Press Attention For Senate Hearing

     Yesterday's hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Aging on the decline of service at Social Security has received plenty of media coverage.

• Michael Hiltzik in the LA Times
• Belleville News-Domocrat
• Federal Soup
• Associated Press
• Yahoo Finance
• Tallahasee Democrat
• The Fiscal Times
• Wealth Daily

Why Service Sucks At Social Security

     An extract from the written testimony of Scott Hale, the President of the National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), to the Senate Select Committee on Aging:

     Here are the abbreviations used:

• TSCs -- Teleservice Centers -- where the 800 number phone calls go
• ODAR -- Office of Disability Adjudication and Review -- where the Administrative Law Judges work
• PSCs -- Program Service Centers -- where benefits, other than Supplemental Security Income, are computed and authorized
• SSA -- Social Security Administration
• FO -- Field Office -- your local Social Security office

Apropos Today's Hearing

     The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has posted updated figures for the number of employees at the Social Security Administration. By the way, I'm not posting these numbers just because of today's hearing. OPM just released this report.

• March 2014 60,820
• December 2013 61,957
• September 2013 62,543
• June 2013 62,877
• March 2013 63,777
• December 2012 64,538
• September 2012 65,113
• September 2011 67,136
• December 2010 70,270
• December 2009 67,486
• September 2009 67,632
• December 2008 63,733
• September 2008 63,990
• September 2007 62,407
• September 2006 63,647
• September 2005 66,147
• September 2004 65,258
• September 2003 64,903
• September 2002 64,648
• September 2001 65,377
• September 2000 64,521

Field Office Closures And Staffing Reductions To Be Subject Of Senate Hearing

     From the New York Times:

The Social Security Administration is closing field offices and reducing services to the public even as demand for those services surges with the aging of the baby boom generation, according to a bipartisan Senate committee report.

The report, to be issued Wednesday by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, says the agency has closed more than two dozen field offices in the last year, generally without considering the needs of communities and without consulting beneficiaries or field office managers. ...

The Social Security Administration is closing field offices and reducing services to the public even as demand for those services surges with the aging of the baby boom generation, according to a bipartisan Senate committee report.

The report, to be issued Wednesday by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, says the agency has closed more than two dozen field offices in the last year, generally without considering the needs of communities and without consulting beneficiaries or field office managers. ...

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the committee, said that despite a growing caseload, “in the past five years, Social Security has closed 64 of approximately 1,245 field offices — the largest field office reduction in its history — and shuttered 533 temporary mobile offices.”

      Members of Congress get very upset by field office closures -- and they are a big deal -- but the bigger problem is inadequate staffing at the remaining field offices, teleservice centers, payment centers, hearing offices and the Appeals Council. That affects everyone who interacts with Social Security, not just those who live in areas where a field office has closed and everyone eventually interacts with Social Security.
     The Aging Committee is holding a hearing this afternoon at 2:15 on this issue. Here's the witness list:

• Tammy DeLong, Aroostook Area Agency on Aging
• Nancy A. Berryhill, Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Social Security Administration
• Scott Hale, President, National Council of Social Security Management Associations
• Brenda Holt, Commissioner, Gadsden County

Hearing On SSAB Nominees

     The Senate Finance Committee is holding a hearing tomorrow on the following nominations to the Social Security Advisory Board:

• Henry Aaron (wants to cut Social Security benefits for high wage earners)
• Lanhee Chen (Romney campaign aide who has harshly criticized President Obama's plans for Social Security)
• Alan Cohen (long time Congressional aide who has mostly worked on budget issues)

Where Is The Trustees Report?

     Each year Social Security's Trustees release a report projecting the trust funds into the future. Basically, this is all the Trustees do and they really don't do the projecting themselves. It's done by Social Security's actuaries. Last year the report was issued on the Friday before Memorial Day. I think that was the latest it had ever been released. There was criticism over the late release. We're well beyond Memorial Day and there's no sign of the report. I have no idea what's going on but I'll guess that the delay isn't being caused by Social Security's actuaries. I expect their part was done several months ago. Maybe the delay is caused by wrangling over the verbiage that the Trustees add to the projections. Maybe the problem is the Medicare Trustees report which is released at the same time. Anyway, it's time for the report.

New Data Center Nearly Finished

     From Federal News Radio:

The Social Security Administration's new data center is almost finished after nearly two years....

 "We are merely a month and a half away from where we take possession of the new building. The building, itself, has come in under schedule and under budget, and at high quality. So we will begin the migration once we have the keys to start moving services over to the new data center," said Bill Zielinski, the Social Security Administration's chief information officer. "We are really looking forward to that time when we can take advantage of all the things the new technology will provide us."

A New Use For A Vacated Social Security Building?

     From CBS-DC:

Baltimore may soon be the home to hundreds of illegal immigrant children who were taken into custody at the border.

WBFF-TV reports that the former Social Security building, which has been vacant for months, could be designated to house hundreds of children crossing the border illegally with no adult supervision.

Contractors Complain

     Translation contractors in New York complain about a loss of Social Security business.

First Step Towards A Senate Appropriations Bill

     A Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee has reported out an appropriations bill covering the Social Security Administration. Here's an excerpt from the Subcommittee summary:

Preventing Improper Social Security Payments—The Committee recommendation includes $1,396,000,000 for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to conduct continuing disability reviews and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) redeterminations of non-medical eligibility, a $199,000,000 increase over the FY 2014 level. These periodic reviews ensure that individuals receiving Social Security disability benefits are still eligible to receive them. ...

Social Security Administration (SSA)—The Committee recommendation includes $11,921,040,000, a $224,000,000 increase, for SSA's administrative expenses. In FY 2015, SSA will administer approximately $950 billion in benefit payments to approximately 66 million Americans, SSA will process approximately 5.3 million retirement applications and 2.8 million disability applications, and SSA will provide services for over 40 million visitors to its field offices and 47 million callers to its 1-800 number. This increase in funding will help SSA keep pace with rising costs and improve basic services to the public that millions of Americans rely on every day.

     How does an 1.9% increase keep pace with rising costs much less improve service? Does the $199 million increase for preventing improper payments come out of the $224 million increase for Social Security generally? If so, there's no increase for general operations. Inflation is at a low level but it's not non-existent.
     And remember, this is the Senate with a Democratic majority. The House Appropriations bill, IF the House can produce one, will be much worse.