Bandwidth Or Server Problems At Social Security?

This is just a little speculation based upon a couple of things. First, I have noticed recently that it often takes a long time to access Social Security web pages. The problem seems to be getting worse. Second, I am hearing a lot of complaints that while Social Security is encouraging use of Electronic Records Express (ERE) to upload medical records to the agency, that a lot of the time ERE is unavailable.

Could these two problems be linked by inadequate bandwidth or inadequate network servers at Social Security, basically inadequate computer infrastructure? If so, the Social Security Administration is going to have to address the issue pronto or stop promoting the use of the internet to do business with the agency. But these may be no more than temporary blips.

Senator Kohl Introduces Bill To Stop Illegal Garnishment

From the Small Business Times of Wisconsin:

U.S. Senators Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) have introduced the Illegal Garnishment Prevention Act, a bill that would prevent the U.S. Department of Treasury from promoting the use of direct deposit for Social Security beneficiaries until they put a stop to the illegal garnishment of government benefits from the bank accounts of private citizens.

With increasing frequency, financial institutions are garnishing or freezing funds on behalf of creditors from bank accounts into which Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Veterans benefits are electronically deposited, despite clear protections in federal law against the garnishment of such benefits, Kohl said.

Senator Clinton On Backlogs

A press release from Senator Clinton's office:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today joined Congressman Brian Higgins in calling on the Social Security Administration (SSA) to answer questions regarding excessive delays in appeal hearings that have been caused by a lack of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) who are charged with hearing those cases. In a letter sent today to SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue, Senator Clinton expressed her concerns regarding the excessive delays that have been reported in the Buffalo Hearing Office, which affects Social Security recipients in Erie, Chautauqua, Niagara, Genesee, Ontario, Monroe, and Cattaraugus counties. She also called for an explanation of how the agency determines the allocation of ALJs throughout their offices. Congressman Higgins brought this matter to the forefront on Monday when he singled out the delays affecting the Western New York region, and called for additional ALJs to be assigned to the Buffalo Hearing Office.

“It is unacceptable that people in Western New York are forced to wait almost two years before they can expect the SSA to hear their appeals,” said Senator Clinton. “People can’t be expected to put their lives on hold indefinitely. If the SSA is aware that certain offices have a track record of experiencing excessive delays, the agency should take a thorough look at how they are allocating the judges charged with hearing those cases.”

“This is a matter of basic human dignity,” Higgins said. “No one should have their life put on hold for years to find out whether they will receive social security disability benefits, but this has become the frustrating reality for thousands of Western New Yorkers. I thank Senator Clinton for partnering with me to advocate for getting these people the service they deserve.”

Monthly SSI Stats

The Social Security Administration has released its monthly statistical package for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

Treasury Won't Give Up On Privatization

No else one is paying attention any more, so maybe I shouldn't, but the Department of the Treasury has released its Issue Brief No. 4 promoting privatization of Social Security. The paper aspires to an above the fray tone, basically by assuming that everyone agrees that we should privatize Social Security and that the only dispute is on how to do it. That is a ridiculous assumption, of course. Here is a small excerpt:

The institutional reforms considered in this issue brief, including several variants of personal accounts, are discussed solely in terms of the contribution they make to ensuring that attempts to pre-fund Social Security actually result in an accumulation of resources to fund future benefits. Accordingly, elements of these reforms that do not directly bear on the question of pre-funding—for example, the inheritability of personal accounts—are not discussed. In addition, it should be emphasized at the outset that none of the mechanisms for pre-funding considered here involve the privatization of any function of Social Security.

Yeah, right. Personal accounts and privatization are two completely separate things. Why would anyone think they were the same thing?

Advance Notice On Cardiovascular Disorders Listings

As mentioned yesterday, the Social Security Administration has published advance notice that it is considering changes in its listings for cardiovascular impairments. The agency is not giving an idea of what it is considering, only asking what the public thinks should be in the new regulations.

Council Bluffs Man Charged With Fraud

I love the name of this newspaper. From the Daily Nonpareil of Council Bluffs, Iowa:

Council Bluffs police officers served an arrest warrant on John B. Wilcox, 57, for first-degree theft Thursday. Reports indicated a special agent with the Social Security Administration told Council Bluffs police Wilcox received $10,867.50 in Social Security aid between January and June 2007.

Reports stated the money was meant for Wilcox because of a disability, but the report alleged he continued to work.

SSA Loses Arbitration On Telework

From the Federal Times:

An arbitrator has ordered the Social Security Administration to reverse its rollback of a telework program for some employees and to bargain with the employees’ union over any changes it wants to make.

