This was obtained from the Social Security Administration by the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) and published in its newsletter, which is not available online.
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Aug 21, 2017
Aug 20, 2017
Be Careful What You Ask For
I heard recently from an attorney who requested some medical records on his client from a hospital. The hospital sent the attorney a good deal more than he requested but it was all on his client. It came to 12,000 pages. If we didn't have regulations requiring that EVERTHING be submitted, the attorney would have culled out the records than hadn't been requested, records that weren't material to the determination of disability such as nurses notes, medication records, endless lab tests, etc, but he can't do that now. He's submitting the whole thing.
Aug 19, 2017
The Most Common Social Security Fraud
From a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):
In May 2012, the Social Security Administration (SSA) introduced my Social Security — an Internet services portal that allows individuals to create a personal online account to access their own information. In January 2013, the Agency enhanced my Social Security to allow individuals to change their direct deposit bank information. Shortly after SSA made this change, the Agency and the Office of the Inspector General began receiving fraud allegations related to unauthorized direct deposit changes....
Based on our random samples, we estimated that $10.9 million in benefit payments for about 7,200 beneficiaries was misdirected in CYs [Calendar Years] 2014 through 2016. ...
We also estimated SSA prevented about $14.1 million in benefits from being misrouted from about 11,900 beneficiaries whose direct deposit bank account was changed without their authorization.
Comparing our analysis of the CY 2014 through 2016 data the Agency provided to our prior review of CY 2013 data showed that the amount of benefits misdirected through my Social Security decreased. Also, we made recommendations to SSA related to verifying the identities of my Social Security users in our September 2016 report. As a result, we are not making any additional recommendations for corrective action at this time. ...
Aug 18, 2017
The Evil OHO
Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) will soon change its name to the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO). People will pronounce OHO as Oh-Ho. However, that is the same pronunciation as the Spanish word for eye, ojo. A friend who knows a good deal about these things tells me that the Spanish word ojo also has the connotation of evil eye in Mexican and Central American culture. There are many legal immigrants in the United States from Mexico and Central America who take the concept of the evil eye seriously. We'd better not confuse them by casually referring to Oh-Ho.
Aug 17, 2017
Hard Time
A Pikeville psychologist tried to hang himself after he was convicted of conspiring with disability attorney Eric C. Conn to defraud the Social Security Administration of millions of dollars, according to a court record.
A federal prosecutor cited the unsuccessful suicide attempt in arguing that Alfred Bradley Adkins should not be released on bond pending sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves turned down Adkins’ request to be released. ...
Adkins was charged with signing false mental-impairment evaluations for Conn to use in claims.
A jury convicted Adkins on June 12 of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and making a false statement in a record submitted to Social Security.
Reeves ordered Adkins taken into custody after the verdict.
About an hour later, the U.S. Marshals Service notified Reeves that Adkins had tried to hang himself in a holding cell at the federal courthouse in Lexington, according to a court document. The document didn’t provide any additional details.
Reeves said in an order that although Adkins’ attempt was unsuccessful, it “refutes his claims of stability and the assertions that Adkins is not a danger to himself or to others, or that he would not flee if given the opportunity.” ...
Adkins faces up to 65 years in prison, according to a motion by Dustin M. Davis, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. ...
Aug 16, 2017
Why Can't Social Security Get Adequate Administrative Funding?
Max Richtman of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare wonders why the Sorcial Security Administration can't get an adequate operating budget. He thinks it might have something to do with the fact that Republicans still can't reconcile themselves to the very existence of Social Security.
Aug 15, 2017
1.7% COLA?
There's always great interest in Social Security's annual cost of living adjustment. We won't know the actual 2018 number until October but it's looking like it will be about 1.7%.
Aug 14, 2017
Aug 13, 2017
New Remand Procedure
From HALLEX, the manual for Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) (and no, the name hasn't changed yet):
I-2-5-12 Remand for Revised Determination Last Update: 8/3/17 (Transmittal I-2-211)
A.When to Remand for a Revised Determination After a claimant files a request for hearing but before an administrative law judge (ALJ) holds a hearing, an ALJ may, under certain circumstances, remand a case to the Disability Determination Services or other component that issued the determination. See 20 CFR 404.948(c) and 416.1448(c). An ALJ may remand for a revised determination on his or her own initiative, or at the request of a claimant. An ALJ will only remand a case for a revised determination if there is reason to believe the revised determination would be fully favorable to the claimant. While the regulatory language is quite broad, the ALJ will only consider this requirement met if the ALJ is reasonably certain a revised fully favorable determination will be issued on remand. For example, the ALJ may receive new and material evidence that appears to change the outcome, or a change in the law permits a favorable determination. ...
Aug 12, 2017
New Prehearing Reviews
From HALLEX, the manual of Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) whose name will be changed to OHO this fall:
I-2-5-10. Prehearing Case Review by Other Component Last Update: 8/3/17 (Transmittal I-2-211)
A.General After a claimant files a request for hearing but before an administrative law judge (ALJ) holds a hearing, an ALJ may, under the circumstances outlined in subsection B below, forward a claim for a prehearing case review to the Disability Determination Services or other component that issued the determination the claimant is appealing. On receipt of the claim(s), the receiving component will decide whether to revise the determination based on a preponderance of the evidence. See 20 CFR 404.941 and 416.1441. Under these procedures, the Social Security Administration may only issue a revised determination if it is fully or partially favorable to the claimant. NOTE: While a prehearing case review is pending, the ALJ retains jurisdiction of the claim and will not dismiss the request for hearing.
B.When an ALJ May Refer a Case for Prehearing Case Review As set forth in 20 CFR 404.941 and 416.1441, an ALJ may refer a case for a prehearing case review if: Additional evidence is submitted; There is an indication that additional evidence is available; There is a change in the law or regulation; or There is an error in the file or some other indication that the prior determination may be revised. In screening cases for the regulatory criteria, the ALJ will only refer cases for a prehearing case review in which application of the criteria may result in a fully or partially favorable decision.
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