Second Circuit Says You Can't Be Fugitive Felon Without Knowing It

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has held in Fowlkes v. Adamec that a peson cannot be a fugitive felon unless there is proof that they knew there was a warrant outstanding for their arrest. Ironically, Mr. Fowlkes cannot get benefits at the moment since he is imprisoned in Massachusetts on unrelated charges.

Barnhart: Tidbits on Her Future and Her Plan's Future

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of SSA's front line managers, has published the minutes of its annual meeting held in November. Present at the meeting was Mary Chatel, SSA's Director of Disability Service Improvement, who had, curiously enough, been President of NCSSMA at one time in her career. Chatel told NCSSMA that "The implementation [of the Commissioner's plan] will hopefully begin in the Spring of 2006 and will go region by region – probably taking about 5 years to complete."

The summary of the meeting also includes this interesting exchange which tells us that at least some people in Baltimore believe that Jo Anne Barnhart may be nominated for a second term as Commissioner of Social Security:

Q: What will happen to this new approach in January 2007 when the Commissioner’s term ends?

A: Since they do not know if the Commissioner will serve another term, they need to approach this in the belief that she may actually be gone in January. The Commissioner strove to work on changes that could at least be begun in some regions before her term ends. Hopefully, Jo Anne will be here beyond January 2007 to see the process even farther down the pathway. The publication of a final rule should help to see that this work continues.

Supreme Court Rules on Student Loan Case

The Supreme Court has issued a unanimous opinion in Lockhart v. U.S. holding that Social Security benefits may be seized for payment of a student loan, even though the debt is more than ten years old.

Age Category NPRM Comments

Even though the estimates are that the proposal would save almost $6 billion over the next ten years, SSA has received few comments on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would add of the age categories of the grid regulations. My own comment may be worth taking notice of, more for the 426 pages of material I attached to the comment than for the comment itself.

The grid regulations were originally based upon administrative notice taken of the numbers of unskilled sedentary, light and medium jobs found in the Third Edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, which has long since been superceded by the Fourth Edition of the DOT and now by O*NET. The material which I attached shows SSA's own serious concerns that the evidence no longer shows the existence of such numbers of unskilled jobs, particularly at the sedentary level. This material has received almost no attention over the years. My point is that if the entire foundation for the grid regulations has crumbled, it makes little sense to keep adding to the ediface.

The comment period on the NPRM closes on January 3, 2006.

Courts of Appeals Updates

Eric Schnaufer has updated his Schnaufer.com website that gives a comprehensive listing of recent Courts of Appeals decisions, including an 8th Circuit case decided on December 6. You cannot get more up to date than that!

SSAB Agenda

The Social Security Advisory Board has announced a schedule for its meeting on December 7.

Fraud Arrests in GA and SC

There have been multiple arrests in Georgia and South Carolina for fraud on the Social Security Administration under Operation Secure Star, billed as a Homeland Security operation, although, as described, the alleged crimes sound like unrelated cases of garden variety fraud, some of which happened to involve two Mexican nationals. The investigations included Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG).

NADE Newsletter

The National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE), an organization of employees of the State Disability Determination Service (DDS) agencies that make initial and reconsideration determinations on Social Security disability claims, has released its Fall 2005 Newsletter. The Newsletter contains a summary of Commissioner Barnhart's speech to a NADE conference in September. There is also a summary of a presentation made at the same conference by Patrick O'Carroll, SSA's Inspector General, that included showing video of several claimants engaged in activities alleged to be inconsistent with statements the claimants had made to SSA. The Newsletter includes comments made by NADE on recent Notices of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs), a good deal of information about NADE members' take on AEDIB, Social Security's paperless system of the future, and a NADE position paper favoring the elimination of the 24 month waiting period for Medicare.

New POMS on Medicare Part D Appeals

Social Security has added material to POMS (Program Operations Manual Series) concerning appeals of subsidy determinations under the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, also known as Part D of Medicare.

New Requirements For Proof of Age

In response to reports that fraudulent birth records have been used to get Social Security cards, SSA has issued a POMS (Program Operations Manual Series) update to tighten the requirements for proof of age when issuing a Social Security card.