Why Service At Social Security Has Gone To Hell

Service has gone to hell at Social Security since the Bush Administration took office. Why? It is all a matter of budget priorities.

Social Security's operating budget for the 2001 fiscal year (FY) was $7, 223 million. That was the operating budget for the year in which the Bush Administration took office. For the current FY Social Security's operating budget is $9,864 million, which is a 36.6% increase. Of course, you have to allow for inflation. Between October 2000 and July 2008 the inflation rate was 26.4%. This means that there was a net gain in Social Security's operating budget during the Bush Administration after inflation of about 10.2%.

As of September 2000, the closest date to when the Bush Administration took office for which I can find figures, Social Security had 64,521 employees. As of March 2008, the most recent date for which figures are available, Social Security had 60,465 employees, a 6.3% decrease.

After inflation Social Security's operating budget increased by 10.2% over about eight years, while the number of employees decreased by 6.3% over about the same time period.

The extra money appropriated to Social Security plus the money saved by not replacing employees must have gone to contractors. If that money had not gone to contractors I can make a rough guess that the Social Security Administration would now have about 10,000 to 15,000 more employees than it has and I can say with certainty that Social Security would be giving much better service to the public.

It is all a matter of priorities.

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White House Rates Social Security Administration

You have to consider who is doing the rating, but the White House rates the Social Security Administration pretty highly on its "Executive Branch Management Scorecard."

Video Service Delivery

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management employees, included an article about video service delivery in its July 2008 newsletter. Here is more detail on video service delivery from the minutes of the August 7 teleconference meeting of the NCSSMA's Executive Committee:

Video service delivery [VSD], a new way of conducting SSA business, is being piloted in Wyoming. The public can conduct business with SSA at their local libraries. Equipment provided by two different vendors is being utilized. The public can file applications or conduct SR [Service Representative] type actions via VSD.

The first month of the pilot, 250 people utilized the SR VSD window, and 80% of claims that were scheduled were filed compared to the higher no show rate at a field office. One of the service options is to have a private reading room, which affords even greater privacy than in the FO [Field Office]. A future enhancement could allow documents viewed through the camera to be considered similar to viewing in person. Some of these VSD centers are within close proximity to actual FOs so that if the process fails, the public can still conduct business at the actual FO.

The Division of International Operations (DIO) is considering a VSD pilot in London, which can be set up for a fraction of the cost in foreign embassies. VSD is pretty much behind SSA firewalls so it is more secure and information is encrypted. It currently appears that there is no possibility of PII being compromised. VSD with DSL connections is good enough to see markings on drivers' licenses.

... The pilot is deemed an outstanding success. The Regional Commissioners all seemed to like it, and there is talk in the regions about which states will pilot VSD. It has also been very successful on Native American Reservations. The agency sees the value of VSD as being another form of face- to- face service and an alternative to internet usage. ...

I have written before about the problems that Social Security has with international claims. This would be an enormous improvement over the messy situation now, with untrained or poorly trained State Department employees taking claims. I am sure this will help improve service in sparsely populated areas of the United States as well. Unfortunately, it could also be used to justification for shutting down Social Security's field offices, which would be a terrible idea.

GAO Report On Withholding Of Medicare Premiums

I had missed it, but the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on July 15, 2008 on the withholding of Medicare premiums from Social Security checks. The report indicates that despite work, problems remain.

Debit Cards For Claimants Without Bank Accounts

Social Security is now going national with the program to allow claimants without bank accounts to receive their benefits by direct deposit to an account they can access through a debit card. Comerica Bank is managing the program. To sign up for this, a claimant is supposed to call Comerica, a detail which I find mildly jarring.

AALJ Press Release On "Laptop Law"

From a press release issued by the National Executive Board of the Association of Administrative Law Judges (AALJ), a labor union that represents many of Social Security's Administrative Law Judges (ALJs):

Currently the nation´s Social Security disability insurance program is struggling under a severe case backlog. In some parts of the country, claimants can wait more than two years for a hearing. According to the Government Accountability Office the backlog results primarily from increased applications, staffing shortages and management weaknesses.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has tried a number of fixes to speed the process including video hearings. In recent years, these hearings have been conducted in special chambers located in government buildings where federal administrative law judges control the camera and where claimants can discuss the most intimate details of their lives and disability, without worrying others will hear. ...

Now, SSA´s management has begun testing a new and until now unpublicized form of video hearing where judges are not in control of the camera, where hearings originate from the offices of private disability lawyers and where no federal employee is present to monitor the hearing and oversee operation of the camera or protect the privacy of claimants.

Judges would like to see steps taken to reduce the backlog and more quickly settle claims, however the use of video hearings originating from claimants´ lawyers laptops is not the solution. Claimants who have paid into the Social Security system throughout their working lives have a right to a fair hearing before a judge in a dignified setting. The new "laptop law" video forum has no provision for the judge to position or move the camera during the hearing. It deprives the judge of control of the hearing process and creates too many opportunities to game the system. It is not hard to imagine a claimant testifying from his lawyer´s office reading testimony from a teleprompter or being coached by another lawyer in the background.

Don't Tell Anyone! It's A Secret!

Bender's Immigration Bulletin has obtained a Program Operations Manual Series (POMS) issuance on Social Security's implementation of the Ensign Amendment, concerning the crediting of earnings when a person was working under a false Social Security number with intent to deceive. The issuance is marked "Sensitive -- Not To Be Shared With The Public."

This POMS issuance is small potatoes. The larger issue is the preposterous secretiveness. What is truly "sensitive" about this? This is the public's business that Social Security is transacting. Those of us who do business with the agency deserve to know the policies the agency is applying. Trying to keep this sort of thing secret indicates an improper desire to avoid public scrutiny. I am appalled.

Time To Pull The Plug On Ticket To Work?

From a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General on the Ticket to Work program (emphasis added):

We understand that the Ticket Program is a relatively new program and any savings achieved may be realized over a long period of time. Still, we found the economic self-sufficiency and related benefit savings outcomes were similar for beneficiaries, whether they participated in the Ticket Program or not. While the two groups had similar outcomes, SSA paid additional costs for the Ticket Program and recent changes are projected to increase the overall costs of the Ticket Program. Also, implementation of the Ticket Program did not appear to increase the percentage of disabled beneficiaries who returned to work, nor realize the outcomes and savings envisioned by Congress. Given our findings, we recommend SSA:

1. Evaluate the continued viability of the Ticket Program.

2. Work with Congress to reform or end the Ticket Program if the Agency determines it is not having the desired impact and/or it is not cost-effective.

AGENCY COMMENTS

SSA agreed with our recommendations ...

Bush Succeeded In Scaring People, If Nothing Else

From Rasmussen:

National Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters

Conducted August 1, 2008
By Rasmussen Reports

1* How confident are you that the Social Security system will pay you all promised retirement benefits during your lifetime?

15% Very confident
29% Somewhat confident
28% Not very confident
25% Not at all confident
3% Not sure

2* Should working Americans be allowed to opt out of Social Security and provide for their own retirement planning?

45% Yes
41% No
13% Not sure

3* Is Social Security a good deal for working Americans today?

46% Yes
37% No
18% Not sure

4* Currently, people pay Social Security taxes on the first $102,000 workers earn each year. People who make more than that do not pay Social Security taxes on salary and wages above that level. Should Social Security taxes be paid on ALL OR MOST OF THE income workers earn each year?

62% Yes
25% No
13% Not sure

5* Should people who pay more in Social Security taxes receive more Social Security benefits when they retire?

62% Yes
24% No
14% Not sure

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence