"Secret ALJ" Policy On Its Last Legs

     For months, Social Security has been withholding the identity of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) scheduled to hold a hearing until the day of the hearing. This "secret ALJ" policy is on its last legs. The agency has been unable to defend the "secret ALJ" policy in court -- and I mean literally unable to defend the policy. Social Security has to work through the U.S. Attorneys when it is sued and the U.S. Attorneys are refusing to defend Social Security on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits on this issue, not that the agency had much of a defense anyway. Social Security is now revealing the identity of ALJs scheduled to hold hearings to claimants and their attorneys who file FOIA requests. The National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) advised its members of this fact yesterday afternoon. It can only be anticipated that Social Security's Office of Privacy and Disclosure (which handles FOIA requests) will be deluged with FOIA requests which are easily made online.

     Michael Astrue is gone. There is no reason to continue this failed policy a day longer.

Major Downtime For Online Claims And Services But What Is Down?

     From a message I just received from Social Security:

Due to scheduled systems maintenance, some of our Online Claims & Services applications will not be available from:

• 11 PM on Friday, February 15 until 5 AM on Saturday, February 16
• 11 PM on Saturday, February 16 until 5 AM on Monday, February 18.

     I know it's over the weekend but the ambiguity of this bothers me. The "when" question is answered but the "what" is mostly unanswered. Why does it say "some"? Does this mean that the only thing that is down is filing applications? If other online services are down, what are they? What about the appointed representative suite of services? Does this affect Social Security employees who might be working over the weekend as well?

Astrue's Last Day

     This is Michael Astrue's last day as Commissioner of Social Security. Readers have already expressed their opinions on Astrue's term as Commissioner in a poll. Expand on those thoughts now by commenting in response to this post. What do you think of the job that Astrue has done? What do you think are his accomplishments? What were his mistakes? Did he change the agency in positive ways? What is his legacy?

Why Social Security Shouldn't Be Cut

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Social Security Cuts On The Table But Not Medicare Cuts

     The White House said today that increasing the age at which Medicare is first available from 65 to 67 is off the table but reducing Social Security by switching to the Chained CPI method of computing Cost of Living Adjustments is on the table.

I Wonder What Would Happen If Obama Calls For This In His State Of The Union Address

     From R.J. Eskow:

Archaeologists of the future will sift through our newspapers, websites, and other ephemera and marvel at the inverted shape of our political debate. They'll be particularly surprised to discover that, at a time when retirement security was being destroyed for an entire generation, politicians were posturing over how to make the problem even worse by cutting Social Security.

And they'll marvel over how long it took us to agree on the right solution: Increasing Social Security benefits instead. ...

In a USA Today op-ed, economist and influential blogger Duncan Black (Atrios) proposed a 20 percent increase in benefits.  So did Joan McCarter at the widely-read Daily Kos site. ...

[F]ear for the fate of Baby Boomers is warranted... This squeeze was brought about in part by the end of fixed corporate pensions and the rise of 401(k) plans which [one commenter] calls a "grand experiment" turned "disaster."  But I consulted with major corporations on benefit plans during the rise of 401(k)'s, and from my experience it wasn't an experiment at all. It was a calculated wealth shift away from workers and toward employers.

The long-term implications  weren't always obvious - to employees or policymakers - especially because these changes were often buried in complicated "cafeteria style" benefit plans. But corporate executives knew. As one famous CEO said to me of his company's cafeteria plan and 401(k): "I want to give them less and make them think it's more."

The other reason Baby Boomers are in dire shape is because the vast bulk of their net worth was in real estate. ... 

Immediate action would stave off the impending crisis among Baby Boom elders, while strengthening the financial security of generations to follow.

SSA Requesting Comments On Rep Payees

     Social Security is requesting comments on how it applies the prohibition on people who have been convicted of certain crimes serving as representative payees. Applying this isn't as simple as one might think. Quite a number of people who need a representative payee have no one willing to be their representative payee who doesn't have a criminal history. There are many people who have criminal histories who make fine representative payees. I can think of one old client of mine who killed an abusive husband who would make a fine representative payee. These issues only seem simple when seen from a distance. Up close, everything looks complicated.

SSA Considering Issuing New SSNs For Child Identity Theft Victims

     From a Request for Comments posted by Social Security in the Federal Register today:

We are considering a new policy for issuing a new SSN for children age 13 and under because of factors that apply only to children. First, because children age 13 and under generally have not worked, attempted to establish credit, or secured drivers licenses, their SSNs are not likely to be in widespread use among public and private entities. Second, misuse of a child's SSN may go undiscovered for many months or even years because children age 13 and under generally do not work or drive and have not attempted to establish credit. For these reasons, assigning a second SSN in these cases is less problematic for the person than it is for an individual with a work history, a driving record, and a credit history.

New Software For Encrypting CDs

     On February 8, Social Security began installing new software for copying and encrypting electronic folders to compact discs. The agency has released a six page guide to decryption of these compact discs.

The Social Security Administration's Budget Woes

     From a report by Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee:

The workload of the Social Security Administration continues to increase, with rising numbers of applications for disability and retirement benefits and continued need to ensure program integrity and reduce improper payments. However, since 2010 there has been essentially no increase in funding for Social Security operating expenses.

The combination of increased need and stagnant funding has already affected service. Staffing has been cut by 6,500. SSA has closed 23 offices and plans to close 11 more. Offices that remain open are closing a half hour earlier and at noon on Wednesdays. Last year there were more than 816,575 disability claims awaiting hearings and decisions—an increase of more than 100,000 from two years earlier.

SSA has already reduced costs and improved efficiency, but additional funding will be needed to keep services to the public from declining further—including further office closings, longer wait times for calls to the 800 number, and long delays in obtaining decisions on applications for disability benefits. Additional funding is also needed for continuing disability reviews, and SSI redeterminations to help make sure that benefits are provided only to people who qualify.

     And this isn't taking into account the effects if sequestration comes to pass. Sequestration would further lower Social Security's operating budget dramatically. Sequestration will come to pass on March 1 unless Congress and the President agree on something else.