Electronic Access Problems

Only a few attorneys and representatives have online access to their clients' Social Security files. I am fortunate enough to be one of them. It has been very useful. Unfortunately, in the last week two serious problems have developed in the online access.

First, when trying to access client files, one must input a numerical code sent by text message. Yes, the text messaging is weird in and of itself but that is not the problem. The code must be entered in a box. When you click on that box to start entering data, nothing happens. The box does not open up. You can enter nothing. I have heard that there is a workaround of using the tab key to get the block open. At best, that is laborious. This also presents a problem for me in that I have found a way of receiving text messages by e-mail. I had been copying the numerical code and pasting it in the block. I have not been able to make that work so I must laboriously copy the code. Maybe Social Security likes to make it laborious.

The first problem is bad enough but the second is worse. You can no longer review an individual item from the electronic folder. When you click to view an item, you get a message saying "We Cannot Process Your Request At This Time." The only thing you can do is to download the entire record and that can take hours.

I delayed posting anything about this hoping that Social Security would get the problem solved quickly but they have so far been unable to do so. This is getting frustrating.

Crowe Paradis Sold

From a press release from September that I missed:

Daytona Beach, Fla.-based insurance broker Brown & Brown has acquired Wakefield, Mass.-based Crowe Paradis.

Financial terms of the deal were not released.

Founded in 2002, Crowe Paradis, with annual revenues of approximately $23 million, is a national provider of Social Security and Medicare advocacy services, and second injury fund recovery services.

Can't Figure Out How To Complete Your Online Application? Schedule An Appointment Online

From Emergency Message EM-10076:

Beginning November 23, 2010, first party internet users who are unable to complete an online application due to verification issues will be presented with the new iAppt link. If users select the link, they will have the opportunity to self-schedule an in-office or telephone appointment for:

· Retirement (RIB),
· Disability (DIB),
· Medicare, and
· Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

OIG -A-Palooza!

Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) just released seven audit reports to the public. Here are some links with my comments in italics based upon a very cursory review of the reports.

• Dedicated Account Underpayments Payable to Children Large amounts of underpayments due to inadequate controls.
• Congressional Response Report: The Social Security Administration's Facilities Management Social Security has no overarching strategic plan for facilities management. Does it matter? Not likely.
• The Social Security Administration's Controls for Ensuring the Removal of Sensitive Data from Excessed Computer Equipment Not too bad but it could be better.
• Fiscal Year 2010 Evaluation of the Social Security Administration’s Compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act Doing a good job but an auditor can always find something to tell you to improve.
• Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Statement Audit Oversight An outside auditor gives Social Security an unqualified opinion. That's good. OIG says their review of the outside auditor shows the outside auditor knows what it's talking about.
• Fiscal Year 2010 Inspector General Statement on the Social Security Administration’s Major Management and Performance Challenges Social Security is addressing its challenges.
• Monitoring Controls for the Help America Vote Verification Program Social Security processed almost 15 million requests for voter verification.

Trying To Shift The Blame

From the Associated Press:

Social Security efforts to trim a disability claims backlog haven't done enough to halt personal ordeals for disabled people awaiting government help, a Senate oversight committee told the head of the agency Monday.

For people in need and awaiting claims, "Your heart goes out to them," U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, Republican of Ohio, said at a Senate subcommittee field hearing on disability claim backlogs of two years or more.

If Voinovich's party has its way on appropriations, expect these backlogs to grow over the next two years. That is not what Voinovich or his party really want but that would be the inevitable effect if Social Security's appropriations are cut back to 2008 levels. That is what the Republican Party ran on in the last election.

Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue, for his part, testified at the hearing that:

We have been chronically underfunded for 15 straight years, beginning in the early 1990s ... [I]t was a bipartisan thing. It didn't matter the party of the president or the party of Congress, our administrative funding was just not as sexy as a lot of other things that Congress wants to spend money for.

Baloney. Republicans were in control of either the White House or Congress for that entire time period until the last two years. Democrats fought for higher administrative budgets for Social Security for the entire time period. They were consistently blocked by Republicans until the last two years. It has only been in the last two years that Social Security has made any real progress on its backlogs. Republican control of the House of Representatives will allow Republicans to once again block adequate appropriations for Social Security.

New Homepage For Social Security

The Social Security Administration unveiled its new homepage today.

It looks less cluttered to me. What do you think?

Senate Hearing In Ohio

The Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs held a hearing today in Akron, Ohio. Here are the prepared remarks:

Witnesses

Panel 1

• The Honorable Michael Astrue [view testimony]
  Commissioner
  Social Security Administration
• The Honorable Patrick P. O'Carroll, Jr. [view testimony]
  Inspector General
  Social Security Administration

Panel 2

• Mr. Richard Warsinskey [view testimony]
  Cleveland Downtown District Office Manager and Past President
  National Council of Social Security Management Associations
• Mr. Randy Frye [view testimony]
  President
  Association of Administrative Law Judges

Wednesday Is Final Day For Comments On Proposed Changes To Mental Impairments Listings

Wednesday, November 17 is the final day for comments to be made upon Social Security's Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) that would alter its mental illness listings used in determining disability. Over 1,200 comments have already been filed. Most seem to have been inspired by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). You can see their recommended comments at the NAMI website.

Comments may be made online. Here are the instructions sent out by the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives for filing comments online:

SSA strongly recommends submission of comments via the eRulemaking portal at www.regulations.gov. On that site, follow these directions:

• Click on "submit a comment"
• In the space for "Enter keyword of ID," type in: SSA-2007-0101. Then click on "Search."
• One result should appear - the SSA mental disorders NPRM. On the right side, click on "Submit a Comment."
• Complete the form. It allows you to type in a comment (2000 characters maximum) or attach a document. To attach a document, first you "browse" and then must click on "attach."

NOSSCR's own comments are an excellent resource to use in preparing your comment since they include essentially all of the objections that people have made to the NPRM.

ALJs Complain Of Threats

From the Associated Press:

Judges who hear Social Security disability cases are facing a growing number of violent threats from claimants angry over being denied benefits or frustrated at lengthy delays in processing claims.

There were at least 80 threats to kill or harm administrative law judges or staff over the past year — an 18 percent increase over the previous reporting period, according to data collected by the agency.

The data was released to the Association of Administrative Law Judges and made available to The Associated Press. ...

A Senate subcommittee is expected to hear testimony on Monday at a field hearing in Akron, Ohio, about the rising number of threats, as well as the status of the massive backlog in applications for disability benefits, which are available to people who can't work because of medical problems.

Why Didn't You Do This Before The Election?

From CNN Money:

When House Democrats return to Washington on Monday, a top priority will be putting a $250 dollar check in the mail to 58 million Social Security recipients.

Democrats plan to vote early in the lame-duck session on a bill that would provide Social Security recipients with a one-time payment, according to the office of Earl Pomeroy, a Democrat from North Dakota who authored the legislation.