Social Security News

Apr 2, 2007

We have complete confirmation of the story now. From today's Washington Post:

The Social Security Administration rarely dumps a political appointee, but Martin H. Gerry, deputy commissioner for disability and income security programs, one of the more powerful policy jobs at Social Security, has been booted out.
The agency has a new commissioner, Michael J. Astrue, who is under pressure from Congress to deal with backlogged disability claims, a process that Gerry had tried to streamline.
Employees said Gerry was escorted from the building, his computer seized and the locks in his office changed. His firing on March 16 was rather abrupt but "not totally uncommon" for a political appointee, Gerry told our colleague Stephen Barr.
"I've heard of it happening before. It was harsh," Gerry said.
His departure set off a wave of rumors that Gerry was snarled in allegations of travel abuses or improper contract activities, but Gerry said that "as far as I know, there isn't any investigation going on. Wouldn't even know what it would be about."
He added: "Obviously, they wanted me to leave quickly and not talk to people there about what was happening."
Social Security isn't talking about what happened either, except to confirm that Gerry is no longer employed by the agency.

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Social Security has released its monthly statistical packages for February for Title II (benefits based upon earnings records) and Title XVI (SSI) cases. The number of Title II disability benefits recipients went up from 6,546,000 to 6,812,000 over the twelve months, an increase of 4%. SSI disability benefits recipients went up from 5,942,324 to 6,076,191, an increase of 3%. These increases, which are enormous for one year, occurred despite terrible backlogs at Social Security that delayed many claimants from going on benefits. This is a strong sign of the demographic wave of disability claims hitting the Social Security Administration.

NTEU And AFGE Battle

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a union, represents many of Social Security's employees. The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), represents many federal employees who work at agencies other than the Treasury, including many of Social Security's attorneys. These have been some signs of tension between the two unions at Social Security. Now, the two unions are openly battling, although not at Social Securit, as reported on Fedblog:

Looks like the National Treasury Employees Union and the American Federation of Government Employees are back in a state of open warfare. ... [As the two unions fight to establish themselves with Transportation Security Administration employees, the AFGE put out a public statement.] Here's a sampling of the phrases employed by the AFGE folks to characterize NTEU's move:
"amusing and appalling"

"imitation is flattering"

"they have been nowhere in sight"

"NTEU should be ashamed"

"demeaning and offensive"

"pitiful farce"

SSA Seeks Help Writing Decisions

The Social Security Administration has posted decision writing software for free downloading. The software can be used to help in writing decisions for Administrative Law Judges. The obvious idea is that those representing Social Security claimants will write the decisions for Social Security, removing some workload from the agency. However, there has no corresponding effort to adjust the cap on what may be paid those who represent claimants. That has not been adjusted in five years and has been eroded significantly by inflation.

Homelessness And Social Security Disability

You have to wonder why the media had little interest in reporting on this issue until Democrats tok control of Congress. Some excerpts from a New York Times article:

When a biting winter storm descended on the Coney Island Boardwalk one afternoon last month, whipping sand and trash into the air, a flock of seagulls lost no time in taking wing. But Patrick Garbiras, a gaunt, shambling, 51-year-old homeless man, could only do what he has been doing ever since filing his claim for Social Security disability benefits 440 days earlier: seek shelter in slow motion.
If Mr. Garbiras were capable of scurrying, he probably would have done so. But a seizure disorder and three operations over the past 14 months, including an open-heart surgery, have left him feeble.
Since becoming homeless in late 2005, Mr. Garbiras has often spent his nights on the subway ...

But as he struggled, it was not the elements Mr. Garbiras cursed. It was the Social Security Administration. ...

John Shallman, a regional spokesman for Social Security, said the agency does not comment on individual matters. But while in Mr. Garbiras’s case, poorly updated agency records and his homelessness have complicated the process, the biggest obstacle is the 503 days it takes, on average, for hearings of disability appeals to be conducted in Brooklyn — 37 days more than the national average.