Dec 22, 2022
Dec 21, 2022
Change In Workers Comp Offset Computation -- This Is The Sort Of Arcane Stuff That Can Make A Difference Of Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars To A Claimant
From a newly added changes to POMS (Program Operations Manual Series) §DI 52150:
... A lump sum award may specify a payment amount based on the number holder’s (NH) life expectancy determined by insurance life expectancy tables. The life expectancy of the NH is often given in weeks, months, or years. These awards usually specify a life expectancy (LE) rate. ...
If the award indicates it should be prorated over the claimant's lifetime but does not specify a rate or time period, and the development proves unsuccessful, following is a link to a table provided by SSA's Office of the Chief Actuary to assist in determining the life expectancy:
This doesn't help if the workers compensation settlement agreement says nothing about proration but it helps in cases where there has been a simpler mistake in settling a workers compensation case, a failure to include specific language giving the proration formula. They're continuing with the no amendment provision. That needs to be changed. Don't punish claimants for failing to have an experienced workers comp attorney.
This is also an example for ALJs. If this seems incomprehensible, it's because there's a lot more going on with Social Security disability cases than you're aware of. I have seen former ALJs struggle to represent claimants because they didn't realize that they would face a significant learning curve.
Dec 20, 2022
6% Increase In SSA Appropriation, Less Than Rate Of Inflation
The Omnibus Appropriations bill likely to be passed by Friday includes $14.1 billion, an increase of $785 million or 6 percent, for Social Security’s administrative expenses. This is less than the rate of inflation this past 12 months.
Dec 19, 2022
Centralized Scheduling Of ALJ Hearings To End
I'm hearing from the National Organization of Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) that Social Security has decided to ditch centralized scheduling of Administrative Law Judge hearings. We'll go back to having individual hearing offices scheduling hearings beginning February 1, 2023. This is overdue. Centralized scheduling has been a failure from every point of view. It's one of the endless examples of the longstanding instinct of high level Social Security officials that smaller agency components such as hearing offices are inefficient and the only way for things to get better is to centralize as much as possible. It seems like these centralization schemes always fail. Hearing offices scheduling of hearings wasn't perfect but it wasn't bad. There was never a good reason to expect that centralized scheduling was going to help from any point of view.
Dec 18, 2022
Dec 17, 2022
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
From a press release:
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces Justin Skiff, age 36, of Castle Pines, appeared in U.S District Court today to face one count each of wire fraud, social security fraud, and money laundering
According to the information filed in this case, beginning in August 2019 and continuing through September 2021, it is alleged Skiff used his position as a claims specialist with the Social Security Administration (SSA), to fraudulently obtain money from the SSA. Skiff is alleged to have filed fictious claims for benefits using false identities and the identity of an actual individual to collect proceeds from these claims. According to court documents, Skiff’s actions ultimately led to the theft of approximately $310,601.44 from the SSA. …
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