8,000 Jobs To Be Eliminated In Next Two Years?

From NorthJersey.com (emphasis added):

The Social Security Administration (SSA) field office at 201 Rock Road in Glen Rock [New Jersey] will be closed permanently as of Friday, Sept. 23.

SSA area director Dean Frank told the Glen Rock Gazette that the local operation will be absorbed by the agency's Hackensack field office at 22 Sussex St. He said local employees are being transferred to the Hackensack location....

The office closure is aligned with ongoing cost consolidation efforts in response to recent funding cutbacks by Congress and the heightened need to reduce operating costs. Frank said the Glen Rock closure will save the agency an estimated $3 million over a 10-year period. ...

According to an SSA representative to the American Federation of Government Employees [a union which represents most Social Security employees], the budget action [planned by Republicans in Congress] could result in additional office closings, layoffs and furloughs in fiscal 2012, with up to 8,000 jobs eliminated in the next two years.

The Embarrassment Continues

From The Oregonian last October:

A federal magistrate on Wednesday ordered Social Security lawyer Daniel A. Bernath to undergo anger management counseling after an altercation with a judge on a downtown Portland elevator last spring.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul J. Papak found Bernath guilty of disorderly conduct for the March 31 dust-up with Dan R. Hyatt, a judge in Social Security's disability hearing office.

Papak dressed Bernath down for his behavior -- such as lampooning Hyatt on his web site as a Ku Klux Klansman and behaving like a pre-schooler fighting for a swing -- and said officers of the court are expected to treat judges with respect.

"This trial," said Papak, "is an embarrassment, in my mind."

The tiff on the lift climaxed a three-year war of words between Bernath, of Tigard, who represents clients in disability cases, and Hyatt, one of the judges who hears those claims at the Portland hearing office. Their squabbles -- which include dueling bar complaints, claims of slander and a $10 million lawsuit -- were chronicled in a July story in The Oregonian.

Bernath has not given up. See the video below.

Social Security Subcommittee Hearing Scheduled

     The Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittees on Social Security and Human Resources have scheduled a hearing for September 23 at 9:00 on Social Security's work incentives.

     I wish they would take a serious look at ending Ticket to Work and dramatically simplifying the existing work incentives. I also wish they would be realistic about what can be achieved. Anyone who thinks that there is any possible policy that would cause a significant percent of Social Security disability recipients to return to work has no feel for who is receiving Social Security disability benefits.

New Hearing Office In Georgia

     I asked recently when the next Social Security hearing office would open. It's about to happen in Augusta, GA. That new office is to have 10 Administrative Law Judges and 50 other employees. 

     I should have asked when the next one will open after the end of this fiscal year. The increased appropriations that have allowed new offices to open over the last couple of years have dried up. Instead of trying to improve service, Social Security is now trying to avoid furloughing employees. While service may improve in a few spots, service will unquestionably deteriorate across the country -- and I'm not just talking about the wait time to get a hearing.

Updated Fee Payment Numbers

Social Security has released tho following updated stats on payments of fees to attorneys and others for representing Social Security claimants:

Year 2011

Fee Payments
Month/Year	Volume	Amount
Jan-11	34,467	$113,459,847.04
Feb-11	33,305	$107,796,771.38
Mar-11	34,885	$112,463,768.46
Apr-11	48,033	$153,893,755.37
May-11	36,479	$115,159012.77
June-11	33,568	$104,782,743.07
July-11	40,451	$123,981,011.36
Aug-11	35,575	$109,778,785.74

Like Moths To A Flame

From the Associated Press:

Most of the top Republicans running for president are embracing plans to partially privatize Social Security, reviving a contentious issue that fizzled under President George W. Bush after Democrats relentlessly attacked it. ...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a version. Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron Paul of Texas have said younger workers should be allowed to invest in alternative plans. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has raised the idea of letting whole groups, such as state and local government workers, opt out of Social Security.

Braunstein Wins Award For Compassionate Allowance Program

     A press release from Social Security:

Diane Braunstein, now the Associate Commissioner for International Programs, received the 2011 Citizen Services Medal from the Partnership for Public Service at last night’s Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal Awards Gala.  Ms. Braunstein oversaw the development of the Compassionate Allowances program, which fast-tracks disability decisions to ensure that Americans with the most serious disabilities receive their benefit decisions within days instead of months or years.

“All of us at Social Security are very proud of Diane and the results of her hard work on Compassionate Allowances,” said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security.  “Through her efforts, this expedited process has already helped about 100,000 people with severe disabilities get benefit decisions within days instead of months or years.”

The Compassionate Allowances initiative identifies claims that are likely allowances because the nature of the applicant’s disease or condition clearly meets the statutory standard for disability. With the help of sophisticated new information technology, the agency can quickly identify potential Compassionate Allowances and then quickly make decisions.

Social Security launched the program in 2008 with a list of 50 diseases and conditions.  It recently announced 12 new conditions involving severe heart diseases, which increased the total number of Compassionate Allowances conditions to 100.  The conditions include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, a number of rare genetic disorders of children, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and other disorders. The agency is continually adding new conditions or diseases to the list, and recently announced a small grant program for graduate students that will help Social Security improve its list.

The legacy of Ms Braunstein’s work with Compassionate Allowances will expand access to disability benefits to Americans with the most severe disabilities while reducing the backlog of disability applications.  Quicker decisions and expedited processes reduce the burden on the medical community because they no longer need to provide extensive medical records for these cases.  If a person reports a condition found on the Compassionate Allowance list, Social Security simply confirms the condition with the medical source.  The program also reduces the burden on businesses of producing employment records.

The application process is now faster for people applying under the Compassionate Allowances program.  The online disability application at www.socialsecurity.gov recognizes conditions that qualify for Compassionate Allowances and streamlines the application by omitting information not needed for the agency’s decision.

     I would like to celebrate this achievement but I have seen no evidence that compassionate allowances amounts to anything more than meaningless public relations. The same people would have been approved in the same time frame.

No Social Security Changes To Be Proposed By President

From Reuters:

U.S. President Barack Obama will not recommend changes to the government's Social Security retirement program in his deficits proposals to Congress next week, the White House said on Thursday.

"The president's recommendation for deficit reduction will not include any changes to Social Security because, as the president has consistently said, he does not believe that Social Security is a driver of our near and medium term deficits," White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said.

Proposed CR

House Appropriations Committee Republicans have put forward a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government running after September 30 when the current federal fiscal year ends. As I read it, and these things are difficult to read and comprehend, the CR would continue Social Security and most other agencies at the same spending rate as in the current fiscal year less 1.409%. However, there would be the threat that the eventual appropriation would be less -- if there ever is a real appropriation passed. I do not see any contentious riders in the proposed CR but maybe I don't know what to look for.

Scare Tactics Work But Not Nearly Enough To Threaten Social Security's Existence

From a CNN/ORC poll:

Please tell me which of the following statements comes closest to your opinion about the Social Security program: (READ IN ORDER)

The Social Security program has no serious problems, certainly none that require changing the current system 4%

Social Security has minor problems that can be fixed with minor changes to the current system 28%

Social Security's problems are serious and can be fixed only with major changes to the current system 55%

Social Security's problems are so bad that the system should be replaced 12%

No opinion 1%

The Social Security system has been described as a "monstrous lie" and as a failure. Do you think those phrases are an accurate description of the Social Security system, or don't you think so?

Accurate 27%

Not accurate 72%

No opinion 1%