SSA Urged To Upgrade Online Services

A Press Release From the National Academies:

WASHINGTON -- The Social Security Administration should make a clear, strategic commitment to upgrading its online services for an increasingly Internet-savvy clientele, says a new report from the National Research Council. Although SSA's present computer and database systems continue to operate and do not jeopardize the current delivery of benefits, enhancing online service offerings and maintaining the systems will become increasingly difficult without significant changes.

The SSA developed an "e-government" strategy in accordance with the President's E-Gov Initiative and asked the Research Council to form a committee to review the strategy. The committee found that although SSA offers some online services, it does not strongly promote use of the Internet as an alternative to its traditional methods of customer service. The online services SSA does offer lag behind those offered by private financial institutions, and the agency has not kept pace with technological improvements supporting electronic services, the report adds. SSA has a long-standing tradition of individualized customer service delivered in person or over the phone, which is very labor intensive. However, the new wave of baby boomer clients for SSA benefits and services, unlike previous generations, is more comfortable with computers and electronic commerce.

The report recommends that SSA follow the example of large firms that have successfully rolled out electronic services by giving a high-level office responsibility for developing and managing electronic information and service delivery. To be successful in developing and upgrading its electronic services, the SSA also needs to undergo a shift in organizational culture toward embracing change -- by regularly evaluating emerging trends in technology, business practices, demographics, and public expectations -- as a constant factor in how it does business.

Because the underlying databases are essential to delivery of electronic services, the report also examines SSA's plans to update its more than 20-year-old "MADAM" database system, which is well-behind current commercial technology, and which has not been replaced despite warnings from as far back as 1986 about the risks of maintaining it. This obsolete, custom technology requires highly specialized expertise that is in increasingly short supply. SSA personnel with this expertise will begin retiring in greater numbers and replacing them will be difficult because the required skills are no longer in the mainstream. Moreover, it is much easier to implement electronic services with a modern database system. The report recommends that SSA give considerable weight to the efficacy of electronic delivery of services and remain open to the incorporation of new technologies when planning for conversion and upgrade. Because modernization of MADAM is critical to the SSA's mission, and because the committee has concerns about SSA's current plans for updating MADAM, the committee also recommended seeking technical advice from a broader range of experts in undertaking a conversion.

SSA's approach to balancing risks and rewards for modernization is overly cautious, the committee concluded. It recommended a more appropriate balance that better recognizes the risks associated with failing to modernize and the benefits of modernization such as cost reduction, fraud prevention, and customer satisfaction.

I think I can tell the National Research Council why Social Security does not promote its online services more. It is because they do not work very well. So far, most people find them frustrating to use and there is little or no savings to the agency when they do. Of course with enough money, Social Security might be able to make its online services work better, but since Social Security was struggling just to keep its doors open a few months ago, enough money to greatly upgrade the agency's online capacity may be a pipe dream at this point.

Dramatic Story From Milwaukee

This is one of the more dramatic stories on Social Security's backlogs. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Disabled by an enlarged heart and unable to work, welder David Olson, 54, waited almost two years to be approved for Social Security disability payments. In July, he was found dead in his recliner at his Montana home.

His sister, Nancy Olson, 53, of Milwaukee, fears help might come too late for her, as well. She is on continuous oxygen because of a rare lung disease caused by inhaling microscopic spores of a fungus.

Olson is part of a nationwide backlog of more than 749,000 seriously ill people who say they are unable to work and are awaiting a decision on disability payments. She's been waiting almost two years. ...

The situation is acute in Milwaukee and getting worse. Last month, 10,956 people were waiting for a hearing to determine whether they qualify for the benefit. That's up about 19% since September 2005 and a historic high, according to records obtained by the Journal Sentinel.

The Milwaukee Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, where the hearings are held, is also well above the national average in the number of days it takes to process a case. In July, the national average was 528 days, and in Milwaukee, the average was 651 days.

"It's horrible," said U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a member of the House Ways and Means subcommittee that oversees the Social Security Administration. "No doubt about it, this is a crisis."

Legislation On Wounded Warriors

From a Social Security Administration Legislative Bulletin:

On July 25, 2007, the Senate amended and then passed by unanimous consent H.R. 1538, the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act. When the House takes up the Senate-passed version, it will either accept the Senate amendments and clear the bill for the President, or disagree with the Senate-passed version and request a conference to resolve the differences.

The Senate-passed bill contains the following provisions of interest to SSA: ...

• Would require the Department of Defense to develop and maintain a comprehensive handbook that describes the compensation and other benefits to which a service member and that member's family would be entitled upon the member's separation or retirement from the Armed Forces as a result of a serious injury or illness.

