Social Security News

Apr 9, 2008

Union Pickets Outside Social Security Building

Government employee union members stood with picket signs outside the new $150 million Social Security Administration building Tuesday to protest what they described as unfair working conditions.

About 30 members were across the street of the campus-style center at Eighth Avenue North and 12th Street.

"It's a beautiful building, but it's not employee friendly," said Celestine Hood, executive vice president of American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2206.
Patti Patterson, a spokesperson for Social Security's Atlanta region, said the agency has reached out to to the union to discuss the concerns, adding that the agency's goal is to have a safe and equally accessible workplace for all employees.

Hood and Anthony Young, president of AFGE Local 2206, said a main concern is that the building is not accessible for people using manual wheelchairs. They also said there have been no fire or tornado evacuation plans given to employees since employees began moving into the building in February.

The two said building management has a list of rules that forbids practices allowed in the old building, such as having personal fans. The new facility replaced the building at 2001 12th Ave. North.

"Things we were doing for 34 years didn't come over here with us," Young said.

Hood and Young said they have been in negotiations with Social Security officials. They said they plan to picket until conditions are better for employees.

"We want the employees to be happy and right now they're not," Young said.

Trouble In Paradise

From the Honolulu Star Bulletin, written by Frank Ury:

As a lawyer representing disabled people who have been denied Social Security disability benefits, I am deeply concerned about the current situation in our Honolulu Social Security hearing office.

Most of these hearings are litigated before an administrative law judge. The judge who has capably handled claims for Hawaii for many years has recently had some health problems, and has been off on sick leave since about November.
There have been many stories from the mainland about delays in hearing offices around the country, but until recently Hawaii ranked ninth in the nation for speed of processing -- although that still meant people here waited a year for a hearing. Now the wait is indeterminable because no cases are being scheduled at all.
What should happen in a situation like this is that the Social Security Administration's regional office in San Francisco would make an arrangement to have the hearing docket handled by a visiting judge. For some reason this has not happened, and there have been no Social Security hearings in the state of Hawaii since November.
There has been no response to inquiries to the regional office.
I represent a fraction of the people who are waiting for hearings. A hearing request is filed after two initial denials that have been appealed. That process can take six to 12 months before the request for hearing is made.
The wait for a hearing in Hawaii before the judge went on sick leave was 332 days. I personally have about 50 clients waiting for their cases to be scheduled. These are individuals with severe illnesses that prevent them from working, and they have no income while they await a decision.
The disabled citizens of our state deserve better.

Frank Ury practices law in Honolulu.

Above is the most recent national Hearing Office Backlog report, ranking Social Security's Hearing Offices by the length of time they are taking to afford claimants hearings. This report had been obtained by the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) and published in NOSSCR's newsletter. Click on each thumbnail to see it full size.

Apr 8, 2008

List Of New ALJs

I have obtained a list of the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) recently hired by Social Security. The list gives, in order, the number of the region in which the ALJ will work, the name of office at which the ALJ will work, the name of the ALJ alphabetized by region and finally the ALJ number. The ALJ number is of no consequence except for the coding of data entries at Social Security. I was not interested in spending the time redacting it. Here is the list:

