Michael Astrue, Esquire

From Esquire magazine (number 16), quoting Michael Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security:

Our system can now scan each of the millions of disability applications we receive for key words to find cases that should be granted without question because of a medical situation. This saves money. Also, a word about insolvency: What that means is that in 2037, the current estimate for "insolvency," we could pay only about 75 percent of benefits. So it's not like there's a cliff. And my bet is that in fact it'll be pretty close to 100 percent.

News From NCSSMA

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has a new President, Joe Dirago of Newburgh, NY. The Executive Committee of NCSSMA met on September 16 with Social Security's Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Linda McMahon, the Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Roger McDonnell and Associate Commissioner for OPSOS, Mark Blatchford. Here are some excerpts from NCSSMA's notes on that meeting:

• The 2010 budget is expected to be close to the Commissioner’s budget request but will not be enough to allow the agency to fill every position or complete all workloads. Resources will be directed at the high-profile workloads and where Commissioner Astrue sees the greatest need. For example, the Commissioner is looking at the decrease in public satisfaction with the 800 number. In addition, he is still concerned with the growing disability workload. ODAR [Office of Disability Adjudication and Review] has added significant resources and has decreased the hearings backlogs. We will finish the year with a total of just under 800,000 initial claims pending.
• Expectations are that the 2010 budget will be passed in November or December. In the meantime, Operations will continue to work as much overtime as possible. ...
• The agency brought on 3,700 new hires in FY09. [Fiscal Year 2009, which ended September 30, 2009] PSCs [Program Service Centers] saw a 5 for 6 replacement ratio, while the ratio for the field was 1.7 to 1. Budget forecasts for 2011 won’t be known until December. ...
• Mark Blatchford stated that he has made the Regions aware that there is Congressional interest in Work CDRs [Continuing Disability Reviews] and this is another workload that we need to work. There is no goal or mandate, but the Agency will be expected to report on our progress in this area at the end of year. ...
• Roger stated that the number of disability initial claims pending in DDSs has increased to around 780,000 this year. Receipts are up 14% to almost 3 million and are expected to reach 3.3 million in FY10. To address the growing volume, the increased hiring for the DDSs [Disability Determination Services] in 2009 will continue into FY10 and federal capacity for processing disability claims (in ODO [Office of Disability Operations] and ROs [Regional Offices] ) will also be enhanced. The agency is also considering policy changes and developing automation tools to streamline the medical decision process. When asked if consideration had been given to moving all DDSs from the three legacy systems currently in use to one system, Linda replied that we are moving in that direction. She also confirmed that the agency will be reinstituting the Reconsideration step in the ten Prototype states, but because of the expensive, it will be done gradually, probably beginning in Michigan. ...
• Commissioner Astrue is very concerned with the busy rate and time in queue experienced by callers and is committed to improving our 800# service. In addition to opening a new TSC i[Telecommunication Service Centers] n Jackson, Tennessee, he will likely provide 350 – 400 new hires to TSCs in FY10. Additional staffing in the TSCs has reduced the projected SPIKE hours [SPIKE hours refer to times when the PSCs cannot handle the calls they are receiving and other Social Security employees who do not normally deal with this workload have to be pressed into service] in PSCs to 291,000 in 2010, down from 325,000 in FY09.

List Of Non-Attorneys Qualifying For Withholding Of Fees For Representing Social Security Claimants

Via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Noel Anschultz has obtained a list of the 557 non-attorneys who have qualified for withholding of fees for representing Social Security claimants. This has been posted online by the CONNECT board.

NCSSMA Newsletter -- TSCs Grow And Change

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has issued its October 2009 newsletter, Frontline. Here are some excerpts from an article about Social Security Telecommunication Service Centers (TSCs):

In FY [Fiscal Year] 2010 the Agency will begin roll out of a new 800 number phone system called Citizen Access Routing Enterprise or CARE 2020. CARE 2020 will be an internet protocol based program designed for Web Call Back, Click to Talk, Web Chat and Web Collaboration. This will enable us to communicate with people using our internet services. ...

We will probably continue to see changes in the number and size of our TSCs in FY 2010. ... The Pittsburgh TSC has been restructured as a center with eight TSRs [Teleservice Representatives]. By the end of the year they will co-locate with a field office. Many TSCs around the country have greatly expanded. Some offices have grown by four times their size of a year or two ago! There is movement among the regions to create larger TSCs with about 200 TSRs while reducing the actual number of sites.

