Is This Significant?

    The Social Security Administration has posted a notice on the Federal Business Opportunities website indicating that it wishes to hire a contractor to study position descriptions for its Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR). Here's some background information:

The organizational changes associated with this growth, most recently with the reorganization of SSA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) into the current ODAR, has contributed, over time, to the accrual of multiple Position Descriptions (PDs), which describe the functions of the various jobs our workforce performs.  As a result, ODAR now has over 1,000 PDs, some so antiquated they still refer to OHA, and some similar enough such that employees performing essentially the same duties in one region have difficulty qualifying for promotion in another region because the same duties there are under a different PD. ...  Rather than continue with the status quo, ODAR desires a smaller set of PDs.  With the exception of revising ALJ [Administrative Law Judge], AAJ [Administrative Appeals Judge], and AO [Adjudicative Officer] PDs, ODAR would like a revised set of national, updated, standard (de-specialized) workload PDs.  ODAR would then present this revised set to SSA’s Office of Human Resources for classification approval and institutionalization.

Social Security Headcount Rebounds But Still Less Than A Year Ago

     The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has posted updated figures for the number of employees at the Social Security Administration.

• June 2014 62,651
• 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

COLA Will Be About 1.7%

     Investment News is projecting that Social Security's cost of living adjustment (COLA) for 2014 will be 1.7%, slightly more than last year's COLA of 1.5%.

No Need For More Delay -- Same Sex Marriage Battle Is Over

     The Supreme Court has decided not to hear any of the cases concerning same sex marriage. Several of the Courts of Appeals have held that it is unconstitutional for a state to refuse to marry same sex couples. All of these decisions are now final. At least in the states where those cases arose, and probably in the entire judicial circuits where those cases arose, states cannot refuse to allow same sex marriage and Social Security must recognize those same sex marriage as long as those involved stay in those states. In theory, the Supreme Court could decide at a later time to hear a new case arising from a Court of Appeals that has not yet acted on one of these cases. That seems unlikely at the moment but I would guess that Justices Scalia, Alito and Thomas would be happy to go down this route should a Republican be elected in 2016 and the composition of the Court changes.

     The Attorney General can now say that the matter is resolved and that the Social Security Administration and other agencies must immediately recognize same sex marriages in every state. However, the Attorney General could study the matter for many months and then say that the issue must be legally resolved separately and tediously in each state or at least every judicial circuit  until the Supreme Court has refused to hear a case from each state or at least each judicial circuit, a process that will take another year or more. I think the Attorney General should do the former but based on past action will probably do the latter.

Union: 70,000 My SSA Accounts Have Been Subject Of Some Kind Of Fraud

     From a press release issued by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union that represents most Social Security employees:

AFGE, Social Security Works and the Alliance for Retired Americans on Thursday submitted half a million signatures of people who demand that Social Security offices remain open in local communities across the country. In total, four rallies took place across the country in Columbus, Ohio, New York,  Oakland, Calif. and Washington, D.C. ...

“Many people who rely on Social Security are the least likely to have knowledge, ability, and resources to use the Internet services,” AFGE Council 220 President Witold Skwierczynski told the crowd. “Moreover, 95 percent of people who’ve filed for benefits online have to be re-contacted because of missing information. People need experts to guide them.”

Skwierczynski added than 70,000 My SSA accounts have been subject to some kind of fraud as people fall victim to identity theft. SSA is aware of the problem but chooses to play it down. Alliance for Retired Americans Rich Fiesta said it’s outrageous that SSA is closing offices when baby boomers are retiring in massive numbers and need the aid of experienced Social Security Administration staff.

And Many Of These People Vote

     Thirty-four percent of Americans think that the U.S. government spends more money on foreign aid than on Social Security. Actually, foreign aid totals about $48 billion a year and much of that is military aid. Social Security expenditures are about $808 billion a year.

Pension Coverage Around The World

     Take a look at the International Labour Organization's cool map showing pension coverage (mostly Social Security) for the elderly around the world. Yes, the ILO uses the British spelling, labour.

Are More Claimants Now Refusing Video Hearings?

     Since Social Security's changed its regulations to require claimants to make a decision on whether to accept a video hearing shortly after asking for a hearing -- and long before the hearing is actually scheduled -- I've heard from a number of attorneys in North Carolina who tell me that they are now routinely refusing video hearings. I've heard from many of my clients who have received these notices who tell me that they want to refuse a video hearing. If attorneys and claimants are behaving the same in other states as they appear to me to be doing in North Carolina this change will dramatically cut the number of video hearings. There is some evidence that this is going on nationally.

     What are you seeing where you are? Are there any national numbers yet? Has Social Security management started coming to grips with the possibility that these new regulations will have the exact opposite effect of what was intended?

Social Security Tries To Find Pro Bono Rep Payees

     A press release from Social Security:

Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, announced the agency’s implementation of a pro bono pilot in Maryland for attorneys interested in being a representative payee for a Social Security beneficiary. Representative payees provide crucial help to the most vulnerable individuals in our community with their Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments.

“The Maryland Representative Payee Pro Bono Pilot offers attorneys a chance to fulfill the Court of Appeals’ aspirational goal of providing pro bono services – by assisting the young, elderly, and disabled with their Social Security benefits,” Acting Commissioner Colvin said. “Attorneys are held to high ethical standards and will serve this at-risk population with the compassion and integrity they deserve.”

Any licensed Maryland attorney in good standing can volunteer for this pilot project by registering at www.socialsecurity.gov/payee/probonopilot.htm. Social Security will use the information provided to connect interested attorneys with beneficiaries in need of the services. The Maryland pilot will expand the network of available candidates to help assist those in need.  “The Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland supports the new pilot project and looks forward to working with the Social Security Administration in promoting this important opportunity to assist vulnerable individuals to the Maryland legal community,” stated Sharon E. Goldsmith, Executive Director of PBRC.  PBRC serves as the designated pro bono arm of the Maryland State Bar Association.

Representative payees provide a key service to Social Security recipients who are unable to manage their benefits. Nearly 21 percent of people who need help managing their payments do not have family members or trusted friends who can help them. Payees receive monthly payments on behalf of the beneficiary and use the funds to meet the individual’s basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. They also keep records and ensure that Social Security funds are used to care for the recipient. Once the pilot is successful in Maryland, the agency will consider expanding to states nationwide.

Acting Commissioner Colvin reinforced that “representative payees play a vital role in serving our beneficiaries and creating a stable living environment for the most vulnerable people in our society. I encourage eligible Maryland attorneys to participate in this pilot.”

Are You Sure About Your Position On This One, Social Security?

     From the Providence Journal:

A Warwick widow has filed a lawsuit against the Social Security Administration accusing the federal agency of wrongfully denying her survivor benefits after she lost her 56-year-old wife to cancer in 2011.

The plaintiff, Deborah Tevyaw, 58, was married to her late wife, Patricia Baker, in 2005 in Massachusetts, but the federal agency says the relationship ended in 2011, before Governor Chafee ordered state agencies to recognize same-sex marriage in May 2012, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court.

Rhode Island has recognized out-of-state marriages, including marriages in Massachusetts, since at least 1904, and in 2007 the state’s attorney general issued an opinion stating that same-sex marriages from other states “must be recognized under principles of comity and full faith and credit,” says the complaint.

In July this year, Governor Chafee wrote the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Carolyn W. Colvin, to express his concern that the federal agency had misinterpreted the 2012 date as the date when Rhode Island first recognized out-of-state same-sex marriages, the complaint says.