Evidence To Support The Discouragement Theory

     Back in April I posted a longer piece speculating on the reasons behind the declining number of Social Security disability claims being filed. I'm sure that we can't credit any reduction in unemployment for what is going on at the moment. The number of disability claims is continuing to decline even though there's been little or no decline in the unemployment rate in the last two years. What is causing the decline isn't clear.

     I ended the piece by speculating that at least some of the decline may be due to declining service at Social Security discouraging claimants from applying. I admitted that I had no evidence to support this theory. However, I had forgotten about a study that does support this theory. About two years ago I had posted about a study done by a couple of researchers about what happens to the number of disability claims filed when Social Security closes a field office. They found that the number of claims declined because people with lower education levels and lower earnings were discouraged from applying. The effect they found, 11%, was significant and the effect persisted.

     Social Security hasn't closed that many offices. What's happened is that service has declined at the offices which are still open. It's harder to get through to Social Security over the telephone. Your wait time if you visit in person is longer. People get discouraged and give up.

     This issue merits more study but I think the discouragement theory looks like a major factor in the decline in the number of disability claims.

Social Security Online System Vulnerable

     From ZDNet:

The 2017 Equifax security breach has thrown a wrench in the process used by US government agencies to verify the identity of US citizens applying for various benefits via its online portals.

This process, called online identity verification or remote identity proofing, relied on data provided by credit reporting agencies (CRAs) like Equifax, as a proof of the applicant's identity. ... 

In 2017, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reacted to this hack by issuing guidance to government agencies, with recommendations on replacing the CRA-based online identity proofing with other solutions like sending an SMS to a user's phone, or having the user send/upload a scan of a physical ID to the government agency, as a proof of identity. ... 

But a report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), a bi-partisan government agency that provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for Congress, has found that only two of six of the government agencies they tested had followed the NIST guidance. 

GAO found that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), the US Postal Service (USPS), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were still relying on the old CRA databases for online identity verification. ... 

The agencies who were part of the GAO inquiry said that one of the reasons they haven't migrated to a new system yet, as per the NIST guidance, is because of "high costs and implementation challenges for certain segments of the public," which the agencies fear might prevent certain US citizens from being able to use their online portals. ... 

The Social Security Administration (SSA) and the United States Postal Service (USPS) intend to reduce or eliminate their use of knowledge-based verification some time in the future but do not yet have specific plans for doing so. ..

Smaller COLA This Year?

     The Motley Fool says to expect a smaller cost of living adjustment this year.

SSAB Recommends That SSA Get Out Of The Death Master File Business

     The Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) has issued a report recommending that the Social Security Administration ought to get out of the business of maintaining the Death Master File that is used to prevent improper payments of not just Social Security benefits but many other types of government benefits. It is also widely used by private financial institutions. The SSAB thinks the Department of the Treasury should get the job. There’s just one problem with this idea. I’m pretty sure that Treasury wants nothing to do with maintaining the Death Master File and would strongly resist any legislation foisting the job on them.

Trying To Hit The Reset Button

     The union that represents Social Security’s Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) has asked newly sworn in Commissioner Andrew Saul to suspend negotiations on a new contract with the union. I think they want to hit the reset button on the negotiations.

SSA Makes Top Ten List

     The Social Security Administration has made a top ten list — the top ten of agencies with critical federal agency legacy information technology systems in need of modernization, according to the Government Accountability Office (OMB).

Class Action Helps Protect Some Social Security Disability Benefits From Student Loan Collection

     From Marketwatch:

Since 2007 Linda Carrasquillo has been unable to work due to an injury she suffered at her job cleaning buses.  

And yet, every month for seven years, the government took great pains to collect on a $4,000 loan she took out to pay for her daughter’s schooling — by withholding part of the money she received through her Social Security disability benefits. 

Feeling stressed by the loan, Carrasquillo and her daughter called the nonprofit organization collecting the debt on behalf of the federal government to see if she could work out a deal. But they couldn’t come to an arrangement Carrasquillo could afford. Eventually she fell behind on her rent and faced the possibility of eviction. ... 

But what Carrasquillo didn’t know is that the entire time she was struggling to manage her limited finances, the government should have never been collecting on her debt. She qualified for what’s known as a total and permanent disability discharge, which allows borrowers to have their federal student loans wiped away if they have a physical or mental disability that makes it impossible for them to work.  

Recently, Carrasquillo finally got the more than $4,000 the government garnished from her Social Security checks back — but it took a lawsuit. She’s one of nine plaintiffs in a case brought by Brooklyn Legal Services, a division of Legal Services NYC, in 2016 against multiple federal agencies that settled last month. In total, the plaintiffs got back nearly $23,000 that was garnished from their disability benefits to repay their student loans. ... 

But advocates would like the government to go further by automatically cancelling the debt in cases where they know a borrower qualifies for a disability discharge. A bipartisan group of 51 attorneys general wrote to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos last monthasking that she automatically cancel the debt of veterans who the agency has identified as qualifying for a disability discharge. ...

Former Social Security Employee Facing Many Years In Prison

     From the Sacramento Bee:

A former Social Security Administration employee from West Sacramento plead guilty Monday to stealing $480,000 from the agency through identity theft, officials said.  

Eric Lemoyne Willis, 43, targeted at least 160 Social Security beneficiaries and spent the money on trips to Las Vegas and Rolex watches, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. Willis plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, theft of government property and aggravated identity theft, the Department of Justice said.  

From 2003 to January 2018, Willis was employed by the SSA, the news release said. From 2016 on, he was an operations supervisor in the south Sacramento and Lodi field offices. Willis used his power as an SSA employee to access confidential records for multiple Social Security beneficiaries, according to the news release. These records contained personal information, including names, addresses, social security numbers, dates of birth, account numbers, family information and benefit payment amounts, according to the news release.  

Willis sought beneficiaries who received large amounts of money and used direct deposit, according to court documents. 

Then, he gave their personal information to his alleged accomplice, Darron Dimitri Ross, who lived in North Carolina. Ross, who plead not guilty and is awaiting trial, allegedly called numerous SSA offices across the country and impersonated beneficiaries, court documents say. 

He allegedly opened at least 44 online bank accounts under fraudulent identities to redirect the Social Security benefits, according to court documents. If Ross convinced the SSA he was the beneficiary, he would allegedly request the beneficiary’s direct deposit account be changed to one of the fraudulent accounts, according to the Department of Justice. The benefits would then deposit into the fraudulent account until the fraud was detected, the Department of Justice said. Willis and Ross could spend the money in the accounts using debit cards, officials said. ...

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.