Social Security Administrative Law Judge Timothy Maher of Miami has been arrested on the charge of threatening his ex-girlfriend with a gun.
Aug 18, 2018
Aug 17, 2018
Your Daily Conn Case News -- Squatters, File Access And Attorneys Appearing By Video
The saga continues. From WYMT:
The saga of former disability attorney Eric C Conn continues as U.S. Marshalls began the process of seizing the property where his offices are located in Stanville.
Marshalls say they came to change the locks and to secure thousands of Conn clients medical files. Prestonsburg attorney Ned Pillersdorf who represents many of those clients says more than just files were found when U.S. Marshals went inside.
"He also advised me that once he got there he encountered some squatters who apparently were living in the office," said Pillersdorf. ...
"The Department of Justice has asked Janet [Stumbo, Pillersdorf's wife, a former Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge] to put in an application to be appointed the receiver," said Pillersdorf. "They gave her keys to the office so that she could see what was in there. So she could formulate her proposal." ...In other Conn case news, I haven't heard anything yet from Social Security about allowing me to participate in hearings by video but others are hearing that the agency is telling Administrative Law Judges to allow this.
A Sign Of The Times
Here's a sign that was placed outside a Social Security office in Kentucky where almost 2,000 former Eric Conn clients face the loss of their Social Security disability benefits. Appalred is the local legal services unit trying valiantly to arrange representation for these claimants. They're running short of volunteers. You can help. E-mail maryg [@] ardfky.org or call them at the number you see on the sign. Social Security is trying to run roughshod over these innocent people. Don't let them.
Aug 16, 2018
House Budget Chairman Wants To Raise Medicare Age And Make Social Security Change
A new congressional budget proposal dubbed Brighter American Future would not privatize Social Security or Medicare, but it would raise the age of eligibility for Medicare up to two years and provide alternatives that could help drive Medicare costs down, U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, told a group of citizens Tuesday at a town hall meeting in Fort Smith.
Womack, the 3rd District congressman from Rogers and new chairman of the House Budget Committee, addressed the concerns over Social Security and Medicare presented by Mona Harper of Fort Smith and a group of five others at the University of Arkansas ...
The only recommended change to Social Security the budget proposal would make is “closing a loophole with disability insurance” that “allows someone to collect unemployment,” Claire Burghoff, communications director for the House Budget Committee, wrote in an email Wednesday. ...
Anybody Want A Big Abe Lincoln Statue?
From WKYT:
They’ve become somewhat synonymous with Eric Conn. Some of the eye-catching billboards and large statues outside of the attorney’s former office are now looking for a new home.
Conn’s is a story that’s been ongoing for years , complete with some surprising twists and turns. Months ago, Conn admitted to defrauding the social security administration out of millions of dollars. ...
A new court order entered yesterday now allows for the sale of those assets, including the property where his once booming law compound sits. The property plays home to a giant Abraham Lincoln statue, a now toppled Statue of Liberty replica and a few Conn look-alike mannequins that once topped billboards. ...
Aug 15, 2018
Attorney Advisor Program Made Permanent
The Social Security Administration published a notice in the Federal Register today that it is making the attorney advisor program permanent. As the notice says "The
attorney advisor initiative permits some
attorney advisors to develop claims,
including holding prehearing
conferences, and, in cases in which the
documentary record clearly establishes
that a fully favorable decision is
warranted, issue fully favorable
decisions before a hearing is conducted."
The problem with the attorney advisor program is that they are issuing few decisions. This is because the agency has imposed many limits and restrictions on what the attorney advisors can do. If Democrats win control of the House of Representatives in November I expect that Social Security will remove some of the limitations on attorney advisor productivity.
By the way, if they're issuing decisions, shouldn't attorney advisors be appointed by the Commissioner?
Aug 14, 2018
Social Security Obstructing Legal Representation For Eric Conn's Former Clients
Social Security has threatened or is threatening termination of disability benefits to thousands of Eric Conn's former clients. These cases have come in two waves. We're in the second wave now.
The need for pro bono legal representation in the Conn cases far exceeds what can be provided locally. Attorneys all over the country have stepped up to help these sick people who were unaware of Conn's illegal behavior. In the last wave of cases, attorneys from other parts of the country appeared by video. It wasn't perfect but it did provide legal representation which couldn't have been provided otherwise.
Cases are now being scheduled for this second wave of Conn hearings. This time attorneys are receiving the letter shown below. We're being told that "Your office was made aware of the location of the hearing when it was scheduled and is in not in the best interest of the claimant for you to appear at another location ..." I was made aware of the location of the hearing when it was scheduled but I told the people scheduling the hearing that I would need to appear by video. I was told to send in my request so I did so, expecting to have my appearance by video. The idea that allowing me to appear by video would "not be in the best interest of the claimant" is almost Orwellian. There are already so many reasons why denials by Administrative Law Judges in the Conn cases may get remanded, it's hard for me to comprehend why anyone at Social Security would think this is a good idea.
Slow Progress On DCPS
From a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General:
SSA is developing DCPS [Disability Case Processing System] as a common system for all DDSs [Disability Determination Services]. The Agency expects DCPS will simplify system support and maintenance, improve the speed and quality of the disability process, and reduce the overall growth rate of infrastructure costs.
SSA is using an incremental approach to develop and deploy DCPS. In December 2016, the Agency released its first working software to three DDSs, enabling them to process certain types of disability claims. Since then, the Agency has developed and implemented new releases that have provided additional functionality and has made the system available to users in 10 DDSs.
In November 2017, SSA postponed rolling DCPS out to additional DDSs and focused its resources on development. The Agency also concentrated on increasing the numbers of DCPS users at participating DDSs and cases they process in the system. ...
We asked users to respond to the statement, “Overall, I am satisfied with DCPS.” Of the 120 users who responded,
In general, users liked the modern interface, DCPS’ ease of use, and their ability to work on multiple cases simultaneously. Administrators and users also indicated they would like more functionality. For example, because DCPS lacked certain functionality, users had to employ workarounds to process certain cases. In addition, users had to follow up on evidence requests outside the system. Further, users commented about their inability to effectively manage their caseload s in DCPS . ...
- 69 (58 percent ) either agreed or strongly agreed;
- 28 (23 percent) either disagreed or strongly disagreed;
- 17 (14 percent) neither agreed nor disagreed; and
- 6 (5 percent) did not respond to the statement.
In December 2017, the 10 participating DDSs completed 797 cases in DCPS (about 2 percent of their workload). In May 2018, they completed 1,543 cases (about 4 percent of their workload).
SSA recognized that its inability to convince DDS users of the value and advantage of DCPS may negatively affect DDS adoption rates. To address this, the Agency planned to continue working with users to develop and demonstrate working software. ...A year and a half into the project and we're only up to a handful of DDS units processing 4% of their workload using DCPS? At that rate, DCPS might be fully implemented in another 50-75 years.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)