2 Albany, NY Fein, Bruce S. 2682
2 New York, NY Ettinger, David A. 2683
2 San Juan, PR Farnes, Milagros 2684
2 Newark, NJ West, Richard A. 2692
2 Syracuse, NY Devlin, Michael W. 2698
2 Queens, NY Jordan, Jeffrey M. 2699
2 Albany, NY Grabeel, Thomas A. 2705
2 New York, NY Solomon, Mark D. 2706
2 Newark, NJ Elliot, Cameron R. 2707
2 San Juan, PR Mandry, Maria T. 2715
2 Mayaguez, PR Fernandez, Alexander 2728
2 Syracuse, NY Flanagan, F. Patrick 2749
2 Ponce, PR Meyers, Glenn G. 2751
2 Queens, NY Lahat, Gal 2767
2 New York, NY Timlin, Theresa C. 2798
2 Mayaguez, PR SurisFernandez, Ramon 2801
2 San Juan, PR Nunez, Maria L. 2804
2 Syracuse, NY Greener, Marie D. 2810
2 Albany, NY Ringler, Robert A. 2819
3 Seven Fields, PA Chain, Anne W. 2689
3 WilkesBarre, PA Rodriguez, Michael A. 2690
3 Johnstown, PA Gartner, Richard P. 2702 J
3 Morgantown, WV Brady, Richard D. 2711
3 Seven Fields, PA HarvinWoode, Mattie T. 2712
3 Huntington, WV Dummer, Rosanne M. 2713
3 WilkesBarre, PA Boini, Sridhar 2714
3 Harrisburg, PA Boulden, William L. 2733
3 Charleston, WV Rolph, John W. 2755
3 Seven Fields, PA Stanley, Wayne M. 2766
3 WilkesBarre, PA ScullyHayes, Kathleen 2772
3 Huntington, WV DeShazo, Michelle J. 2778
3 Morgantown, WV Sullivan, Jeslyne 2793
3 Seven Fields, PA Kooser, John H. 2805
3 WilkesBarre, PA Wing, Timothy 2807
3 Huntington, WV Griggs, Gordon W. 2808
4 Atlanta, GA Bryant, Leroy 2685
4 Charleston, SC Dodds, Ralph 2686
4 Greenville, SC Jenkins, Theresa R. 2687
4 Mobile, AL Hagler, Renee 2688
4 Tupelo, MS Pang, David S. 2696
4 Hattiesburg, MS Farris, Ann 2697
4 Jackson, MS Gillis, Sara A. 2704
4 Atlanta, GA Dibble, Christine E. 2708
4 Macon, GA Cornelius, David A. 2709
4 Raleigh, NC Anderson, David A. 2710
4 Knoxville, TN Pasvantis, Denise M. 2717
4 Nashville, TN Kimmelman, Barbara B. 2723
4 Chattanooga, TN Opp, Richard (OMHA transfer) 2729
4 Fort Lauderdale, FL Millington, Jennifer B. 2730
4 Orlando, FL Montanus, Mary C. 2731
4 Charleston, SC ForbesSchmitt, Nicole S. 2732
4 Jackson, MS Kane, Brian 2739
4 Hattiesburg, MS Haskins, Connie J. 2742
4 Mobile, AL Helm, Linda 2746
4 Columbia, SC Herin Jr., Walter C. 2752
4 Louisville, KY Lowther, Sheila C. 2753
4 Paducah, KY Pierce, Phylis A. 2754
4 Greenville, SC Paschall, Ann G. 2756
4 Macon, GA Snyder, Edward A. 2760
4 Atlanta, GA Ordas, William J. 2761
4 Knoxville, TN Sloss, Andrew G. 2763
4 Atlanta, GA (North) Alexander, Kevin T. 2774
4 Atlanta, GA Hughes, Frank J. 2775
4 Montgomery, AL Brinkley, Joseph L. 2776
4 Tampa, FL Wilborn, Roland R. 2777
4 Mobile, AL Larsen, Hallie E. 2784
4 Raleigh, NC Lord, Sandra D. 2786
4 Jackson, MS Tews, Scott A. 2787
4 Hattiesburg, MS Oesterreich, Rebecca L. 2789
4 Charleston, SC Hamel, Gregory 2791
4 Orlando, FL Rose, Joseph A. 2792
