Social Security Offering 144 ALJ Jobs

A news release from Social Security:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that the agency has begun making offers to 144 of the 175 new Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) it will hire this fiscal year. Due to litigation and budget cuts, the agency has about ten percent fewer ALJs than it did a decade ago. During that same time, the number of cases waiting for a hearing decision has more than doubled.

“The hiring of these new ALJs is a critical step in our plan to reduce the backlog of disability cases,” Commissioner Astrue said. “They represent one of the largest investments in ALJs this agency has ever made. When these ALJs are fully-trained, and combined with the other steps we are taking, we will be able for the first time in this decade to reduce the number of cases waiting for a disability hearing. I can hardly wait for them to start.”

The new ALJs will be brought on board in phases with the first hires reporting for duty in April, when they will begin an intensive orientation and training program. While initially handling a reduced docket, newly hired ALJs should be scheduling a full docket of cases by the end of the year.

“I have been very impressed with the caliber of the candidates eager to take on the challenging role of a Social Security ALJ,” Commissioner Astrue noted. “These new ALJs are top-notch legally and comfortable working in an electronic environment, which is of utmost importance as we strive to increase the efficiency and productivity of our ALJ corps.”

Hiring of additional ALJs is only one component of the plan the agency has put in place to reduce the backlog of disability cases. The agency also continues to make progress in many other areas including opening the National Hearing Center, completing the nationwide roll-out of the Quick Disability Determination process, implementing compassionate allowances and eliminating aged cases. More information about Social Security’s plan is available at www.socialsecurity.gov/disability under the heading What’s New.

“In May of last year, I presented Congress with a detailed plan to reduce the backlog of disability cases,” Commissioner Astrue said. “I am pleased to report that, with the strong support of the President and Members of Congress from both parties, we have been able to move forward with that plan. I urge Congress to continue its support with timely action on the President’s fiscal year 2009 budget request for Social Security. A delay in fully funding the President’s request will undermine the many positive steps we have taken this year.”

Backlogs In Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana

From the Kentucky Post:

Thousands of people in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana are waiting right now for benefits they earned, but can't get. We're talking about Social Security disability benefits, something you pay for in taxes deducted from every paycheck.

The I-Team's Hagit Limor has been looking into a huge backlog that's costing some people their lifelong savings. She found delays of up to four years from the time people apply. They can't work due to their disabilities but are too young for social security, so they need disability pay.

Hagit first reported last year that Uncle Sam hasn't hired enough judges to hear these cases. Since our report, the government's taken some action, but Tri-Staters desperate for help tell us, it's not nearly enough. ...

"It's just a terrible, terrible situation. There has to be fundamental reform if it's going to be fixed," says Jim Allsup. He used to work for Social Security. Then he started a company that handles claims like Stegeman's for a fee. ...

Allsup’s company is not the only one that’s sprouted up to handle these cases. Some lawyers are becoming specialists too. It's like hiring a CPA to do your taxes. People are giving up a part of what they earned so someone else handles the bureaucracy, hopefully faster.

Effects Of No Match

A few months ago only a restraining order from a federal court prevented Social Security from sending out a huge number of no-match letters notifying employers that they had workers whose names and Social Security numbers did not match and threatening action if these situations were not resolved. It seems likely that the no-match letters will eventually go out.

Here is a report from CBS2 in Chicago on what happened in their area recently:

A workers right group says about 70 workers walked off their jobs at a Batavia plant in solidarity with 10 others who were fired after being notified of problems with their Social Security numbers.

Tim Bell of Chicago Workers Collaborative says the workers, all Hispanic, were fired from the Proex Incorporated packaging plant after refusing to verify their employment eligibility.

Bell says company officials told workers they received notices from the Social Security Administration informing them of discrepancies in the workers' stated identity information. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration from sending such letters to crack down on illegal workers.

Think about the consequences of multiplying what happened in Batavia by many thousands, both for the Social Security Administration and the country.

Results Of Last Week's Unscientific Poll

What is your highest educational attainment?

Less than high school (2)	2%
High School (5)	5%
Some college (11)	11%
Bachelor's degree (21)	21%
Graduate or professional degree (60)	61%

Total Votes: 99

Congressional Opposition Blocks Reducation In Field Office Hours In Kansas

From a press release posted by Congresswoman Nancy Boyda of Kansas:

Congressman Dennis Moore (Kansas Third District) and Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) praised the decision this week by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to suspend its plans to institute a pilot program that would limit public office hours in Kansas City’s SSA field offices.

In October 2007, the SSA announced their proposed pilot program to close public office hours of selected field offices, including those in Kansas. According to SSA, this effort was created to help address their current backlog of benefits and disability cases by improving the processing of claims and inquiries. ...

In response to the proposed pilot project, Rep. Moore and Rep. Boyda authored an October 2007 letter to SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue, expressing their deep reservations about the pilot program and asking that the SSA not only delay the start of the pilot program, but that the SSA field offices in Kansas be removed from the pilot program completely. Rep. Moore and Rep. Boyda reiterated their strong reservations in a November 7, 2007, meeting they organized with Commissioner Astrue and the Kansas congressional delegation. ...

The pilot project was originally scheduled to begin on November 1, 2007, but was temporarily postponed until March 2008. Rep. Moore and Rep. Boyda received a letter from Commissioner Astrue dated February 5, 2008, announcing the indefinite postponement.

