Field Offices Workloads

     Below is an illustration from the testimony of Katherine Zuleger of Wausau , WI. President, Chicago Social Security Management Association, Executive Committee Member, National Council of Social Security Management Associations to the Senate Finance Committee on June 18, 2024 on Work and Social Security Disability Benefits (I can't help thinking that some of this looks like an illustration from a sex education textbook!):

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Here are what those acronyms mean, as best I know them:

• AUX -- Auxiliary claims, such as child claims
  
• CDR -- Continuing Disability Review
• CO -- Central Office 
• CSNO -- Centralized Special Notice Option (I don't know what that is.)
• ERPA -- Electronic Representative Payee Annual report
  
• GI -- I think General Information in this context
  
• MDW -- Modernized Development Worksheet
  
• MNUP -- Medicare Non-Utilization Project (to determine why an elderly person isn't using Medicare -- like maybe the person is dead.)  
  
• PSC -- Program Service Center -- where Title II benefits are computed, among other things
• RO -- Regional Office    
• RPMT --  ?
  
• TSC -- Teleservice Center -- where they answer most telephone calls to the 800 number    
  

A One Year Sprint

     Government Executive has out a piece titled Martin O’Malley is on a one-year sprint to save Social Security. The title comes from Government Executive, not O'Malley. I'm sure that O'Malley hasn't claimed that he can "save" Social Security in any time frame, much less in a year.

    The primary thrust of the piece is O'Malley's call for additional budget resources for his agency. However, there's also crowing about O'Malley's accomplishments as Commissioner. O'Malley has certainly changed the tone at the agency and has some important accomplishments in his first six months as Commissioner but I'm pretty sure that the main accomplishment claimed in this piece -- improvement in 800 number answering -- isn't much of an accomplishment.

    Social Security's budget resources are so thin that it cannot make any significant improvement in one area of performance without taking resources from another area of performance -- borrowing from Peter to pay Paul as the old quote goes. If the 800 number service has improved, some other function must have worsened.

    Those on the inside can confirm or deny this but I think that the improvement in 800 number answering has been achieved by calling upon additional backup for the agency's Teleservice Centers (TSC's). The backup comes from the Program Service Centers (PSC's) whose primary responsibility is computing and paying benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. This has gone on to some extent for many years. I've heard it referred to as "spiking," as in asking the PSC's to step in to handle overflow when there's a spike in call volume. It's not hard to improve 800 number phone answering if all you have to do is to shift the boundary for what's considered a "spike." Of course, the problem is that this causes degradation in the primary PSC workload of computing and paying benefits, which I have seen. Doing a better job of answering the phones is great but asking claimants who have already been approved to wait an extra month for the benefits they are owed isn't so great. Also, changing the spiking policies so that the PSC's give more help to the TSC's isn't sustainable. The payment backlogs will eventually become their own crisis.

    Finding ways to make yourself look better comes naturally to a seasoned politician like O'Malley. It's not a bad thing for the agency. At the least, it gives members of Congress confidence that if they give the Social Security Administration additional operating funds that they will be well spent. There is another side to the coin, however. Some members of Congress can say "Look, it's what we've been telling you. Social Security doesn't need more operating funds. It just needs better management."

What A Horror Show -- The Most Damning OIG Report I've Ever Seen

     From a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) (footnotes omitted):

... We have initiated two reviews to assess SSA’s management of mail and controls over its processing of Social Security card applications during the COVID-19 pandemic....

 Key Concerns Related to the Agency’s Policies and Oversight of Mail

• SSA has no performance metrics and does not maintain management information on the volume of incoming, outgoing, or pending mail. Consequently, the Agency does not have sufficient information to enable it to adjust staffing levels to ensure mail is processed timely.
  

• SSA lacks comprehensive policies and procedures to track and return original documents—including driver’s licenses, birth certificates, passports, and naturalization documents—that customers provide as proof of eligibility for benefits or a Social Security number card.

Effects of Inadequate Internal Controls over Mail Processing

• Some offices had backlogs of workloads that involved original documents. For example, one PSC [Program Service Centers, where benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act are processed]had more than 9,000 unprocessed original documents it had received as early as November 2020. We found that some of these documents were necessary to establish individuals’ eligibility for benefit payments.  
• Some offices had backlogs of unprocessed applications for new or replacement Social Security cards. For example, one field office had 677 unprocessed applications dated as early as July 2020. We also observed a Social Security card center that had over 9,000 unprocessed applications dated as early as May 2021. As a result, individuals have yet to receive their original documents or Social Security number card. 
• Some locations had backlogs of remittances or un-negotiated benefit checks. For example, one PSC had 247 unprocessed remittances or un-negotiated checks dated as far back as November 2019. Financial institutions are not obligated to cash uncertified checks that are more than six months old, which leaves the Agency at risk of not being able to collect the remittance check funds. 
• There were large quantities of undeliverable mail at some PSCs. For example, at one PSC, auditors noted more than 200,000 pieces of returned mail, some of which were over one year old. Some of these pieces may require action, such as suspending or terminating beneficiaries’ payments.  
• While all SSA facilities were locked, some offices stored original documents in unsecure locations, such as desks and bins. In addition, employees at three offices informed us the U.S. Postal Service or special carriers left mail or packages, which may have included original documents or personally identifiable information, outside the offices in publically accessible areas after business hours and over the weekends. 
• Approximately 50 percent of field office managers reported they are overwhelmed by mail duties, and approximately 20 percent stated they are unable to keep up with mail workloads. Some office managers also told us they did not have adequate in-person staffing to keep up with mail duties while offices remained closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ...

     Update: This OIG report is already drawing attention from Fox and CNBC. Expect more media coverage. This is exactly the publicity needed at a time when Social Security's operating budget for FY 2022 is under consideration.

Payment Centers Are A Mess

      Here's a note recorded by a legal assistant in my firm's database: "TC [Telephone Call] Mid Atlantic PSC [Program Service Center] (816) 936-3910 and he said they have it [a fee petition] but they're taking about a year to process fee petitions and we are about half way."

     How can law firms be expected to represent Social Security claimants in this sort of environment? And we're paying a user fee for this sort of service!

     It's not just attorney fees that are a problem. All sorts of things are a problem for the payment centers. It's obvious that they "fast track" the simplest work and almost nothing else is getting done. However, even the "fast tracked" work is slow.

     I'm not blaming the people. They're just overwhelmed.

It’s A Lot Bigger Problem Than Larry Kotlikoff Realizes

     Somebody needs to tell Larry Kotlikoff about the payment center backlogs. He can’t understand why a mildly complicated widows benefits situation can’t get straightened out in a timely way. There are hundreds of thousands of cases like the one he’s complaining about in many months long backlogs.The total payment center backlog is over four million! I’m sorry for the woman he’s writing about but I’ve got a few dozen clients with their own horrendous payment center backlog stories. These cases don’t get the media attention that used to go to the hearing backlog but they’re no less of an outrage. The payment centers will get more resources but these backlogs will be with us for some time to come.