4 Fort Lauderdale, FL PerezGonzalez, Jose L. 2794
4 Birmingham, AL Wilson, Kenneth 2797
4 Nashville, TN Dau htr , John 2799 g y J
4 Atlanta, GA Joys, Heather A. 2803
4 Greenville, SC Watkins, Glen H. 2809
4 Mobile, AL Stalley, Dana E. 2812
4 Hattiesburg, MS Pierce, Katherine H 2814
4 Charleston, SC Scott, James H. 2818
5 Cincinnati, OH Becher, Donald A. 2691
5 Cleveland, OH Baumerich, Carol A. 2693
5 Milwaukee, WI Jacobson, Joseph D. 2694
5 Oak Park, MI McKay, Patricia S. 2701
5 Cleveland, OH BowmanDavis, Salena D. 2718
5 Grand Rapids, MI Jones, Paul W. 2719
5 Milwaukee, WI Paez, Alan G. 2720
5 Peoria, IL Dodson, John 2725
5 Cleveland, OH Hanekamp, Stephen M. 2726
5 Columbus, OH Allen, John R. 2727
5 Cincinnati, OH Flynn, Robert 2734
5 Cleveland, OH Janas, Thomas W. 2735
5 Milwaukee, WI Ritter, Wayne L. 2743
5 Cleveland, OH LeBlanc, Dennis J. 2748
5 Evansville, IN Martin, Augustus C. 2757
5 Oak Park, MI HallKeith, Jacqueline Y. 2758
5 Milwaukee, WI Sayon, Karen L. 2765
5 Dayton, OH Lombardo, Amelia G. 2779
5 Indianapolis, IN Whitaker, Tammy H. 2780
5 Columbus, OH Wansker, Henry B. 2781
5 Flint, MI Rabaut, John J. 2785
5 Cleveland, OH Mittleman, Vivian W. 2795
5 Cincinnati, OH Prince, John M. 2796
5 Grand Rapids, MI Stueve, Timothy G. 2800
5 Cincinnati, OH Sherry, James W. 2802
5 Peoria, IL Mangrum, Timothy W. 2811
5 Cleveland, OH Staples, Richard N. 2816
6 New Orleans, LA Anzalone, Kerry J. 2695
6 Metairie, LA Artuso, Barbara J. 2700
6 Shreveport, LA Arnold, Deborah A. 2716
6 Fort Smith, AR Shepherd, Larry D. 2721
6 Metairie, LA Graalmann, Steven 2724
6 Alexandria, LA Stults, Douglas S. 2736
6 Shreveport, LA Scales, Ramona D. 2741 p
6 Metairie, LA Hamner, Darren R. 2745
6 New Orleans, LA Reagan, Marni A. 2762
6 Little Rock, AR Knowles, David L. 2768
6 Metairie, LA Kerins, Jean R. 2769
6 Fort Smith, AR LaPolt, Monica 2782
6 Metairie, LA Volz, Louis J. 2783
6 Shreveport, LA Staller, Scott M. 2806
6 New Orleans, LA Thawley, John A. 2813
7 West Des Moines, IA Bice, Debra L. 2703
7 West Des Moines, IA Draper, Joann L. 2722
7 Creve Coeur, MO Mance, Michael D. 2737
7 West Des Moines, IA Hamilton, Marilyn P. 2738
7 Springfield, MO Fulton, Kenton W. 2750
7 Wichita, KS Brookins, Alison K. 2770
7 West Des Moines, IA Van Vleck, Deborah J. 2790
7 Wichita, KS Lehr, Michael A. 2817
8 Billings, MT Schuman, Kurt D. 2740
8 Fargo, ND Messina, Christopher S. 2747
9 Fresno, CA Kopicki, Michael J. 2744
9 Sacramento, CA Welton, Bradlee 2764
9 San Jose, CA Hogan III, Henry J. 2773
9 Sacramento, CA Seng, Michael J. 2788
9 Fresno, CA Madsen, Sharon L. 2815
9 Downey, CA Faulkner, Marilyn (OMHA transfer) (Prior ODAR ALJ) 2235
9 San Bernadino, CA Pease, Jesse (OMHA transfer) (Prior ODAR ALJ)2490
10 Spokane, WA Chester, Robert S. 2759
10 Seattle, WA Dantonio, Joanne E. 2771

