Both Republicans And Democrats Love Ticket To Work -- Why?

An excerpt from the written report of Daniel Bertoni of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), testifying at today's House Ways and Means Committee hearing:

Lack of performance measures may send the wrong message to ENs [Employment Networks -- Ticket to Work contractors], whose staff may be unclear about program goals and send mixed messages to ticket holders about expected outcomes. Of the 25 ENs we interviewed, representatives of 15 said SSA had not adequately articulated performance expectations for serving ticket holders. SSA’s EN handbook does state the ultimate goal of the program is to reduce dependence and, whenever possible, eliminate reliance on benefits. Yet, an EN, which had the fourth-largest payment amount from SSA in fiscal year 2009, stated in its last three annual periodic outcome reports that 100 percent of its ticket holders placed in jobs had earnings of less than $10,000 per year—equating to less than the SGA level [Substantial Gainful Activity  -- if the ticket holders earn over the SGA level they eventually lose their Social Security disability benefits, which is the pretty much the whole point of Ticket to Work as far as Congress is concerned], if earnings were accrued regularly over the course of 12 months. In fact, this EN’s recorded phone message states that DI [Disability Insurance] ticket holders can work part time indefinitely without reducing SSA benefits, and its Web site says most of its positions are designed so ticket holders stay below income thresholds for benefit cutoff. With assistance from our investigative staff, we found multiple ENs among those with the largest payment amounts communicating through their Web sites, recorded phone messages, or in our discussions with representatives that as long as DI ticket holders’ earnings stay below the SGA level, they can keep full disability benefits ...

User Fees Being Studied

     Sam Johnson, the Chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee, asked Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) to determine whether there are additional activities performed by the Social Security Administration for which a user fee might be charged. OIG's study is so preliminary that it is almost worthless but it does reveal that the Social Security Administration itself has formed a "user fee workgroup." 

     The important things here are that Republicans in Congress have some interest in charging fees for some activities at Social Security and that Social Security is studying how it can best do this.

     Let me make it clear that, so far, they are only studying fees for services such as providing replacement Social Security cards but it is only a short distance from there to charging a fee for filing a claim, processing an appeal or answering a question.

GENEX Gets Into PR Game

     For years Allsup has been using public relations to promote their business of representing Social Security disability claimant. The efforts often take the form of getting a newspaper or television station to run a story about a Social Security disability claimant who has had a long struggle getting on Social Security disability benefits and finally won with Allsup's help. Two can play that game. GENEX has just gotten the "I-team" at WBAL in Baltimore to run a story promoting GENEX's services.

     Both Allsup and GENEX are primarily involved in working for large insurance companies who administer long term disability (LTD) plans. The LTD plans have an offset for Social Security disability benefits so the insurers have a big interest in getting the LTD recipients on Social Security disability. They employ Allsup or GENEX to "represent" their LTD recipients before Social Security. I put "represent" in quotes since there are reports that Allsup and Genex are quite willing to sell out the claimants they "represent" by providing the insurance companies with any medical evidence that comes into their possession that could be used to cut off the LTD benefits of the people "represented." I do not know whether anyone else thinks that is a problem but attorneys think that is an unconscionable conflict of interest. 

     Allsup and GENEX are also interested in the retail trade which is why they get into PR, apparently figuring that it is cheaper than advertising. It must have been working for Allsup since they have been doing it for years. 

     By the way, Allsup's website boasts of a 98% success rate. Assuming that number is not a complete fabrication, that tells me that Allsup really hates to fly someone in to represent a Social Security disability claimant at a hearing. They mostly have to fly someone in since they are nowhere near big enough to have offices all over the country. They won't fly someone in for a merely gold-plated case. It have to be solid 24 carat gold. The good thing about that, as far as I am concerned, is that it dramatically limits their potential for expansion into the retail business.

Social Security Ends Gender No-Match Letters

From Metro Weekly:

The National Center for Transgender Equality announced this evening:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has confirmed that it has ended the practice of allowing gender to be matched in its Social Security Number Verification System (SSNVS). This will result in the immediate cessation of SSA sending notifications that alert employers when the gender marker on an employee's W-2 does not match Social Security records.

Asked about the decision, White House spokesman Shin Inouye told Metro Weekly, "The White House welcomes this move by Social Security Administration."

A Freedom of Information Act request from NCTE showed that 711,488 gender no-match letters were sent in 2010 alone.

NCTE executive director Mara Keisling said in a news release about the development, "Ending this practice, which has endangered transgender people and our jobs, has been a priority for NCTE and we are pleased that the SSA has updated its policy."

Senate Bill Would Give SSA $208 Million More

From a press release issued by the Senate Appropriations Committee concerning the subcommittee markup of the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill that covers Social Security:

Social Security Administration--The bill includes $11.6 billion, an increase of $208 million over the fiscal year 2011 level, for the SSA’s administrative expenses. This increase includes $139.5 million for program integrity activities and $68.8 million in base administrative expenses. As SSA faces sustained record levels of core workloads, the increase for base administrative expenses will allow SSA to provide targeted increases to parts of the agency facing the highest demand for services while maintaining the goal of eliminating the disability hearings backlog by the end of 2013.

The House Appropriations Committee has twice delayed taking up its version of the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill.

Quiz Answer

Question: How long is the extended period of eligibility for Disability Insurance Benefits?

Answers:

• 9 months
• 12 months
• 36 months
• 60 months

Correct Answer: 36 months

Quiz

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

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.