Michael Astrue is likely to get some questions on the subject of field office service when he testifies before the House Appropriations Committee. Closing field offices or reducing field office hours is generating great opposition in Congress.

Ticket To Work Panel Backs Off

I have not been paying much attention to the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel (which I will refer to as the Panel), because I regard it as inconsequential. Others have been paying attention, however. The minutes of the October 31, 2007 panel meeting show that Berthy de la Rosa-Aponte, the Panel Chairperson, was at pains to defend the Panel from outside criticism.

The minutes say that she referred to a letter from some Congressmen stating that the Panel had gone beyond its charge. Apparently, the letter said that the Panel had been listening too much to a "self-selected group of beneficiaries who have an interest in work, who have the capacity to participate in [the Panel's] discussions, and [that] the folks [the Panel was] hearing from aren’t really representative of the typical Social Security beneficiary."

The Chairperson also told the Panel that she had met with Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue and that he had told her that the Panel's draft final report went beyond the Panel’s charge.

Marty Ford, Chairperson for the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) spoke at the same meeting and warned that the Panel's recommendations should "not threaten necessary income supports for individuals with disabilities." She told the Panel that the CCD did not "support radical changes in the existing Social Security and SSI disability programs. " She urged the Panel to "first and foremost do no harm.'" She asked the Panel not to recommend changes in Social Security's definition of disability or that participation in work activities be made mandatory or that disability benefits be subject to time limits.

Thus far, I have been unable to find a copy of what the Panel was considering. However, in the end, it looks like the Panel listened to its critics. The final report urged only that:

Congress and the Administration should take action to evaluate the impact of modernizing the Social Security definition of disability by defining disability in a manner that acknowledges the interaction between the person’s impairment and the environment and does not require the individual to prove their inability to engage in substantial gainful activity.

There was no recommendation of time limited benefits or mandatory work activity or anything else radical.

Appropriations Hearing On February 28

Even if the House Social Security Subcommittee is not ready to bring the Commissioner of Social Security in for a hearing, the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services of the House Appropriations Committee is -- and David Obey, the Chairman of the full Committee is Chairman of this Subcommittee. From the Subcommittee's website:

Hearing

The Disability Backlog at the Social Security Administration

February 28, 2007 10:00 AM, 2358-C Rayburn

Michael Astrue, Commissioner, Social Security Administration

Patrick O'Carroll, Inspector General, Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General

Richard E. Warsinskey, Immediate Past President, National Council of Social Security Management Associations

Marty Ford, Co-Chair, Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Social Security Task Force

Ronald G. Bernoski, President, Association of Administrative Law Judges

This should be available by webcast.

Federal Register Items Coming

All federal agencies, including independent agencies such as the Social Security Administration, must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is part of the White House, before publishing new regulations in the Federal Register. OMB has just cleared the following items, which should be appearing in the Federal Register in the near future (and note that OMB forced change in one of them, although I do not know what the change was):

Agency: SSA	RIN: 0960-AG67
TITLE: Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating HIV Infection (3466A)
STAGE: Prerule	ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: No
RECEIVED DATE: 01/17/2008	LEGAL DEADLINE: None
COMPLETED: 01/31/2008	COMPLETED ACTION: Consistent without Change
AGENCY: SSA	RIN: 0960-AG49
TITLE: Amendment to the Attorney Advisor Program (3398I)
STAGE: Final Rule No Material Change	ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: No
RECEIVED DATE: 01/28/2008	LEGAL DEADLINE: None
** COMPLETED: 02/22/2008	COMPLETED ACTION: Consistent without Change
AGENCY: SSA	RIN: 0960-AG54
TITLE: Compassionate Allowances (3427P)
STAGE: Prerule	ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: No
RECEIVED DATE: 02/11/2008	LEGAL DEADLINE: None
COMPLETED: 02/21/2008	COMPLETED ACTION: Consistent with Change

About Time For A Hearing

The last time that Michael Astrue, the Commissioner of Social Security, appeared at a hearing before the House Social Security Subcommittee was May 1, 2007, almost ten months ago.

I think we are overdue for another hearing.

Astrue: "Our Field Office Structure Is Under Siege"

From a Federal Times article about backlogs and staffing problems at federal agencies (and note the use of "Democrat" rather than "Democratic", which Democratic Senators and Representatives would find annoying, as Astrue well knows, but apparently forgot while doing this interview, or maybe he just does not care):

Years of tight budgets have also hurt agencies. Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue described his agency as a victim of its own “reputation for competence”: Congress appropriated less than the president’s budget request for 12 of the last 14 years.

That has forced the agency to reduce its staff of administrative law judges, who adjudicate claims for disability benefits. The agency is down from 1,200 such judges to almost 1,000, almost as low as during the mid-’90s.

“It wasn’t a Republican thing or a Democrat thing. … It was easy to bleed us dry when they were fixing a problem someplace else,” Astrue said. “And our field office structure is under siege. We’ve maintained the same number of field offices, but the population [needing our services] has gone up, and Congress adds a significant new workload every year.”

Among the recent new additions to the agency’s workload: processing claims under Medicare’s Part B insurance program and Part D drug plan, and verifying immigrants’ status through Social Security numbers.