Disability Advocates In Greece

Did you know that Greece is a suburb of Rochester, NY? From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

As claims representatives for the Social Security Administration, David J. Penrose and Peter A. Siracuse assisted people with their claims for disability insurance, retirement and survivor benefits.
Penrose and Siracuse had worked for Social Security for 15 and 10 years, respectively. The men, both of Greece and friends, held secure, well-paying jobs with good benefits. But they also wanted to go into business for themselves as private advocacy representatives helping the very people they assisted each day at the Social Security office.

And The Winner Is ...

Congratulations to the Jayhawks, winners of the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. The winner of the Social Security News bracket challenge is E. Goodin.

New York Congressman On Social Security Service

From the Daily Star of Oneonta, NY:

Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, is seeking congressional oversight of local Social Security Administration field offices to ensure seniors are getting quality service.

During a stop at the Nader Towers senior community Monday, Arcuri announced his support for the Social Security Customer Service Improvement Act, H.R. 5110.
The Social Security legislation would require congressional notification and justification at least six months before a field office is closed or has its hours limited. It also would require the SSA to provide statistics to Congress on pending cases, staffing levels and backlogs at these offices within its annual budget estimate.

Arcuri said an SSA field office in Auburn closed, and he suspects more of the 11 offices in the 24th Congressional District could close, leaving residents with a travel burden when they deal with Social Security issues.

Apr 7, 2008

Where The New ALJs Are Going -- And Why 135 New ALJs Instead of 144?

The Social Security Administration has posted a spreadsheet showing where the 135 newly hired Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) are going. You have to have a spreadsheet program to open it from Social Security's website, but I have reproduced it above. Click on each page to see it full size.

By the way, it was only a little over a month ago that it was supposed to be 144 new ALJs. Why the slippage? It looks like Social Security offered jobs to 144 people, but only hired as many as accepted. After nine applicants turned them down, why did they not offer jobs to nine more applicants so they could hire the 144 they were talking about earlier? Was the talk about 144 ALJs being hired a bit misleading?

A Closer Look At The New Immune System Listings -- Wow!

This may seem awfully technical to readers who do not work with the Social Security disability program in some detailed way, but trust me, it is important. You will have to follow me to the end to fully understand its importance.

Social Security's listings are a shortcut that allows relatively rapid approval for disability claimants who are most seriously ill. Claimants do not have to meet a listing to be approved, but, unless working, a claimant who meets a listing will automatically be found disabled.

I did not have time until recently to study the the new Immune System Listings published on March 18. Once I did, I discovered the following language that looked out of place:

Limitation of activities of daily living.
Limitation in maintaining social functioning.
Limitation in completing tasks in a timely manner due to deficiencies in concentration, persistence, or pace.

Those familiar with the listings know this language to be the "B" criteria from the psychiatric listings. This language had previously been in the HIV/AIDS listing, but not in the other immune system listings. So how does this "B" criteria language fit in the non-psychiatric immune system listings? This language appears anew eight separate times in the new immune system listings. It follows each of these:

14.02 B. Repeated manifestations of SLE [systemic lupus erythematosus], with at least two of the following constitutional symptoms or signs (severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss) and one of the following at the marked level:
14.03B. Repeated manifestations of systemic vasculitis, with at least two of the constitutional symptoms or signs (severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss) and one of the following at the marked level:
14.04D Repeated manifestations of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), with at least two of the constitutional symptoms or signs (severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss) and one of the following at the marked level:
14.05E. Repeated manifestations of polymyositis or dermatomyositis, with at least two of the constitutional symptoms or signs (severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss) and one of the following at the marked level:
14.06 B. Repeated manifestations of undifferentiated or mixed connective tissue disease, with at least two of the constitutional symptoms or signs (severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss) and one of the following at the marked level:
14.07 C. Repeated manifestations of an immune deficiency disorder, with at least two of the constitutional symptoms or signs (severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss) and one of the following at the marked level:
14.09 D. Repeated manifestations of inflammatory arthritis, with at least two of the constitutional symptoms or signs (severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss) and one of the following at the marked level:

What Social Security is saying is that if you have one of these immune system (or more accurately, rheumatic) disorders to a significant degree and also have rather significant psychiatric problems, you meet the listing and should be found disabled, even though neither the physical nor the mental illness on its own would otherwise meet a listing.

The "B" criteria language was not in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking apart from the HIV/AIDS listing, so this came as quite a surprise to me. Social Security explains in the notice published with the new regulations that the "B" criteria were added to the new listings as a result of public comment.

