Omnibus Coming

Last night, the House of Representatives failed by only two votes to override President Bush's veto of the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill, that included funding for the Social Security Administration. Here is a report from the Washington Post.

The next step is what is known as an "omnibus" bill. From The Hill:

After struggling for months, Democrats say they are close to finalizing their strategy to send 11 of 12 remaining annual appropriations bills in one omnibus package to President Bush’s desk. Their strategy has been complicated by Bush’s threats to veto most of the spending bills because they exceed his request. ...

The White House on Thursday slammed the Democrats’ plans, signaling that it will not accept an omnibus bill $11 billion above Bush’s request.

Will this omnibus bill attract enough Republican votes to override the President's veto? How much money will be in the omnibus for Social Security? What happens if Congress cannot override the President' veto of the omnibus bill?

Monthly Social Security Stats Released

The Social Security Administration has released its monthly package of statistics on Title II and Title XVI.

Social Security Offices Woefully Understaffed

From an opinion piece by John Kuhnlein in the Arizona Daily Star:

Nationwide, those persons who have become disabled and can no longer work are finding it harder and harder to get Social Security benefits. In some jurisdictions, applicants for disability benefits wait more than two years to have their claim processed. ...

Such delays can cause applicants serious hardship.

For example, applicants could lose their homes while they wait for a decision. These financial pressures only add to the problems of people suffering from disabling medical conditions. ...

We would not tolerate such behavior from a private insurance company. We have the right to expect better treatment for such vulnerable citizens.

Social Security employees are dedicated and hardworking. Given the proper resources, they can eliminate the current backlog of disability claims.

Disability Delays

From RNews:

The Social Security Administration faces a record backlog of disability cases. More than 750,000 vulnerable Americans are waiting—some for years—for a hearing and growing more desperate each day.

"That was the only day I had taken off from work. The Friday before I went into the coma, “ says Linda Fullerton of Rochester. Eleven years ago, she was getting out of her car when she bumped her head. She developed a deadly brain infection that lead to brain surgery and a host of auto immune diseases.

She says, “Levels of pain you can't even imagine."

It took Linda two years to finally get her Social Security Disability Insurance. By then, it was nearly too late. “I had pension money from the job but here's the thing. When I tried to get the social security disability, it took so long to get that I lost all my pension money, all my life savings, everything and now I live check to check

Bush: Failure On Social Security Reform My Biggest Disappointment

From a Fox Business Network interview:

"The biggest disappointment is not getting a Social Security package, Social Security reform, because that truly is the big deficit issue," he told David Asman. "I'm sorry it didn't happen. I laid out a plan to make it happen, to enable it to happen. I'm the first president to have addressed it as specifically as I did. I wish Congress wasn't so risk-averse on the issue."

I can think of something else that would disappoint me more if I were him.

Fee Payment Stats

Below are the recently updated statistics on payments of fees to attorneys and others for representing Social Security claimants. This is an excellent analogue for how quickly or slowly the agency is paying benefits to claimants after a favorable decision, since the attorney and the claimant are paid at about the same time. Obviously, things have slowed down dramatically since the end of August.

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
Oct-07	21,903	$79,209,567.01

SSA Appropriation Vetoed

The New York Times reports that the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill, that includes the Social Security Administration (SSA), has been vetoed by the President. Override of the veto is, apparently, out of the question.

Social Security's Own TV Network

From an presolicitation notice by the Social Security Administration:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) intends to negotiate solely with Comcast Cablevision of Maryland ... for system relocations and replacement of minor equipment items to support an existing order with Comcast to maintain the CATV Port Distribution System for the SSA headquarters campus and outlying buildings. ... The CATV network provides real-time news and information for the entire SSA headquarters campus.

Feedback Button Not Working

The Feedback button to the right of this post is not working. I have not changed anything about it, so it must be a problem with "Get Gear", the company that provides the service. I will leave the button there for now in hopes that eventually they will get the problem solved. You can e-mail me at:

charles[at]charleshallfirm.com

Bernoski Letter Quoted In Baltimore Sun

From Melissa Harris' "Federal Worker" column in the Baltimore Sun:

Mailbag
Ronald G. Bernoski, president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges, was among those who responded to last week's column on the government's new roster of more than 600 administrative law judge candidates.

The Social Security Administration "indicated it had funding to hire 150 new administrative law judges and 92 support staff members to begin clearing the backlog of disability cases," Bernoski wrote. "This is an unjustifiable management decision.

"Each judge needs four to five staff members to prepare cases for the judge to review and to draft the judge's decisions. The 1,150 judges in SSA are already severely short of staff members. In many offices judges are unable to get enough prepared cases to fill their schedules.

"To hire 150 judges and only 92 staff members is a hollow gesture and another example of poor management decisions at the Social Security Administration."