30+ Day Wait For In-Office Appointments

      From CU-Citizen Access:

Getting an appointment at Champaign’s [Illinois] social security district office continues to take 30 days or more, but some recipients report that once they are at the office their needs are processed quickly.

Yet the wait can be frustrating and difficult.

Kiesha Jones, a Champaign resident, said she waited an hour and a half for her initial appointment at Champaign’s Social Security Office.

“They were like, we’re only taking appointments, you’ve got to call this number. I called the number and I couldn’t get through,” she said. “Once I got through, they made an appointment about 37 days out.” … 

Despite her experience, a spokesperson for the Social Security Administration said in a December email to CU-CitizenAccess that most claim appointments for disability benefits are scheduled within a month.

“The Champaign, Illinois office currently schedules the vast majority of T2 disability, SSI Blind and Disabled, and aged claim appointments within 30 days of request,” the spokesperson said.  …

Merry Christmas

 

Much Of Social Security Staying Open On 12/24 And 12/26

      Sorry guys.

Click on image to view full-size

 

Fair?

      The National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare is blaming changes made during the Trump Administration for SSA’s data systems crash last Wednesday. Is that fair? I don’t know. I do know that the agency’s data systems are at greater risk due to staffing cuts.

Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas

 

Mody Confirmed

      Arjun Mody has been confirmed as Deputy Commissioner of Social Security.

Unending Slime

      I have to say just how much it galls me that the Commissioner of Social Security is a man as deficient in character as Frank Bisignano. Within a few months of leaving his old position as CEO of Fiserv, the new company management accused him of what amounts to a “pump and dump” scheme netting him hundreds of millions of dollars. In any other Administration Bisignano would have been forced to resign. In the Trump Administration it’s just another in an unending series of stories demonstrating how slimy many of Trump’s appointees are.

Merry Christmas

 

$1.3 Million Dollar Scam

      From WGAL:

A social security imposter scammed two Lancaster County residents out of $1.3 million, according to Pennsylvania State Police. 

Troopers said two 78-year-olds from Providence Township fell victim to a person who posed as a Social Security Administration employee.   

The unknown suspect told the victims that one of their Social Security numbers was compromised and they needed a new one, according to police. 

Investigators said the imposter gave the victims detailed instructions to liquidate their retirement assets, stealing a total of $1,328,652. 

The suspect used the money to purchase gold that was collected by unknown individuals as payment under the guise of purchasing a new Social Security number, according to police. …

Feel A Little Lonely At Christmas? It's OK.

 

Systems Problems

      I’ve heard that Social Security is having large scale systems problems today but have no details. Can anyone fill me in?

4th Circuit Opinion Of Interest

      Attorneys who represent Social Security disability claimants may find the recent decision of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Hultz v. Bisignano dealing with fibromyalgia in particular and subjective symptoms in general of interest. It’s a reversal awarding benefits so you know it’s a strong opinion. You don’t see many of these at the District Court level much less Court of Appeals.

The State Of Customer Service

      The Social Security Administration has posted data showing the state of customer service at Social Security. I’m sure it’s as accurate and meaningful as the earnings projections made at Fiserv while Frank Bisignano was its CEO. Below is one of the charts from Social Security’s posting.

Click to view full-size

Merry Christmas

 

Living Rent Free In Bisignano’s Head

      Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano seems a little obsessed with his predecessor, Martin O’Malley.

New Requirement For Verification Of Immigration Status

      From Emergency Message EM 25067:

This Emergency Message (EM) provides instructions for processing Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims involving noncitizen applicants and redeterminations involving noncitizen recipients. It clarifies that all noncitizen applicants must have their immigration status verified through the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, regardless of the type or appearance of the immigration document presented. Similarly, all noncitizen recipients must have their immigration status re-verified through SAVE when there has been a change in immigration status and during SSI redeterminations. …

Merry Christmas

 

Coming Back?

      Mark Miller writes for the New York Times about the challenges that a new occupational information database presents for the Social Security disability programs. He’s not sure what’s going to happen but feels something is coming sooner or later. I agree with him on this. Ominously, he expects that now supposedly withdrawn revisions to the agency’s regulations that would make it dramatically more difficult for older people to be approved for disability benefits will come back at some point. I strongly doubt that such a thing will ever be politically feasible; maybe if Republicans win an overwhelming victory at the polls next year but that’s unlikely.

Merry Christmas