House Social Security Subcommittee Hearing

The House Social Security Subcommittee held a hearing today on the backlogs in adjudicating disability claims. Here are a few excerpts from the written remarks:

Bob Filner, Congressman from California:
While some states have exempted Disability Determination Service (DDS) employees from the furloughs at the urging of the Social Security Administration, the State of California has not exempted DDS employees. This is despite the fact that DDS employee salaries are fully funded by the Federal Government. ...

The unnecessary furloughs for California DDS employees are pushing back the decisions on individuals’ benefits by months and harming thousands of disabled residents who are needlessly waiting for their claims to be processed. ...

Current federal law allows the Social Security Administrator to federalize DDS employees if a state “substantially fails” to live up to its responsibilities to process claims. I will soon introduce The Don’t Delay Services Act, which is intended to prevent state furloughs of DDS employees.

My bill would deem furloughs of DDS employees a “substantial failure”, triggering the provision of existing federal law that allows SSA to federalize DDS. As drafted, the Don’t Delay Services Act would not change any provisions of federal law concerning the rights and protections of these workers.

Michael Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security:

During this difficult economic crisis, Americans are turning to us for help more than ever before. In FY 2010, we expect to receive 1.2 million more claims than we received in FY 2008. I weighed the risks of an uncertain budget against the need to sustain our progress and decided to authorize our components to continue hiring and working maximum overtime during the continuing resolution (CR). Therefore, we are using the multi-year Recovery Act funding to help sustain our momentum this fiscal year during the CR. ...

By the middle of next year, seven new [hearing] offices will open in Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, and Indiana, our five most congested states. With plans for 25 new hearing offices, 7 new satellite offices, and scores of office modifications and expansions, we are adding the space we need to address the cases that continue flooding in. ...

We are testing a new, more sophisticated screening tool to identify cases for senior attorneys to review. We used predictive modeling to help us determine the proper balance between the number of attorneys screening cases and the number who are writing decisions for ALJs. Based on our analysis, we are identifying 100 senior attorneys to work in a virtual screening cadre to review the disability hearing backlog for potential allowances. ...

As we increase our capacity to hear and decide cases, we must consider the resulting workload for the Appeals Council (Council). The Council’s receipts are outpacing dispositions, with an almost 16 percent increase in receipts in FY 2009 over FY 2008. We expect that receipts will continue to increase by another 12 percent in FY 2010. ...

We expect nearly 700,000 more initial disability claims in FY 2010 than we received in FY 2008. We simply do not have the capacity to process all of the incoming applications with the same timeliness of the past year. ...

Recently, however, we have paid the price for the growth in workloads and tight budgets. Resource limitations have reduced the number of CDRs and SSI redeterminations we can handle. ...

With the President’s FY 2010 budget, we plan to hire a total of about 7,500 employees, which will allow us to maintain our staffing levels in our front-line operational components and add 1,400 employees in the DDSs and 1,300 employees in our hearing offices.

Barbara Kennelly, Acting Chair of the Social Security Advisory Board:

It is only a matter of time that the surge in initial claims is felt in ODAR. If the traditional waterfall of appeals occurs, about 45 percent of those denied at the initial level will request reconsideration, and then approximately three-quarters of the individuals who are denied at the reconsideration level will appeal to the ALJ. It takes about 250 days, on average, for an initial claim that has been appealed to reach ODAR and then several more months before the case is on an ALJ’s desk. This means that the increased caseloads in the DDSs will begin to materialize in ODAR in the second half of 2010 or in early 2011.

Beth Bates, attorney from Jackson, TN, on behalf of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities:

I am honored to testify today but am saddened that the reason is because my clients have waited so long and endured many hardships before receiving the disability benefits to which they are entitled.

Patrick O'Carroll, Inspector General, Social Security Administration:

The Commissioner has made significant efforts to limit the impact of furloughs, and was able to make some progress. He contacted all of the State Governors and many State legislators. Vice President Biden wrote to the National Governors’ Association, and there was even litigation in California that sought to preclude furloughs.

As a result of these and other efforts, two States exempted their DDSs from State employee furloughs, and three States partially exempted DDS employees, saving another 11,000 cases and $24.4 million from being delayed. Several more States fully or partially exempted DDSs from hiring restrictions. Additionally, SSA hired 192 new staff for Federal units that process initial claims, and transferred cases facing delays from States to those Federal units to ensure timelier processing.