The agency must decide by April 25 whether to appeal the ruling.

The order affects about 100 senior case technicians in SSA’s Boston region who are responsible for preparing disability claims cases for review by administrative law judges. But the case is being watched by about 2,000 senior case technicians across the country, many of whom complain that they too have been provided less freedom to work at home, said Jim Marshall, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 215.

For years, senior case technicians were allowed under a collective bargaining agreement to take their paper files home and work from there at least one day a week. But two years ago, the agency’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review began using electronic files instead of paper files. By spring 2007, employees were complaining the transition to digital files meant they were allowed to work at home only once a month or less. ...

Marshall and Andy Krall, vice president of Local 1164, said they expect SSA to appeal the decision.

Waiting In Buffalo

From WGRZ:

The Social Security Administration's Buffalo office has a lot of cases to process. And the delays in getting those cases resolved has raised a lot of questions.

According to the SSA it takes 669 days, or nearly two years, for the average Western New Yorker to have their case heard and processed. Also, each Administrative Law Judge in Buffalo has on average 895 cases pending.

"It's unacceptable," said Congressman Brian Higgins (D) (Buffalo). "People in this community are hurting. When they file a claim, they're not looking for benefits two years from now, they're looking for benefits right away."

Higgins wants to know why ten new administrative law judges have been added to New York in 2008, and none of those ten have been assigned to Buffalo. "We need more administrative law judges to get these claims processed in an expeditious way," he said.

Note that the Congressman is asking a question that has not been asked by Congressmen in the past. How does Social Security decide which hearing offices to assign new Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) to. From what I have seen, the assignment of new ALJs seems to have little to do with need. There are legitimate questions to ask.

Lining Up Before Dawn In Las Vegas

This could be something the Ways and Means Committee will ask Commissioner Astrue about when he testifies. From the Las Vegas Sun:

The Las Vegas Valley’s Social Security Card Center, already among the nation’s busiest, will be even more of a headache for employees and customers if the federal government makes the agency enforce immigration laws, the head of the agency’s field worker union says.

Witold Skwierczynski says the Las Vegas office is a poster child for why the Homeland Security Department’s push to clamp down on undocumented workers by chasing down false Social Security numbers won’t work. ...

[I]f the new rules are adopted, Skwierczynski says, Social Security offices will be swamped, making it more difficult for other customers to get services. And Las Vegas, which until recently had customers waiting three hours in the lobby, will be among the hardest hit.

The problem is that the Social Security Administration’s database has serious problems. A 2006 inspector general’s report uncovered about 17.8 million discrepancies between names and numbers among 435 million records. More than 70 percent of those “no matches,” or nearly 13 million people, involved native-born U.S. citizens, including people who got married and changed their last names or whose two last names were switched by mistake.

So if the federal government suddenly required about 800,000 employers nationwide to check the Social Security Administration’s database, more of those cases would crop up. And the only place to fix those mistakes is at one of the agency’s offices — like the one at 1250 S. Buffalo Drive.

A long line forms outside the building most mornings about two hours before the doors open at 8:45.

The valley’s card office was second nationwide for visitors among all Social Security offices last month, with 12,931 customers, said Marjorie Johnson, district manager. The office has served more than 45,000 customers since January — with only 15 employees to help them.

First in line on a recent morning were a pair of friends who shivered in an uncharacteristic April chill. Marji Puype and Mike Chiou wanted to change the names on their cards — Puype because she is no longer married and Chiou because he recently became a citizen and, well, Mike is easier to pronounce than his real name.

The two showed up at 7 a.m. because they had been at the office a year ago for other business and saw four-hour waits during the afternoon.

Since then, Johnson said, another employee has been hired, with three more on the way. The office also became the first in the nation to use mandatory overtime for customer service. Since January, workers have stayed after the office closes at 4 p.m. to help customers still waiting in the lobby. So far, that has cost $14,367. But wait times are down to 30 minutes, Johnson said.

With hiring more, expanding the office and paying the overtime, things were looking up — after several years of seeing a lot of frustrated faces out in the lobby, she said.

But if the Homeland Security rule becomes reality, “we would have to come up with a new system,” Johnson said, adding: “I’m not sure how.”

At least one state already is dealing with the issue: Arizona, where a new state law requires employers to check workers’ records against the Social Security Administration’s database. Leslie Walker, spokeswoman for the agency, said there are no figures yet on how the law has affected caseloads at Phoenix’s two card offices. But she said field workers have noted that many who come in to clear up mistakes are recently naturalized citizens or have two surnames that have been switched. Both types of cases would be common in the Hispanic community here.