In developing and maintaining this handbook, the Department of Defense would be required to consult with the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Health and Human Services. The provision would be effective upon enactment.

NCSSMA Executive Committee Conference Call Discusses OCO Problems

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has posted the minutes of its July 12, 2007 executive committee conference call. Here is an snippet that may have some resonance with attorneys who represent Social Security claimants:

Rick [Warsinskey, NCSSMA President] spoke with Roger McDonnell [Social Security's Associate Commissioner for the Office of Public Services and Operations Support] regarding [backlogs in PC 7, which is part of the Office of Central Operations] this morning. Roger is aware that the backlogs are growing and that processing time is increasing. He has talked with Carolyn Simmons [Associate Commissioner for the Office of Central Operations] in the last month about these issues. He would like NCSSMA to share some feedback with Carolyn Simmons. Rick wants to establish a way to communicate to the module managers when there are problems. The Executive Committee discussed the issue. Some reported success by getting assistance from their Regional Offices after two attempts without success. Others reported frustration even at the Deputy Director level at PC 7. Many agreed that there are some modules in PC 7 that are very responsive and “customer” focused and that there are others that are very difficult to deal with.

AFGE Newsletter

Council 220 of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 25,000 Social Security employees, has issued its July 2007 newsletter. Here are a few tidbits:

When the Union met for the first time with Commissioner Michael Astrue June 6, immigration reform was still a hot topic. He estimated its passage would requiring double the staff (currently 61,000) to issue national identification cards and verify social security numbers for employers. [emphasis added. This is the first time I have seen an estimate on this from Social Security. It may still happen. Why has Michael Astrue not been giving loud and public warnings about this?]

However, backlogs in hearings offices are first priority with the Commissioner. He made 20,000 hours of overtime available for volunteers from the field/TSCs to assemble hearings files. He also would like to hire 173 more Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and support staff for them (each ALJ averages 4.4 support staff) and allow senior attorneys to review and reverse reconsideration decisions on pending hearings. ...

After experiencing a communications boycott from former Commissioner Barnhart, the Union participants were pleased the Commissioner openly discussed his ideas on how to improve the disability program with Union leaders. ...

Mr. Astrue’s desire for better communications with the Union is not mirrored by his subordinates. The Deputy Commissioner for Operations Linda McMahon and all Regional Commissioners (RCs) refuse to meet with employee-elected representa-tives. They make decisions without employee input.

WBKO On Backlogs

Television station WBKO of Bowling Green, KY is running a story entitled "Red Tape and Disabilities" on Social Security's disability adjudication backlogs. See it in streaming video.

An Image From 1997

Expanding Workload For Social Security

From the Associated Press:

Employers across the country may have to fire workers with questionable Social Security numbers to avoid getting snagged in a Bush administration crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security is expected to make public soon new rules for employers notified when a worker's name or Social Security number is flagged by the Social Security Administration.

The rule as drafted requires employers to fire people who can't be verified as a legal worker and can't resolve within 60 days why the name or Social Security number on their W-2 doesn't match the government's database.

Employers who don't comply could face fines of $250 to $10,000 per illegal worker and incident.

The natural thought is of illegal immigrants working under phony Social Security numbers and there will be plenty of those cases. However, there may be millions of other cases involving U.S. citizens where the records are simply incomplete or inaccurate. There are many women who changed their names when they married or divorced, but never told the Social Security Administration. Social Security employees will have to resolve these cases -- and in short order. Potentially, this is a huge workload, for which the Social Security Administration is ill-prepared.

Disability Benefits For Wounded Warriors

Social Security has created a new web page and a new pamphlet for "wounded warriors." Social Security promises expedited review of the claims of those who became disabled while in military service regardless of whether the disability is the result of combat or is any sort of wound.

More Work For Social Security Employees

From Social Security Legislative Bulletin 110-5:

On July 27, 2007, by a vote of 24 to 17, the House Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 3162, the Children's Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act of 2007. ... [The bill]

• Would direct the Commissioner of Social Security to provide MSP and LIS applications to individuals who apply for Medicare benefits with SSA. SSA would also be required to provide assistance to beneficiaries in completing these MSP applications, which would be forwarded to the State Medicaid Agency for processing. This provision would be effective January 1, 2009.
• Would increase allowable assets for Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) and the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) program to $17,000 for an individual and $34,000 for a couple, in order to qualify for assistance with Medicare Part B and D costs. Would be effective January 2009, with limits increasing annually starting in 2010, by $1,000 per individual and $2,000 per couple. ...
  
• Would allow the Commissioner of Social Security to obtain certain adjusted gross income data including information on State, private or individual pensions and annuities from IRS to identify beneficiaries potentially eligible for the LIS, effective upon enactment.