Independent Commissioner Of Social Security?

Take a look at some correspondence between Jim McCrery, the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee and Michael Astrue, the Commissioner of Social Security, on the effect of the children's insurance provisions recently passed by Congress and vetoed by the President. Astrue confirms that Social Security cannot tell for certain who is and who is not a citizen, which should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Note the last line in Astrue's letter: "The Office of Management and Budget advises me that there is no objection to the transmittal of this letter from the standpoint of the President's program." Why did an independent Commissioner of Social Security need the approval of the Office of Management and Budget to respond to a letter from a Congressman? Why is the "President's program" a matter of concern to an independent Commissioner of Social Security? Would Michael Astrue worry about the "President's program" if the President were Clinton or Obama or Edwards? What do we have ahead of us if Michael Astrue remains as Commissioner of Social Security through four years of a Democratic Presidency? That is how long his term of office lasts.

Note also that Astrue's stationery does not include a street address or any telephone number. That is the way it is with all virtually all Social Security stationery. It seems like they want to hide.

Ex Parte Communications And ALJs

I hesitate to link to a completely anonymous thread on an online message board, but I think that attorneys who represent Social Security claimants will find this thread on the ALJ Improvement Board amazing and disturbing.

Where The Money Is Going

From a Program Operations Manual Series (POMS) release:

Unlike prior Fiscal Years (FY), the number of workyears allocated for processing redeterminations (RZs) and Limited Issues (LIs) in FY 2008 is larger than in FY 2007. Because of the increase in workyears, the number of High Error Profile (HEP) Redeterminations (RZs) and Limited Issues (LIs) selected will be greater than were selected in FY 2007. Also the A, B and UC profiles will again be selected.

To translate this for you, it is more important to address SSI redeterminations to prevent erroneous payments of benefits than it is to answer the telephones at Social Security's field offices or to address the backlogs in processing of disability claims. In fact, it looks as if there will be a near complete hiring freeze during this fiscal year so these other problems will just get worse over the next year.

It would not be fair to blame the Commissioner of Social Security for this, since Congress has made it clear that it wants this. Of course Social Security ought to have sufficient funds to address the redeterminations, answer the telephones, work off the disability claims backlogs and more, but it does not. No one should be surprised that Scial Security service does not get better. That is not where our nation's priorities lie.

Fee Payment Stats

The Social Security Administration has posted the September figures for payments of fees to attorneys and others qualified to receive direct payment for representing Social Security claimants. After peaking at more than $100 million in August, fee payments declined to about $76 million in September. The fluctuations in fee payments have far more to do with increases and decreases in payment backlogs than with anything the attorneys did. These fluctuations are an indirect indicator of fluctuations in new benefit payments to disabled individuals, since the attorney is paid at about the same time as the claimant. There are huge fluctuations in how rapidly or slowly these benefits are paid.

Fee Payments
Month/Year	Volume	Amount
Jan-07	15,331	$55,149,991.81
Feb-07	19,301	$69,731,683.72
Mar-07	26,505	$94,396,916.02
Apr-07	26,889	$96,650,134.82
May-07	24,429	$86,625,391.60
June-07	27,716	$99,357,038.71
July-07	21,807	$78,273,082.88
Aug-07	28,607	$101,523,346.40
Sept-07	21,409	$75,663,579.78
Fee payments also include payments made to eligible non-attorneys participating in the demonstration project authorized by section 303 of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-203).

An Image From 1937

Colombian Court Grants Equal Rights Under Social Security To Same Sex Couples

Blabendo reports that Colombia's Constitutional Court has granted equal rights under that country's Social Security system to same sex couples. Remember this is Colombia, as in the South American country. There is no reasonable chance of it happening here at any foreseeable time in the future.

New E-Travel System At SSA

From the Federal Times:

The Social Security Administration has signed a contract with CW Government Travel to provide online travel booking and reimbursement services, the company’s chief operating officer said Thursday.

Scott Guerrero told Federal Times that SSA reached a deal with CW on Sept. 28. The company is planning to formally announce the deal Monday, Guerrero said.

SSA is the last federal agency to settle on one of three E-Gov Travel vendors, nearly three years after the General Services Administration’s selection deadline passed.

Guerrero would not say how much the contract is worth, but said it could last until November 2013.

SSA spends $61 million on about 90,000 trips each year, Guerrero said. ...

Market Research At NOSSCR

I recently received the fax shown above. You can click on it to see it full size. Apparently, a lot of other members of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) received the same fax recently. Offering to pay $150 to participate in market research gets your attention, but it is a little like being offered a free vacation and all you have to do is to hear a sales pitch for a condo or a timeshare. I do not know what this is about.

Sobering Medicare News

A summary of a new report from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:

"Medicare Costs and Retirement Security"

by Alice H. Munnell

The brief's key findings are:

Medicare spending will soar, rising from 3 percent of GDP today to 8 percent of GDP in 2040.
By 2040, retirees will face:

• a nearly 20 percent increase in income tax rates to cover the government’s Medicare contribution; and
• rising out-of-pocket costs that will eat up more than half of the average Social Security benefit.

• 
  

So, why is President Bush so worried about Title II of the Social Security Act?

Budget Status

From Congress Daily:

House and Senate Democrats are considering making the Labor-Health and Human Services [Fiscal Year 2008] Appropriations bill [which includes Social Security] the next major domestic policy fight with President Bush after the debate over children's health insurance. ...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to bring it up as early as Oct. 15, and sources said upon passage, House-Senate negotiators could quickly reconcile their differences and send the measure to the White House for Bush's expected veto.

The tactic would be similar to the current standoff over the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which Democrats perceive as a political winner despite lacking the votes to override a veto. ...

Bush says he will veto the Labor-HHS measure because it spends billions of dollars more than he wants; the House measure, at $11 billion above his request, fell several votes short of enough for a potential override.

The Senate version is roughly $9 billion above the request. ...

Leadership aides said Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have discussed the option but have not made a final decision, in part because the Labor-HHS bill has to clear the Senate. That is shaping up to be at least a weeklong battle with contentious debate over stem-cell language, which Bush is likely to threaten a veto over, as well as funding priorities and earmarks.

One reason Reid has delayed the Labor-HHS measure thus far is because Republicans have threatened numerous amendments.