Security's service delivery problems. There's not even a complicated set of fixes that don't take a lot of money and time. It's highly unlikely that he'll get more money.
- If he thinks that he'll have an advantage because he knows nothing about Social Security and won't be held back by old ideas, he's deluded. In any job, it helps to know how things are already set up, what the obstacles to change are, and what ideas have been tried before and how they worked out. The people who came before you weren't fools (except for Jo Anne Barnhart). Social Security isn't a Gordian knot and Bisignano won’t have have a sword.
- If he thinks that the real problem at Social Security is that federal employees are stupid and lazy, he's deluded. That sort of arrogance would lead to indifference, if not joy, in losing the experienced, hard-working employees who keep the Social Security Administration afloat. Not every agency employee is a star but they mostly do their jobs ably. There just aren't enough of them.
- If he thinks that ending telework will make Social Security significantly more effective, he's deluded. I've been around long enough to know that telework makes little, if any, difference. If telework ends, some percentage of employees will quit. My guess is that it won't be that high a percentage but that's just a guess. Nobody knows. Losing even a few experienced people will hurt an agency that's as bad off as the Social Security Administration. The commonly held view that Social Security is simple is simply wrong. For example, there's not just one type of Social Security disability benefit. Depending upon how you count them, there are as many as seven (remember that blindness is a separate category under both Title II and Title XVI)! And don't get him started on the windfall offset! It'll blow his mind. It takes long training and considerable experience for an employee to become competent.
- If he thinks he can transform the Social Security Administration with new IT, he's deluded. When the companies that Gisignano has led have needed to spend money to acquire new IT systems, all he's had to do was to convince a complaisant board of directors to approve the money. The money was available since the companies were profitable. The situation at Social Security is entirely different. Convincing the White House to approve additional funding will be hard enough. Convincing Congress is much more difficult. Martin O'Malley is a born lobbyist. How far did he get? Is Gisignano any kind of lobbyist?
- If he thinks that fighting employee unions will make the Social Security Administration more effective, he's deluded. The unions can be a pain in the neck but they have just about no effect on productivity. Spending energy fighting them isn't worth it. They're not the enemy.
Dec 8, 2024
Dec 7, 2024
Dec 6, 2024
For The Frustrated Social Security Disability Claimant
My partner and I continue posting on our firm's separate blog directed at a different audience -- For The Frustrated Social Security Disability Claimant. Take a look at these recent posts on that blog:
- Many Other Conditions Can Be The Basis For A Successful Social Security Disability Claim
- Migraine Headaches
- Work and Social Security Disability
- 13 Things to Expect at Your Disability Hearing
- Bipolar Disorder
- Social Security Service Takes Another Hit
- What is Social Security Disability?
- Asthma
- Disabled Adult Children
- Bad Backs
- Social Security Disability for the Injured
- Heart Disease
- Should I Apply for SSI?
- Chronic Pain
- Disability & Personal Injury Cases
Dec 5, 2024
New Ruling Allows Use Of Vocational Information Sources Other Than DOT
From Social Security Ruling 24-3p.; Titles II and XVI: Use of Occupational Information and Vocational Specialist and Vocational Expert Evidence in Disability Determinations and Decisions, due to appear in the Federal Register tomorrow:
... VSs [Vocational Specialists, used at DDS] and VEs [Vocational Experts, used at OHO] may provide evidence based on their professional experience and any reliable source of occupational information that is commonly used in the vocational profession and relevant under our rules. VSs and VEs are in the best position to determine the most appropriate sources of data to support the evidence they offer. We expect VSs and VEs to identify the sources of the data they use and, where applicable, to explain their general approach to estimating job numbers. If the VS or VE uses a data source that defines exertion, education, or skill levels differently than our regulations, we expect the VS or VE to explain the difference. ...
Some sources of occupational data use definitions of exertion level, skill level, and education level that align closely with our program rules. The DOT is such a source. If a VS or VE uses a source that defines exertion, skill, or education level differently than our program rules, we expect the VS or VE to acknowledge the difference and explain whether or how they have accounted for the difference. ...
You can start to see a new occupational information system coming. They're trying to avoid the necessity of changing their regulations. Also, they want to phase it in and they want to have it both ways -- use either the old or the new to deny claims with claimants unable to demand consistency.
Bisignano Nominated To Become Commissioner
President-elect Donald Trump said he's nominating financial services CEO Frank Bisignano to serve as commissioner of the Social Security Administration. ...
Bisignano currently leads the financial services and payments giant Fiserv, one of the largest financial software companies in the country.
He’s previously held executive leadership positions at major banks including JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup. ...
From Wikipedia:
... Under Bisignano's tenure, hundreds of First Data and FiServ locations have closed, resulting in the termination of thousands of employees. Employees who previously had remote positions due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other legacy reasons have reportedly been particularly targeted. ...
What About NTEU And ALJ Unions?
The Biden Administration signed contracts with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to lock in telework at Social Security until 2029 but there are at least two other, smaller employee unions at Social Security -- the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and the ALJ union. What's with them? Do they have new, unannounced contracts or were they just already protected?
Dec 4, 2024
Biden Administration Tries To Lock In Telework At SSA
From Bloomberg News:
A Biden administration appointee has agreed to lock in hybrid work protections for tens of thousands of Social Security staff, part of a slew of organized labor efforts that complicate President-elect Donald Trump's efforts to reshape the federal workforce.
The American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing 42,000 Social Security Administration workers, reached an agreement with the agency last week that will protect telework until 2029 in an updated contract, according to a message to its members viewed by Bloomberg.
The new deal, signed by President Joe Biden’s just-departed SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley, will let workers “maintain current levels of telework,” AFGE chapter president Rich Couture wrote. …
A US president "can't just set aside lawfully signed collective bargaining agreements, without the unions' agreement," Indiana University law professor Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt said via email. "The US government has to live up to its agreements, too.
"
Dec 3, 2024
Don't Mess With Social Security
The French government may soon fall because it has tried to ram through changes in social security benefits in that country. This will be the first time a French government has fallen due to a no confidence vote since 1962.
Dec 2, 2024
One Thing About Carolyn Colvin
Let's say that someone other than Carolyn Colvin had been made the Acting Commissioner of Social Security and let's say it's a career employee in his or her prime working years. Let's also say that the Trump Administration decides a priori that Social Security will do just fine with a 20% reduction in staffing. That Acting Commissioner would face a dilemma. The person could forcefully resist internally in which case that person would probably be fired and their federal career would be at an end. That person could quit in protest in which case their federal career would also be at an end. That's tough on a person with a mortgage and kids in or near college.
At her age, Colvin can easily resign in protest. She has no reason to worry about her federal career. She can court firing or quit without concern. If she leaves, she can be very noisy about it. This gives her a certain power that others, younger than her, don't have.
By the way, if you're someone in line to succeed Colvin, what would you do as Acting Commissioner if the Trump Administration orders up something that you know will have disastrous effects? Would you have the courage to resign in protest? Would you be willing to preside over a disastrous situation? Is there some way of squirming out of the dilemma? These may not be abstract questions for a handful of people at Social Security.
Dec 1, 2024
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