More on Glenn Sklar Presentation

Kevin Morton gives his take on Glenn Sklar's presentation in Winston-Salem on December 9, 2005.

Disability Backlogs and Inconsistency

Social Security is not the only agency having problems adjudicating disability claims. Here is an excerpt from a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of disability determination at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that should sound familiar to those involved in disability determination at SSA.

While VA made progress in fiscal years 2002 and 2003 reducing the size and age of its inventory of pending claims, it has lost ground since the end of fiscal year 2003. For example, pending claims increased by over one-third from the end of fiscal year 2003 to the end of fiscal year 2005. Meanwhile, VA faces continuing questions about its ability to ensure that veterans get consistent decisions across its 57 regional offices.

SSN Issues at Universities

A study by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has found that many universities use Social Security Numbers (SSNs) as unique identifiers for students. OIG concluded that "unnecessary use of SSNs increases the potential for unscrupulous individuals to illegitimately gain access to these numbers and misuse them, thus creating SSN integrity issues."

Commissioner's Proposal Final By February?

Glenn Sklar, Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Disability Programs at Social Security, spoke on Friday, December 9 at a continuing legal education conference sponsored by the NC Academy of Trial Lawyers. Most of his presentation concerned Commissioner Barnhart's proposal for a revamped disability determination appeals structure. Sklar told the group that "Every day there are meetings about the comments" received on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). He said to expect a final rule within about six months. Sklar indicated that there had been many comments made on the NPRM and that "No doubt the final rule will be different" from the NPRM.

Nancy Shor, the executive director of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) also spoke. She said that she expected the Commissioner's proposal to become a final rule by January or February 2006 at the latest.

Bruce Goldin, the Deputy Director of the Division of Information Technology Integration of the Office of Hearings and Appeals at Social Security spoke about the status of AeDib. He showed a website under development that would allow authorized attorneys and representatives to upload via the internet medical evidence to be placed in a claimant's file. This is still in the earliest stages of trials.

University Use of SSNs

A study by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has found that many universities use Social Security Numbers as unique identifiers for students. OIG concluded that "unnecessary use of SSNs increases the potential for unscrupulous individuals to illegitimately gain access to these numbers and misuse them, thus creating SSN integrity issues."

Stats on Fee Payments

Social Security has published statistics on payment of fees to attorneys and qualifying non-attorney representatives in 2005.

Month/Year	Volume	Amount
Jan-05	20,744	$68,463,778.57
Feb-05	20,447	$68,137,343.20
Mar-05	20,522	$67,741,247.04
Apr-05	27,563	$91,228,724.50
May-05	21,047	$70,574,688.29
June-05	19,847	$66,810,743.37
July-05	25,840	$86,788,514.16
Aug-05	22,569	$76,249,416.56
Sep-05	20,403	$67,828,460.26
Oct-05	19,217	$64,828,683.10
Nov-05	18,179	$60,507,993.77

Axiom Wins $18 Million Ticket to Work Contract

Axiom has won an $18.2 million contract with Social Security under the Ticket to Work plan.

New Rules on Service of Process

The Social Security Administration has adopted new rules on the service of legal process on the agency. The new rules require that those suing the agency serve process on the Commissioner of Social Security by sending the process to Social Security's General Counsel office that serves the area of the country where the suit is brought. Separately, SSA published a long list of the addresses of the offices to which the Commissioner's copy of process must be sent. The rules are effective immediately, which is certain to cause problems for many litigants.

SSA Central Office Building May Close

The Baltimore Sun reports that Social Security's:

...26-year-old Metro West building on North Greene Street [in Baltimore] was designed to hold up to 5,000 employees, but that automation has reduced the number of people who work there to fewer than 2,000. The 1.4 million-square-foot building also needs a new heating and air-conditioning system and security improvements.

As a result SSA is considering closing the building and moving the employees to other buildings in the area.

Monthly Stats for November

The Social Security Administration has released basic monthly statistics for November on claims paid under Title II and Title XVI of the Social Security Act. These show by type of payment the numbers of people paid and amounts of benefits they received.