Message From New Commissioner

From: ^Commissioner Broadcast <Commissioner.Broadcast@ssa.gov> 

Sent: Monday, June 17, 2019 4:03 PM

Subject: New Commissioner

A Message to All SSA and DDS Employees

Subject: New Commissioner

This afternoon, I was sworn in as your Commissioner, and I am eager to get to work.  In ways that many of us do not have the perspective to appreciate, running an agency for this long without confirmed leadership is quite difficult.  Please join me in thanking Nancy Berryhill for her leadership, and I welcome her ongoing support.  

Throughout the confirmation process, one consistent theme has been how fantastic SSA employees are.  I can certainly use your help.  Although I am just now beginning my briefings, I am aware that we face a number of challenges.  I look forward to hearing your ideas about how best to improve public service and be supportive to you in that endeavor.  

My plan is to get out and talk with as many of you as I can.  I will also be meeting with SSA’s senior leaders, associations, and unions.  Meanwhile, I thought you might want to know a little about me.  I am a lifelong New Yorker, born and raised in New York City.  My wife of 50 years, Denise, and I are blessed with two daughters, two sons-in-law, and three grandchildren.  I am a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and I have worked in the private and public sector and with non-profit organizations.  I am most proud of my nine years as the Chair of the Federal Thrift Investment Board, which administers the Thrift Savings Plan, working to improve service by modernizing it into what is today one of the most successful 401K plans in the nation.    

My family and friends will tell you I have a sense of humor, but I take work seriously.  Hard work is especially necessary when what we are doing matters to every American.  As I mentioned, I have already heard how dedicated you are to SSA’s mission, and your dedication gives me great confidence about what we can achieve.  

I am taking a little time to assess how the agency is doing, and you will hear more soon about my priorities and plans in the coming weeks.

Thank you for the warm welcome I have received thus far.  I look forward to working with you.

Andrew Saul

Commissioner

Updated Stats On Fee Payments

     Social Security has updated its posted statistics on payments of fees for representing claimants before the agency. You may recall that a few months ago I posted that the agency had taken down the statistics altogether and they then put them back up. More recently I posted that they had stopped updating them. Now they’ve updated them for the last two months.

     Come on guys! I know you’re keeping track of these numbers internally. It can’t be that hard to post them online. I’m not the only one paying attention to them.

Saul Officially Commissioner

     Andrew Saul has been sworn in as Commissioner of Social Security.

GAO Criticizes SSA Online Verification

     From a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report:

Remote identity proofing is the process federal agencies and other entities use to verify that the individuals who apply online for benefits and services are who they claim to be. To perform remote identity proofing, agencies that GAO reviewed rely on consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) to conduct a procedure known as knowledge-based verification. This type of verification involves asking applicants seeking federal benefits or services personal questions derived from information found in their credit files, with the assumption that only the true owner of the identity would know the answers. If the applicant responds correctly, their identity is considered to be verified. For example, the Social Security Administration (SSA) uses this technique to verify the identities of individuals seeking access to the “My Social Security” service, which allows them to check the status of benefit applications, request a replacement Social Security or Medicare card, and request other services. 

However, data stolen in recent breaches, such as the 2017 Equifax breach, could be used fraudulently to respond to knowledge-based verification questions. The risk that an attacker could obtain and use an individual’s personal information to answer knowledge-based verification questions and impersonate that individual led the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to issue guidance in 2017 that effectively prohibits agencies from using knowledge- based verification for sensitive applications. Alternative methods are available that provide stronger security, as shown in Figure 1. However, these methods may have limitations in cost, convenience, and technological maturity, and they may not be viable for all segments of the public. ...

Social Security Reform Proposal Draws Widespread Protests In Brazil

     From Xinhua:

Brazilians took to the streets on Friday for a nationwide massive protest against the social security reform proposed by the government. 

According to local media, there were protests in at least 190 towns in all Brazilian states.

As a full strike was called, buses halted in 19 state capitals, subway and urban train workers in several cities joined the strike, classes were cancelled in public schools and many private schools in at least 23 state capitals, and road blockades were seen in the country. ...

Government Health Care Has Been Around For A While And It's Still Part Of The Social Security Act

Signed by Harry Truman, the first President to propose Medicare

Still Missing The Fee Payment Stats

     Back in April I posted the news that Social Security had taken down its website where it posted the stats on payments of fees to attorneys and others who represent claimants before the agency. Soon thereafter the website reappeared.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the problem. Now, they're stopped updating the stats. Nothing has been posted since the March stats. In the past, the website was updated in the first week of each month.

More On DDS Backlogs

     I had posted recently about the increasing backlogs I was seeing on Social Security disability claims at the initial and reconsideration levels. A friend was able to find the data from North Carolina, where I practice, and put it into a chart.

Click on image to view full size

     You can see why I would be concerned.
     My friend also charted the nationwide data but it doesn't paint the same picture:

Click on image to view full size

     Don't think that this means there's not a growing backlog problem at the initial and reconsideration levels nationally. The number of disability claims filed has gone down dramatically. With the number of claims filed having gone down dramatically, you would expect to see dramatic reductions in the number of cases pending in the backlog. That hasn't happened. The only way the cases pending holds steady is if the time it's taking to get initial and reconsideration determinations is increasing. It's not happening nationwide so dramatically as in North Carolina but it's happening.

eCBSV Coming

     From a notice posted in the Federal Register by the Social Security Administration (footnotes omitted):

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is announcing the initial enrollment period for a new electronic Consent Based Social Security Number (SSN) Verification (eCBSV) service. SSA will roll out the service to a limited number of users in June 2020, and plans on expanding the number of users within six months of the initial rollout. ... 

Section 215 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the Banking Bill) directs SSA to modify or develop a database for accepting and comparing fraud protection data provided electronically by a permitted entity. In response to this statutory directive, SSA is creating eCBSV, a fee-based Social Security number (SSN) verification service. eCBSV will allow permitted entities to verify an individual's SSN based on the SSN holder's signed consent. ...

Washington Post On Proposed Regs On Inability To Speak English

     The Washington Post has an article out on the proposal to eliminate consideration of inability to speak English in determining disability under Social Security's grid regulations.

     I don't see why anyone would think that English proficiency has no effect on one's ability to hold down a job. Sure, people who can't speak English hold down jobs in the U.S. but they can't be cashiers or bank tellers or bus drivers. Even in Puerto Rico, you can't work in the tourism industry or many other jobs if you can't speak English. Also, there are far, far more job opportunities for those who only speak Spanish than there are for those who only speak Russian or Yoruba or Greek.

     One thing that needs to be said about this proposal, however, is that it won't affect that many people. The regulations in question matter in only a few borderline cases.

     It's rich that the Trump Administration is protesting criticism of this proposal by saying it isn't intended to be anti-immigrant. We all know why this proposal is coming forward during the Trump Administration.