Continued Workforce Reduction -- Correction

Yesterday, I had posted the numbers on the number of employees at Social Security, reporting that there had been a 3% decline in the past year. Actually, the decline was 1.9%. I had mistakenly posted the numbers for Social Security employment in the United States, instead of the gross Social Security employment as I had done previously. Social Security has some employees in territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam and one lone employee on truly foreign territory. (I believe that one person is employed at the U.S. consulate in Frankfurt, Germany and is completely overwhelmed. I have helped some people who have filed claims for U.S. Social Security benefits while living in other countries and the problems are almost literally insurmountable. Did you know that there is an international DDS that handles claims for U.S. Social Security disability benefits filed from overseas and that its backlogs make any other backlogs at Social Security look trivial?) Below are the corrected numbers from the Office of Personnel Management.

Social Security can take little comfort in having a 1.9% decline in employment in the past year instead of a 3% decline. The agency's workforce may decline at an even greater rate in the next year.

In the face of rapidly increasing workloads and a significant workforce reduction, how can Social Security work its way out of its backlogs? The answer is simple. It cannot. Expect backlogs to get worse.

• September 2007 62,407
• June 2007 62,530
• March 2007 61,867
• December 2006 63,410
• September 2006 63,647
• September 2005 66,147
• September 2004 65,258
• September 2003 64,903
• September 2002 64,648
• September 2001 65,377
• September 2000 64,521
• September 1999 63,957
• September 1998 65,629

Arkansas TV Station On Backlogs

From KFSM in Arkansas:

People trying to tap into social security funds may have a hard time getting help, according to a recent national study.

Attorneys that 5News spoke with say there are not enough people to handle the sheer volume of disability claims coming through the pipes. They say most of the appeals are valid, but the process takes so long, it can leave those needing help without funds for two to three years. ...

Attorneys 5News talked to say many times, the health of those waiting declines dramatically, because they don't quite qualify for Medicaid. Attorneys also say if applicant's utilities are cut off, or if they're being evicted, they can request an expedited hearing, but say even those are not much faster.

Fraud In Arizona

From the East Valley Tribune:

A former Scottsdale resident was convicted Wednesday of stealing from and lying to the government when she obtained Social Security benefits for her disabled son who didn’t qualify for them.

Denise Crouse, 49, now of Georgia, was convicted Wednesday in Maricopa County Superior Court after a three-day trial.

According to Attorney General Terry Goddard, Crouse lived in Scottsdale and Glendale between 1995 and 1999, where she collected more than $20,000 in Supplemental Security Income for her son, ineligible for the funds because he already had a $1 million trust fund.

During trial, Crouse testified that she held assets worth between $1 million and $2 million, not including the trust fund.

Social Security An Emergency?

From CNN (emphasis added):

Congressional negotiators worked to cut hundreds of federal programs, big and small, as they fashioned a $500 billion-plus catchall government funding bill Thursday. ...

In the meantime, the House passed a bill to keep the federal government open for another week to give negotiators time to fashion the omnibus spending bill, pass it in both the House and Senate and then adjourn for the year.

Democrats hoped to make an exception for a $3.7 billion increase for veterans health care, calculating that Bush and his GOP allies on Capitol Hill would relent in the case of that politically sacrosanct program. ...

The White House does not believe the additional veterans money is needed and previously has issued veto threats if the money for veterans is not accompanied by cuts elsewhere in the budget. That approach has been widely seen as unrealistic, even by top Republicans like House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio.

But with the White House playing such a strong hand in the negotiations, Boehner now insists Democrats stick within the president's $933 billion figure, with exceptions for border security and a few other "emergencies."

Backlog Report

The National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) has obtained from Social Security a December 2007 report on the hearing backlog. You can read it on the Social Security Perspectives blog. Just click on a page to enlarge it for easier reading.

Encouraging People To Work Longer

An announcement from the Social Security Advisory Board:

The Social Security Advisory Board

Invites You

To Attend a Public Forum

Working Toward Retirement Security:

Policies to Help Extend the Working Life of Older Americans

Friday, January 18, 2008

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Top of the Hill Conference Center

Reserve Officer's Association, (5^th Floor)

1 Constitution Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20002

As the nation faces the challenges of an aging population, the Advisory Board believes retirement security will depend ever more on the ability and willingness of individual Americans to extend their working lives. We are sponsoring this forum to facilitate a discussion of specific policies, regulations and practices to eliminate barriers and increase support for those who wish to work longer. Please join us as we discuss these issues with:

Keith Brainard, NASRA John Martin, OECD

Alicia Munnell, Boston College Gerald Shea, AFL- CIO

John Shoven, Stanford Eugene Steuerle, Urban Institute

Additional Speakers – To Be Announced

LUNCHEON SPEAKER

Edward P. Lazear

Chairman, Council of Economic Advisors

Please share this invitation with interested colleagues.

