Historical Time Frame On Fee Cap Increase

Jo Anne Barnhart was confirmed as Commissioner of Social Security on November 2, 2001, according to the online biography that Social Security has on her.

About two months later, on January 8, 2002, Barnhart signed an order order raising the cap on the amount that attorneys may charge for representing Social Security claimants from $4,000 to $5,300. This order was published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2002.

The fee cap has not been raised since Barnhart did it five years ago.

Michael Astrue was confirmed on February 2, 2007. It is unclear whether Astrue will raise the fee cap at this point or ever. If he is going to do it, it is unlikely that he cares about doing it in the same time frame as his predecessor, but it is still interesting to have an historical reference point.

ADA Restoration Act Threatens Social Security Disability Claimants

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has become virtually worthless as a result of judicial constructions. There is a bipartisan movement to enact an ADA Restoration Act to remove these judicially created barriers preventing the ADA from serving its intended purpose. See this press release from last fall issued by the top Democrat and top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.

As a general matter, the ADA Restoration Act would be a wonderful thing. However, it could be problematic for Social Security disability claimants. There have been people arguing that the existence of the ADA should mean that far fewer people should be approved for Social Security disability benefits, because disabled people have far greater opportunities now than they had before. However, now long after the ADA was adopted the then head of Social Security's Office of Hearings and Appeals, Dan Skolar, issued a memorandum saying that the ADA could not be used in this way. I am sorry but I cannot find an online link to this memorandum. This memo has made it essentially impossible for Social Security to pursue such a policy. However, if an ADA Restoration Act passes without language to protect Social Security disability claimants, it is very likely that Social Security would revisit the issue. The result could be catastrophic for Social Security disability claimants.

Dual Monitors At NC DDS

Many of those dealing with paperless EDIB files at Social Security and state disability determination services (DDS) have dual monitor displays on their wish list. Dual monitors make it easier to deal with paperless files. An employee can view a claimant's file on one monitor and use a different program on the other monitor.

I can report that North Carolina DDS has recently made the transition to dual monitors. Are other state DDS's following suit? What about employees at Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR)? Readers can use the comment feature to respond.

Retardation Fraud In Tacoma

From CNN:

A woman admitted Monday that she coached her two children to fake retardation starting when they were 4 and 8 years old so she could collect Social Security benefits on their behalf.

Rosie Costello, 46, admitted in U.S. District Court that she collected more than $280,000 in benefits, beginning in the mid-1980s. Most was from Social Security, but the state social services agency paid $53,000.

Costello pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government and Social Security fraud. Her son, Pete, 26, pleaded guilty earlier this month. Federal prosecutors in Seattle said Monday authorities had not yet located her daughter, Marie.

According to the plea agreement, Costello began coaching her daughter at age 4, and later used the same ruse with her son. He feigned retardation into his mid-20s -- picking at his face, slouching and appearing uncommunicative in meetings with Social Security officials.

Social Security workers became suspicious and uncovered a video of Pete Costello ably contesting a traffic ticket in a Vancouver courtroom.

Social Security Disability Coalition

When it comes to Social Security, the voices of those who work for the Social Security Administration, those who represent claimants before the agency and some non-profit groups are heard. The one group that is seldom heard from is the most important one -- the Social Security claimants themselves. There is a very active online forum, however, where anyone can listen to Social Security disability claimants as they talk with each other. It is the Social Security Disability Coalition.

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Disability Policy Seminar

A group of non-profit organizations hosts an annual Disability Policy Seminar in Washington. This year's conference comes up on March 6. Here is a link to some information about topics to be discussed at the seminar and here is a link to a fact sheet about Social Security issues prepared for the conference. Social Security is only one of many topics covered during the seminar.

NCSSMA Issues Newsletter

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has issued its February 2007 newsletter. The newsletter is dominated by the issue of staffing shortages. Here are a couple of excerpts from the NCSSMA President's message:

We do not believe SSA is in any position right now to handle more work by telephone. The 1-800 Number is at or near capacity and Field Offices, which receive over 50% more business related calls than the 1-800 Number, are well beyond capacity to answer more calls. Can the Internet relieve Field Offices? In the long run we believe it will provide some relief, but we do not think SSA can significantly ramp up Internet services until the applications provide less back end work for Field Offices. The Internet is not a magical solution. Speeding up the input without attention to how the output will be handled is ill-advised. ...

The public is walking through our doors in droves and our phone lines are being overwhelmed. We know what the public wants from us. They want good face-to-face and telephone service. The public has paid for and deserves the best service we can provide. But we must have more resources to provide this service. This is not whining. This is not posturing. It is a plain and simple fact demonstrated every day on the front lines of SSA.

Immigration Attorneys Concerned By Social Security Backlogs

Attorneys representing claimants before the Social Security Administration have obvious reasons to be concerned with agency backlogs, but lawyers in at least one other specialty have their own concerns about the agency's backlogs. Here is a quote from the ImmigrateUSA.com website run by attorney David J. Hart (emphasis added):

Backlogs at the SSA are not only felt by employers, most applicants for new SSNs are required to wait months before a number is issued to them. While most employers are aware that regulations do not require workers to present a SSN card to be authorized to work, the delays in issuance of new SSN cards still presents huge problems to new immigrants who are required a SSN card to open bank accounts, obtain mortgages for new homes, and other paperwork required in the usual move from one country to another. Currently in some regions it may take weeks to obtain a new SSN while in others it may take up to four months.

Plans To Jumpstart The Next Fiscal Year Starting To Take Shape

From the minutes of a January 29, 2007 telephone conference of the Board of Directors of the National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel:

Rick [Warsinskey, NCSSMA President] had conversation on the FY 2008 budget with Roger McDonnell [SSA Associate Commissioner for Public Services and Operations Support] voicing our concerns with the Field Offices receiving adequate resources. ... Roger said one major problem is that SSA needs to have enough money to cover any FY 2007 hires in next year’s budget. The Agency could hire near the end of the year saving dollars for this year but would then have to pay the new employees’ entire salaries and benefits next year. If the President’s budget submission for FY 2008 is insufficient, then SSA could be facing continued budget problems for next year.

The idea being expressed is that if Social Security has enough assurance that the fiscal year 2008 budget (that fiscal year begins on October 1, 2007) will be considerably higher than the budget for the current fiscal year that Social Security can start the process of hiring more personnel well before the end of this fiscal year and might be able to have some of those new employees start even before the end of this fiscal year.

One other thing that was not in the minutes of that meeting, but would have been obvious to all involved, is that if Social Security has a considerably bigger budget for the next fiscal year, that there will be a huge amount of overtime authorized for Social Security employees beginning on October 1. In years past Social Security has relied greatly (perhaps too much) on overtime to get its work done. This fiscal year there will be little or no money for overtime. This, along with attrition of employees who cannot be replaced, will cause backlogs to increase significantly throughout the agency between now and September 30. If the new budget is considerably higher, the recovery plan would have to be a lot of new employees hired as quickly as possible coupled with a lot of overtime. This can make things better in Social Security's field offices and payment centers fairly quickly, but full recovery will still take a lot more money than is likely to be available in the next budget.

Full recovery for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), where the Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) work, is going to take much longer. Quickly working down the backlogs at ODAR to more "normal" levels (to, say a six to eight month backlog in hearing requests, which, really is still higher than it ought to be) might take a doubling or tripling of ODAR staff. That would be almost impossible to do even if the money were there. Realistically, working down the ODAR backlog will take several years, even with good budgets