Big Contract Possible

From a "Sources Sought" notice posted by Social Security:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is conducting Market Research to determine if there are any sources that can provide alternative means by which printed notices can be provided to the public. SSA currently generates the vast majority of its printed notices in IBM's Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) in mixed mode and AFPDS in 12 point font, and a small portion in Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF formats.

SSA is seeking sources capable of converting its notices to Braille and/or Microsoft Word on a Data CD and mailing those notices to recipients within 5 business days (excluding government holidays) of receipt of the notice (files) from SSA. SSA anticipates the notices (files) will be provided daily, Monday through Friday, year round.

Press Release On Benefit Estimator

A Social Security press release:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that the online Retirement Estimator, available at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator, now can provide immediate and personalized benefit estimates to people who have enrolled in Medicare but have not yet filed for Social Security benefits. Previously, these “Medicare only” beneficiaries would need to contact a local office in order to obtain an estimate of their benefits. Currently, about a half-million people file for Medicare each year and delay filing for Social Security benefits.

“Social Security’s Retirement Estimator has been a huge success - with the agency providing over four million personalized retirement estimates to Americans since its launch last year,” Commissioner Astrue said. “With more people delaying retirement beyond the Medicare eligibility age, it is critical that they also have access to this easy-to-use online tool.”

The Retirement Estimator is interactive and allows users to compare different retirement options. For example, a person can change retirement dates or expected future earnings to better determine the impact on their future benefits and decide the best time to retire. The Retirement Estimator presently is the highest-rated government online service in customer satisfaction and, according to the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index, it exceeds the ratings of private sector online innovators like Netflix and Amazon.

"Extended Service Teams" And OIG Starts Telling It Like It Is

Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released a report with the title, Social Security Administration’s Major Management and Performance Challenges. There is not much in it that was news to me except a report that there are now "Extended Service Teams" in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Virginia that exist to help other state Disability Determination Services (DDS) make disability determinations at the intiial and reconsideration levels. I had heard of the team in Arkansas, but not the other states.

I also found this sentence from the report interesting: "SSA has less than 75 percent of the employees it had 25 years ago, despite core workloads increasing by 50 percent and new workloads being added." I do not remember OIG saying anything like this before the election of Barack Obama. When you put it like that, it is obvious why there are serious backlogs all over the place at Social Security. I wonder how aware Michael Astrue was of this reality when he was nominated to be Commissioner of Social Security.

Social Security Subcommittee Schedules Hearing

From a press release:

Congressman John S. Tanner (D-TN), Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced a hearing on Clearing the Disability Claims Backlogs: The Social Security Administration’s Progress and New Challenges Arising From the Recession. The hearing will take place on Thursday, November 19, 2009 in Room B-318, Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Social Security Subcommittee Calls For GAO Investigation Of Overpayments

From a press release issued by John Tanner, the Chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee:

U. S. Rep. John Tanner, Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate reports that the Social Security Administration (SSA) often makes payments to disability insurance beneficiaries long after these payments should have stopped. Congressman Sam Johnson, ranking Republican for the Subcommittee, joined Congressman Tanner in his request. ...

When Social Security disability beneficiaries return to work and earn beyond a certain threshold, SSA is supposed to stop their benefits. But reports from a range of sources – including advocates for disability beneficiaries and the SSA Inspector General – say that SSA often does not stop benefit payments in time. According to recent testimony before the Subcommittee on Social Security, even beneficiaries who properly inform SSA that they are working can receive large overpayments; in one case cited, a beneficiary who had reported his earnings promptly was still overpaid by almost $64,000. ...

In addition, advocates state that beneficiaries are often unaware that they are being paid in error until they receive a large bill from SSA for benefits they are then expected to repay.

Here is a link to the letter to GAO.

I have represented quite a number of clients who notified Social Security that they had gone back to work but who kept receiving checks from Social Security. I would be representing many more of these folks if the lack of back benefits did not force me to to demand my fee upfront to go into escrow. I wish more attorneys were willing to handle overpayment cases. Most are unwilling to fool with having to petition for approval of a fee. (By the way, Social Security could simplify this for everyone by setting a flat maximum fee for all overpayment cases. There is clear statutory authority for doing so.)

Veterans Day