Lunch will be provided.

Due to limited seating, please RSVP by January 9, 2008:

conference@ssab.gov

202-475-7700

This event is being co-sponsored by University of Illinois Center for Business and Public Policy (please visit: www.business.uiuc.edu/finance/cbpp)

St. Louis Post Dispatch On Backlogs

From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

Mark Denny's disability hearing took place Monday at the Social Security Administration office in Creve Coeur. An administrative judge was there, as were lawyers and Mr. Denny's mother and sister.

Mark Denny himself wasn't there. He died on Jan. 24, 2006 — two weeks after being told he wasn't sick enough to collect federal disability insurance, and shortly after he decided to appeal.

His case isn't unusual, though most clients don't die during the average 486 days it takes from the time a disability appeal is filed with the Social Security Administration in St. Louis until a hearing can be held. It takes even longer in Kansas City: 684 days.

The problem isn't caused by lazy civil servants. The judges who preside over disability appeals face a crushing caseload, as do the Social Security employees who process the paperwork. Federal funding for their agency hasn't kept pace with demographics. Aging baby boomers have now reached their 50s and 60s. That's the age range of most people who file federal disability claims.

DDS Administrators Letter On I-Appeals

A letter that went out recently to Disability Determination Service administrators:

Policy Instruction

Identification Number DDSAL 750 Effective Date: 12/12/2007
Intended Audience: State Disability Determination Services Administrators
Originating Office: DCO ODD
Title: iAppeals Notice Language- ACTION
Type: DDS Administrators' Letters

Program: Disability
Link To Reference:

The purpose of this Disability Determination Services (DDS) Administrators’ Letter is to announce national rollout of Internet Appeals (iAppeals) on 12/22/07. DDSs need to modify certain disability determination denial notices to explain that appeals can now be requested on the Internet. The Disability Processing Branches (DPB) and Flexible Disability Unit (FDU) in the Processing Centers will be notified via an e-mail to the MIDAS User Group (MUG). It will indicate the implementation date that the notices will be modified with the necessary language found in this DDS Administrators letter. No additional action is necessary for the DPB/FDU components.

Background:

Since 12/1/03, some members of the public have been able to complete and submit the SSA-3441 Disability Report – Appeal online (i3441). Effective 12/22/07, members of the public will also be able to complete and electronically submit the Request for Reconsideration (i561) and the Request for Review by Administrative Law Judge online. Additionally, on 12/22/07, the URL currently reflected on the notices will redirect users to the Welcome page of iAppeals. The Welcome page will solicit information to determine if a SSA-561 or SSA-501 applies and will link the user to the appropriate form.

Instructions for modifying notices

Beginning no earlier than 12/22/07, all DDSs should include the revised language for iAppeals in the Notice of Disapproved Claim and Notice of Reconsideration for disability determination denials. Notices should be revised no later than 12/19/07. The notices that need revision are:...

Please advise your regional office of your completed actions by COB December 19, 2007. If you have any questions, please direct them to your regional office.

/s/
Ruby Burrell
Associate Commissioner
for Disability Determinations


cc:
All Regional Commissioners
Directors, Centers for Disability

Status Of Appropriations

From The Hill:

Democratic leaders hope to finish the 11 annual spending bills over the weekend and vote on an omnibus package early next week.

At a press conference Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sketched a tentative schedule for legislation funding the government next year.

“Right now we’re engaged in a four-way negotiation on what the bill will be,” said Pelosi, in reference to talks between Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, House Democrats and House Republicans. “And we will wait and see what emerges from that, and I hope it would be soon.”

“We would love to have it up on the Internet over the weekend and in the Rules Committee on Monday and on the floor on Tuesday,” said Pelosi of the omnibus. “That is our hope.” ...

Democrats have also floated the possibility of adding $3.7 billion in emergency spending for veterans’ healthcare.

“I think there’s a lot of rumors and a lot of discussion out there,” said Perino, when asked whether the president might accept added funding for veterans. “And the president has said his number is $933 billion, and we’ll see what they come up with.”

Obama On Disability Backlogs

From a press release issued by the Obama campaign, containing promises on what Barack Obama will do for the disabled if he is elected president:

Streamline the current application and appeals processes to reduce the unacceptable delays experienced by individuals applying for Social Security disability benefits, and ensure that the SSA has the funding it needs to hire additional judges and staff and to invest in technology to expedite final decisions ...

I am sorry, but the word "streamline" in the same sentence with the words "Social Security disability" gives me hives.