e-1696

     Maybe I missed some announcement but I just discovered that Social Security has an online e-1696 form. The 1696 form is the one that claimants sign to appoint an attorney or other representative. It's basic and important for those of us who represent claimants. Social Security processes hundreds of thousands of them a year.

    The only problem I see is that the e-1696 relies upon docusign or something like docusign to get the claimant's signature. I've tried to use docusign for other paperwork and found that it flummoxes my clients. Few of them are able to handle it. I think that may tell you something about the ability of Social Security claimants to handle online systems.

SSI Is Brutal

    From Salon:

After two months of sleeping in the Salvation Army Center of Hope homeless shelter, Margaret Davis has had no luck finding an apartment she can afford.

The 55-year-old grandmother receives about $750 a month from the federal government. She's trying to live on just $50 cash and $150 in food stamps each month so she can save enough for a place to call home.

Davis is homeless even though she receives funds from the Supplemental Security Income program, a hard-to-get federal benefit that was created nearly 50 years ago to lift out of poverty Americans who are older, blind, or disabled.

Davis' job options are limited because she gets dialysis treatment three times a week for kidney failure. As she prepared to spend another night in the crowded shelter, she checked her phone to see whether a doctor wanted her to have her left leg amputated. ...

Falling into homelessness is not a new issue for people who receive supplemental income from the Social Security Administration. But moving recipients out of shelters, crime-ridden motels, and tent encampments and into stable housing has been getting harder, according to nonprofit attorneys, advocates for people with disabilities, and academic researchers. ...

"We are trapping people in a place where dignity is out of reach," said Rebecca Vallas, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank that conducts research on economic equity. "The program started with good intentions," she said. "It is hard for me to see this as anything but willful neglect." ...

Shuart To SSAB Board

     From a press release:

Amy Shuart, of Alexandria, Virginia, has been appointed by the House to the Social Security Advisory Board for a six-year term effective October 9, 2022.

Shuart has over 15 years of experience in Social Security and identity policy. She is currently the Head of North America Government Affairs and Policy Director for Onfido, a technology company that specializes in automated global digital identity verification and authentication solutions. For over a decade, she worked for the Committee on Ways and Means, most recently as the Social Security Subcommittee Staff Director.  She started her career as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Social Security Administration in the Office of Retirement Policy and has also worked at the Office of Management and Budget in the Medicare Branch and the White House National Economic Council. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelors of Arts in Public and Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech, and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. ...

Covid Paradox

     There's been another study showing that many millions of Americans have "long Covid" symptoms. Among all adults 1.8% report that their daily activities are limited "a lot" by "long Covid." That's millions of people. Yet, the Social Security Administration has received only a trickle of disability claims based on "long Covid." I can't explain this paradox.

8.7% COLA

     This year's Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) to Social Security benefits is 8.7%.

Do You Care What Andrew Saul Has To Say?

     Former Social Security Commissioner sat for a long interview with a staffer at the right wing American Enterprise Institute "think tank." I don't want to waste the time listening to it but maybe you will. Apparently, Saul claimed that Social Security has 100,000 employees! I knew that he never bothered to try to understand the agency he was supposed to be leading but this is over the top. Actually Social Security has fewer than 60,000 employees. Did he care about anything at the agency other than being as obnoxious as possible to employees?

The Dream Never Dies

     From Bloomberg Government:

Social Security and Medicare eligibility changes, spending caps, and safety-net work requirements are among the top priorities for key House Republicans who want to use next year’s debt-limit deadline to extract concessions from Democrats.

The four Republicans interested in serving as House Budget Committee chairman in the next Congress said in interviews that next year’s deadline to raise or suspend the debt ceiling is a point of leverage if their party can win control of the House in the November midterm elections. ...

A bipartisan negotiation on Social Security and Medicare would likely start with Democrats pushing for more revenue, while “Republicans have a list of eligibility reforms, and we don’t like the tax increases,” Arrington said. He said an increase in the eligibility age for both programs would be a commonsense change.

Reducing benefits for wealthier Americans could also cut costs, Smucker said.

“We should ensure that we keep the promises that were made to the people who really need it, the people who are relying on it,” Smucker said. “So some sort of means-testing potentially would help to ensure that we can do that.” ...

    Republicans have this longstanding dream that they can force Democrats to accept major cuts in Social Security and then find a way to blame Democrats for those unpopular cuts. Jujitsu! That hasn't worked in the past and it's not going to work next year. Democrats will go to the mattresses over means testing Social Security or raising full retirement age. Republicans won't have the stomach to go to the mattresses themselves over obtaining the cuts.

The Nonpersistence Of Memory

     There is no news that I know of in Social Security world, so let me share a vignette from a conversation I had recently with a client. I knew the client must have been out of work for at least a year and probably two but I didn't know when she had stopped so I asked her when she stopped work. Her answer: "Uh, uh, uh, what's today?"

SSA Information Not So Secure?

     From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):

Objective
To determine whether the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) overall information security program and practices were effective and consistent with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) requirements, as defined in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 core Inspector General (IG) FISMA reporting metrics. ...

We engaged Grant Thornton LLP (Grant Thornton) to conduct this performance audit ...

Based on the FY 2022 core IG FISMA reporting metrics guidance, Grant Thornton concluded SSA’s overall security program was “Not Effective.” 

Although SSA had established an Agency-wide information security program and practices, Grant Thornton identified deficiencies that may limit the Agency’s ability to adequately protect its systems and information. While SSA continued executing its risk-based approach to strengthen controls over its information systems and address weaknesses, Grant Thornton’s audit continued to identify persistent deficiencies in both the design and operation of controls related to the FY 2022 core IG FISMA reporting metrics. ...

Members Of Congress Complaining About Disability Process

     From a press release:

Today, Congressman Joe Neguse [D-CO]and Representative Gwen Moore (D-WI) wrote to Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner, Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi, requesting an update on the agency’s efforts to expedite the processing of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applications and appeals. Both programs provide assistance to Americans who meet the requirements for disability as well as those who are older, blind, or have little to no income. The lawmakers also requested information on how the Social Security Administration (SSA) is working to ensure agency materials are accessible for all individuals, regardless of their specific needs.

“Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the backlog of pending SSDI and SSI cases increased exponentially. Social Security employees worked tirelessly to adapt to a new environment, and more must be done to ensure access to these critical benefits,” said Congressman Joe Neguse.  

“The process for applying for Social Security disability benefits is difficult to navigate, and only worsened by inaccessible materials and chronic underfunding, despite the program’s growing needs. For vulnerable individuals who are unable to work and are applying for benefits to survive, delays and denials without proper recourse can be frustrating, and at worst, devastating. I recognize that SSA has been severely underfunded and I will continue to fight to increase the agency’s resources. That said, as a Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee member, I join Rep. Neguse in leading the call for improved services, so that both SSA beneficiaries and applicants have access to the timely and accessible information and the benefits they have earned and are owed,” said Congresswoman Moore. ...