What I am about to say may surprise readers who do not have significant experience working on the front lines with Social Security's disability programs, as will the vehemence with which I say it, but I do not think I will get many arguments from those who are experienced. There is a complex interplay between physical and mental illness. It is normal for chronic physical illness to lead to depression, often severe depression. Psychiatric illness is usually accompanied by physical symptoms. Panic disorder, for instance, is not uncommon and causes dramatic physical symptoms. Depression is even more common and produces symptoms that mimic all sorts of serious phyisical ailments. Somatoform disorders (psychosomatic illnesses) are not rare. To some extent, all of us have psychosomatic symptoms. Depression heightens the perception of pain. Separating physical and mental illness into two separate categories is impossible, since there is no clear boundary between the two. In many, many cases the claimant is clearly disabled but the disability is not produced by either physical illness or mental illness, but by the combination of the two. In theory, Social Security accepts that a claimant may be disabled by a combination of physical and mental illness, but only in theory. In practice, the agency tries to slice a claimant in half and evaluate the physical and mental components of a claimant's health problems separately.

These new listings reflect an understanding that the suffering caused by chronic physical illness extends to psychiatric symptoms and that the disability caused by those psychiatric symptoms must be considered.

By this point, I think that those who are well versed in Social Security disability determination have already leaped ahead to the logical corollary of these new listings. If the psychiatric "B" criteria should be imported into the immune system listings, logically they should be imported into virtually every physical listing. That would be a major change in the listings and, in my opinion, a major step forward.

Will this happen? No time soon. I doubt that such a result was intended. At least, I strongly doubt that anyone at a high level at Social Security intended this. I doubt that the implications of these new listings has even dawned upon the upper reaches of the Social Security Administration.

Certainly, the agency can try to tell the world that there is a vast difference between the chronic illness produced by immune system disoders and the chronic illness produced by other diseases, but is there? I keep thinking about chronic liver disease. Sure, it is vastly different than lupus, for instance, but my experience is that it is even more likely to produce symptoms that seem psychiatric and, indeed, are psychiatric. You can say much the same thing about low back pain, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis, just to name three diseases. In fact, you can say it about any serious chronic illness.

This argument is going to be made the next time that Social Security publishes proposed new listings. How will the agency respond? What if there is a new President by the time the agency has to respond?

This issue should be coming up soon. Proposed changes in the cancer listings are due out before long.

Social Security's Role In Employment Verification

In response to my post noting the apparent inactivity of the House Social Security Subcommittee, an anonymous poster gave a link to this letter sent by Mike McNulty, the Chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee and Charles Rangel, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee to their Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives.

I think it makes a powerful argument. It makes clear the threat to the Social Security Administration and to United States citizens from overzealous, unrealistic efforts at immigration enforcement.

This is the text of the letter:

The Facts on Employment Verification:
Current Proposals are Unworkable for SSA,
Threaten Progress in Reducing Disability Claims Backlog

March 27, 2008

Dear Democratic Colleague:

The current discussion about a national employment verification program to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants lacks basic information about how well the existing pilot system works. An ill-considered expansion of the "E-Verify" pilot system, which is run jointly by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), could have a potentially devastating impact on American workers, on Social Security beneficiaries, and on the SSA, which would bear the brunt of the fallout created by errors in the databases that are used by the system.

SSA simply cannot handle the massive new workload that expansion of this pilot would impose, especially given the current backlog in disability claims processing and the impending wave of retirement claims from the Baby Boom generation.

In the first year alone, the legislation that is being promoted by the Republican discharge petition (H.R. 4088) would cost SSA more than $1 billion - about 10 percent of SSA's current administrative budget. It would impose an enormous new workload on an already overburdened agency which has been unable to process disability claims timely, and is now facing millions of new retirement claims from the Baby Boomers.

Congress should ensure that our immigration laws are enforced, but we can do so without jeopardizing Americans' ability to obtain the Social Security retirement, survivors and disability benefits which they have earned. We urge you to get the facts before signing any discharge petitions to bring up bills, such as H.R. 4088, that have not had a thorough review of their consequences.

