Boldly Go

Watching TV At Headquarters

    From a contracting notice posted by the Social Security Administration:

The Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of Acquisition and Grants (OAG) ... is currently performing market research to determine the availability of sources to provide Community Antenna Television (CATV) and a high-speed internet solution for the headquarters campus. SSA's CATV port distribution system supports local and national network broadcasts throughout headquarters (HQ) and outlying campus buildings. We are looking for sources capable of providing and supporting business information channel lineups for a minimum of 500 ports. ...

Currently, 615 television ports are utilized across HQ campus buildings. ... Television requirements support SSA's executives, senior staff, senior management staff and technical support staff, as well as selected knowledge worker positions requiring real time news and communication. These features allow SSA staff to stay informed during events, weather situations, and emergencies. ...

Our current lineup includes ABC, CBS CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News CSPAN 1, CSPAN 2, CSPAN 3, FOX, FOX News, Fox Business News, MPT MSNBC, NBC, PBS, and The Weather Channel. ...

The CATV network is also an alternate delivery method for Interactive Video Tele-training (IVT) broadcasts, which provides educational and training content to SSA HQ's components. We currently broadcast seven channels from three local studios and four regional studios. The agency supports a distribution system to insert agency programs that are broadcasted via the CATV network. ...

We request information from businesses that believe they have a bona-fide capability to meet the agency's requirements.

This Article Nails All The Social Security Disability Themes

     Here's an article that talks about these Social Security disability themes:

• It's wonderful when a person who draws Social Security disability can go back to work. We need to do more to encourage that.
• The number of people on Social Security disability benefits is soaring. It's an unsustainable burden for the government.
• Giving Social Security disability benefits to people hurts them because they should be working.
• Tightening the disability rules by making it impossible to get on benefits for obesity wasn't enough.
• Fraudulent claimants for Social Security disability benefits pay money for phoney medical reports.
• High unemployment rates lead to more people on Social Security disability benefits.
• Social Security disability benefits aren't enough to live on.

     The plot twist here is that it's about Australia.

Off Topic: Well, There's Your Problem

Your Wasteful Federal Government?

     A new Office of Inspector General (OIG) report shows that Social Security has 27,885 square feet of office space at its headquarters in the Baltimore area, most of it in the Annex building, that is not being used. You might say that this is just another example of your wasteful federal government and I expect that's how Fox News might present this report but it's not that simple. The first question is why is that office space vacant? It's doubt that it's because Social Security bought or leased too much space. Almost certainly, it's because headquarters workforce has been downsized. The second question is whether, as a practical matter, that space can actually be rented out or sold. Who wants office space in that area of Baltimore especially if it's part of a building that's mostly occupied by Social Security? I don't know the answer to that question. Neither does OIG.

New Ruling On Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

     Social Security is publishing a new Ruling on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the Federal Register tomorrow. You can read it today. This replaces Ruling 99-2p.

Tea Party Don't Care

     Social Security field office closes. Tea Party Republican representing the District in Congress doesn't seem to care. Why should he? He wants to close down virtually the entire government. Anyway, that part of his District has mostly Democratic voters. He's got the Koch brothers on his side, so no problem. (By the way, I know that Social Security doesn't base field office closures on political clout and has taken a pretty hard line recently when those with political clout have tried to influence field office closures. Somebody's ox is going to get gored. The agency may as well use objective criteria when selecting whose ox it is. The point here is that the Congressman made no effort to keep that field office open. Most people would consider making that effort to be part of his job description.)
     Update: The Tea Party member of Congress wrote a letter to the Acting Commissioner of Social Security about the office closure. So, is the Congressman representing his district or just being a hypocrite? That's the problem with being a Tea Party member of Congress. You want to close down government but your constituents like a lot of what the government does for them.

Special Fraud Prevention Unit

     A press release from Social Security:

Today, Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, announced the establishment of a centralized fraud prevention unit in New York City to identify potential fraud and detect fraud trends that can be applied to disability cases nationwide.  This unit consists of experienced disability examiners who are currently involved in the re-review of disability medical decisions resulting from recent indictments in Puerto Rico and New York City.  Using their specialized experience, they will collaborate with Social Security systems personnel to help build data analytics to detect and prevent fraud at the earliest possible point in the disability decision-making process.

“Social Security strives to preserve the public’s trust in our programs and we have no tolerance for fraud.  We are aggressive in our efforts to detect and prevent fraud,” said Acting Commissioner Colvin, noting that Social Security’s anti-fraud approach has resulted in a fraud incidence rate that is a fraction of one percent.  “The employees in our anti-fraud unit will be our national experts, and we plan to compile data from their work to help us develop further analytical tools to find potential fraud.” 

This first-of-its-kind unit will start with 20 disability examiners at the Addabbo Federal Building in Jamaica, New York.  Based on the trends found in the Puerto Rico and New York cases, along with further analysis of doctors’ reports, the unit will use their findings to help create the systems and data analytics that Social Security will use for disability applications nationwide.  As these systems develop and begin to identify new cases of potential fraud, the New York fraud prevention unit will analyze those cases to prevent fraud from happening before the agency makes a disability decision and authorizes payments.

Acting Commissioner Colvin added, “To those who would try to cheat us: We will find you; we will prosecute you; we will seek the maximum punishment allowable under the law; and we will fight to recover any money you’ve stolen from the American people.”

Why Does It Take Almost A Year Longer To Get A Hearing In Shreveport Than In Tupelo?

     It's taking 17 months to get a hearing on a Social Security disability claim in Tupelo. MS. In the neighboring state of Louisiana it's only taking 6 months to get a hearing Shreveport. Why? Oh, wait, I know, they're in different regions. Why does that  matter? Oh, I know another reason. They had a hurricane in Louisiana. Katrina was almost nine years ago and Shreveport is well north of New Orleans. How can that possibly matter? Social Security has spent tens of millions of dollars equipping its hearing offices for video hearings but can't get one region to help another or overcome the effects of a hurricane after nine years? Why is this? For that matter, why is the wait time 8 months in Augusta, GA but 17 months in Miami? They're both in the same region. Why do these discrepancies continue? Why doesn't the agency get serious about this?

Big Rep Payee Problem In Oregon -- An Update

     From Williamette Week:

Disabled Portlanders filed suit yesterday on behalf of about 700 recipients of Social Security benefits who fear their funds will be cut off when Safety Net of Oregon loses its federal qualification to manage their accounts on April 1, Street Roots News reported today.

 Kathy Wilde, the legal director for Disability Rights Oregon, one of the advocacy organizations supporting the lawsuit, says people served by Safety Net must sign up with another provider to handle their Social Security benefits. She says many could be evicted or lose bus passes and allowances for food and medication if they don't know Safety Net is closing its doors. 

About 300 clients have found other providers, but officials haven't been able to reach another 700 clients, Wilde said.

 “Many of these people are homeless, or on the verge of homelessness, and most rely on these benefits for all, or almost all, of their income,” the lawsuit reads....

 Federal investigators seized computers and records from the Portland non-profit earlier this month after concerns mounted about how executives were handling its books.

     Update: Disability Rights Oregon has obtained a court order that assures that all who had Safety Net of Oregon as their representative payee will be paid in April. I think that Social Security would have taken care of this problem quickly even without the court order. I don't know that it would have been taken care of by April 1 without the court order, however.