Ann Roberts, Vice President National Council of Disability Determination Directors:

Transferring work from state to state or to other components is both politically sensitive and frequently a technologically challenging venture that needs to be considered cautiously.

Larry Auerbach, Administrative Law Judge, on behalf of the Federal Bar Association:

Our testimony today advances five recommendations:

1. State Disability Determination Services should be provided significantly enhanced resources.

2. SSA should continue to hire Administrative Law Judges and support staff, and add needed hearing offices.

3. SSA should continue to develop and implement improved technological and other initiatives.

4. New efforts are needed to accomplish the Commissioner’s goal of making the right decision at the earliest possible stage.

Press Release On Compassionate Allowance Hearing

A Social Security press release:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today hosted the agency’s fifth public hearing on Compassionate Allowances. Commissioner Astrue was joined by Philip Wang, M.D., Dr. P.H., National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, and Social Security executives. They heard testimony from some of the nation's leading experts on schizophrenia about possible methods of identifying and implementing Compassionate Allowances for young adults with schizophrenia.

"Schizophrenia is a devastating disease that affects more than two million Americans, primarily individuals in their teens and twenties," said Commissioner Astrue. "The onset of schizophrenia has life-changing consequences, which can include unemployment and homelessness." This hearing will help us to potentially identify the most severe cases and consider bringing them under our Compassionate Allowances umbrella."

In October 2008, Social Security launched Compassionate Allowances to expedite the processing of disability claims for applicants with medical conditions so severe that their conditions by definition meet Social Security's standards. To learn more and to view a web cast of today's hearing, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

"Our Compassionate Allowances and Quick Disability Determination processes are making a real difference by ensuring that Americans with devastating disabilities quickly receive the benefits they need," Commissioner Astrue said. "This fiscal year, we expect to fast-track about 150,000 cases and we plan to add more diseases and impairments to these expedited processes in the coming months."

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Witness List For Tomorrow's Hearing

Below is the tentative witness list for tomorrow's hearing at the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee:

Panel:
	Tentative The Honorable Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
	Panel:
	The Honorable Barbara B. Kennelly, Acting Chair, Social Security Advisory Board
	Beth Bates, Claimants’ Representative, on behalf of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, Jackson, Tennessee
	The Honorable Patrick O’Carroll, Inspector General, Social Security Administration
	Ann P. Robert, Vice President, National Council of Disability Determination Directors, Springfield, Illinois
	The Honorable Larry A. Auerbach, Administrative Law Judge, on behalf of the Federal Bar Association, Atlanta, Georgia

Profile Of Social Security Employee

The Las Cruces [NM] Sun-News has a profile of Ray Vigil, a 37 year veteran Social Security employee. There are many other long term Social Security employees who deserve recognition for their service to the public.

Caseload Analysis Report

Courtesy of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) newsletter. Click on it to see it full size.

DDS Performance

Courtesy of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) newsletter. Click on it to see it full size.

GOP Concerns On Computer Center

From NextGov:

Key Republican aides met with the Social Security Administration's internal investigator on Thursday to discuss lingering concerns that the agency's aging data center will not be able to manage an increasing workload as millions more baby boomers retire.

Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, and Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee's ranking member, sent a letter in February requesting that the SSA inspector general assess the agency's overall future information technology plans. In June, the inspector general found that the agency must accelerate construction of a new data center and develop contingency plans in the event its backup datacenter cannot support the agency's increasing workload if the new data center is not completed by 2015, the year SSA estimates the center will be operational. ...

On Thursday, Grassley's staff met with the inspector general about the latest report, discussed the new data center and asked the agency to keep the senator apprised of the situation, a spokeswoman said. Baucus had no response to the report.

Am I being too cynical when I wonder if Republicans are mostly concerned that money be spent not on personnel, who would mostly be union members and Democrats, but on buildings and equipment constructed or supplied by contractors who would mostly be Republicans? I have no doubt that the national computing center needs to be replaced but why is this such an incredibly urgent priority for Republicans since we now have a backup computing center in Durham, NC? And by the way, the Inspector General who recommended accelerating construction of the national computing center is a Republican appointee.

Republicans had majorities in Congress for twelve years. During this time they crippled the Social Security Administration with grossly inadequate appropriations. Neither Republicans in Congress nor the Republican appointed inspector general at Social Security said a word about the need for a new national computing center until Barack Obama became President. Current Republican concerns about Social Security's ability to operate in the future ring hollow to me.

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.