The "E-Verify" Pilot Is Not Ready for National Roll Out
According to the DHS, the E-Verify pilot only had 3.6 million inquiries in 2007. Under proposals for a mandatory verification system, the number of inquiries would quickly rise to at least 60 million per year, making it difficult to foresee how well the system would perform.
The 53,000 employers currently enrolled in E-Verify either volunteered to use the system so they are a law-abiding, self-selected group - or were required by DHS to enroll as a penalty for prior immigration law violations. The expansion proposal would require that every employer in the U.S. be enrolled within four years, increasing the number of participants to 6 million. This requires DHS to enroll approximately 4,000 employers per day for four years.
The effect of a national system on SSA's workload is subject to substantial uncertainty. Mistakes committed by employers and inaccuracies inherent in SSA's database will combine to produce millions of erroneous non-confrrmations. This will in turn force millions of employees into SSA field offices in order to correct their records or else be fired.
Existing programs under which employers must match data with SSA have very high rejection rates. SSA has testified numerous times that 10 percent of the 240 million W-2s received annually by SSA do not match the names and Social Security numbers in SSA's records. Last year, SSA testified that 7 of every 100 workers currently run through EVerify could not be immediately confirmed because of mismatches with Social Security records.
Many mismatches will result from errors in the Social Security database, which has a 4.1 percent inaccuracy rate, according to SSA's Inspector General. These errors are normally corrected at the time of benefit application and would not necessarily affect individuals' ability to obtain benefits. These errors would, however, prevent workers from being able to keep their jobs.
The vast majority of the workers affected by these database errors are U.S. citizens because immigrants would be verified through DHS databases.
SSA testified in 2007 that, under a national system, 6 of every 100 workers would need to visit an SSA field office in person in order to correct their records, or lose their jobs.
There are 60 million new hiring decisions made each year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thus, 3.6 million Americans would have to visit an SSA field office each year in order to keep their jobs. This number increases if the already-hired workforce were also required to be verified.
Expansion Threatens Americans' Ability to Obtain Timely Disability and Retirement Benefits
SSA has been underfunded for nearly a decade and is already working at capacity - with long lines, half of calls to local field offices going unanswered, and multi-year waits to receive disability benefits. If the ability of Americans to work depends on SSA's ability to handle the new workload, then the agency may be forced to divert scarce resources away from SSA's core mission to the new immigration function, putting workers at the head of the line for SSA's assistance in front of seniors, people with disabilities, and those who have lost a loved one.
There is currently a backlog of over 750,000 disability cases waiting for a hearing, with an average wait of about 500 days. Last year, we provided SSA with an overdue increase in funding to begin to work down this backlog. If Congress places the fallout from E-Verify on SSA's shoulders, it would be undermining the backlog reduction effort. SSA has testified that for every one million dollars that SSA is forced to spend on other workloads, 565 more disability hearings could be held.
The legislation being promoted by the Republican discharge petition does not provide any funding for SSA's role in the employment verification program. The bill only authorizes appropriations; it does not actually provide any funds. Moreover, it leaves it up to DHS to decide how any appropriations are allocated. SSA currently receives no appropriation for the immigration-related work it does. Instead, SSA must seek reimbursement from DHS.
More importantly, even with a special appropriation, it would be exceedingly difficult for SSA to handle the massive new workload because the agency's current workload already exceeds its staff and infrastructure capacity.
The verification system in the legislation being promoted by the Republican discharge petition, and other existing proposals, fails to protect Social Security beneficiaries or American workers from the disastrous effects of this system.

We can do better than current proposals if we learn the facts, evaluate the options to fix the databases, and most importantly prioritize Democratic principles that strengthen and enforce labor protections for American workers - without undermining the efficiency of the SSA or eroding public support for Social Security programs that Democrats have successfully protected from ideological attacks for decades.

Sincerely,

Michael R. McNulty
Chairman
Subcommittee on Social Security
Committee on Ways and Means

Charles B. Rangel
Chairman
Committee on Ways and Means