No Good Choice

    A TV station in Atlanta is reporting on the dilemma faced by many who are denied by one of Social Security's Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) -- appeal and fact horrendous delays with only a limited chance of success -- or start over again with a new claim and still face horrendous delays but stand a better chance of success. Oh, and if you choose the new claim route, you're almost certainly giving up on all the benefits up to the date of the ALJ denial even though in some cases the ALJ denial is just ridiculous.

     It's like they deliberately stacking the deck against you. There's no good choice.

Facebook Can't Challenge Subpoenas For Info On Those Accused Of Social Security Fraud

     From Reuters:

Facebook Inc cannot challenge search warrants New York prosecutors used to get information from its site on hundreds of users suspected of Social Security fraud, a state appeals court said on Tuesday, in a decision likely making it harder for New Yorkers to keep their digital lives private.

The warrants, which applied to 381 users' photos, private messages and other account information, could only be challenged by individual defendants after prosecutors gathered evidence, the Manhattan-based court unanimously ruled. ... 

The Manhattan District Attorney's office served the warrants on Facebook in 2013, seeking information on dozens of people later indicted for Social Security fraud, including police officers and firefighters who allegedly feigned illness in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks....

The court on Tuesday said the only way to challenge warrants was for defendants in criminal cases to move to suppress the evidence they produced.

Facebook spokesman said the company disagreed with the decision and was considering an appeal. 

A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said prosecutors had secured nearly $25 million from people who were targets in the probe. 

"In many cases, evidence on their Facebook accounts directly contradicted the lies the defendants told to the Social Security Administration," she said. ...

Disability Trust Fund Numbers Released -- Why Don't We Just Make The Problem Go Away?

     The Social Security Administration has released the numbers on the operation of its Disability Insurance Trust Fund through the end of the second quarter of calendar year 2015. The Trust Fund stood at $50.8 billion as of the end of June. Here are some numbers showing how things have been going.

• The Disability Trust Fund lost $3.5 billion in the second quarter of this year compared to a loss of $4.1 billion in the second quarter of 2014. 
• The Trust Fund has lost $9.4 billion so far this year compared to a loss of $10.4 billion in the first half of last year.
• In the past four quarters the Trust Fund lost $29.2 billion, compared to a loss of $30.9 billion in the four quarters before that.

     The trend is clear. The Disability Insurance Trust Fund is losing money and will be exhausted in the not too distant future. However, it's not been losing ground as fast as it was. If the Trust Fund loses ground at the same rate as it has over the last year, it will barely limp into January 2017 before running out of money. If Trust Fund operations continue to improve as they have been improving lately, it will last a bit longer, until around the end of the first quarter of calendar year 2017. The only way you get the Trust Fund running out of money before the end of 2016, as Social Security's actuaries have done, is to project that the Trust Fund will start doing worse than it's been doing, which is certainly possible, but which seems unlikely at the moment.

     To remind readers, the Social Security Administration could dramatically change the prospects of the Disability Insurance Trust Fund, possibly preventing it from ever running out of money, by changing its position on benefit payments to those who are dually eligible for Disability Insurance Benefits and a Social Security Retirement or Survivors benefit. Now the dually eligible are always paid the Disability Insurance Benefit first and any extra benefit is paid out of the Retirement and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund. The statute doesn't require this. Reversing this doesn't require Congressional approval and doesn't affect any benefit payments either now or in the future. Why go through endless bickering and threats to disability claimants and recipients when it's easy to make the problem go away?

Motion Filed To Stop Hearings For Former Clients Of Eric Conn

     From WYMT:

He calls it a "planned assault" on nearly 1,500 people.

Attorney Ned Pillersdorf said a motion to stop social security benefit hearings was submitted to a federal judge.

The S.S.A. is reviewing benefits rewarded to disability attorney Eric C. Conn's clients. ...

Hearings are expected to being in September and will likely take months to finish.

     This is all I know, folks.

     Update: Pillersdorf has posted the pleadings on his firm's Facebook page.

Lawsuit Against Eric Conn Not Going So Well

     Eric Conn has been accused of defrauding Social Security by many, including a Congressional committee and 60 Minutes. However, Conn's problems really began with a qui tam action. Qui tam is a very odd type of lawsuit. A party, called a relator (not realtor) brings a lawsuit in the name of the government against a person whom they believe is defrauding the government. The government has to review the case to see if they believe it has enough merit that the government should take over the case. If the government declines, the case can still go forward but the relators must bear the burden of proceeding with the case. If the qui tam lawsuit is eventually successful in forcing the defendant to pay damages to the government, the relator gets part of the damages. In Eric Conn's case, the government declined to take over the case. That's a sign that the case being brought by the relator may lack merit, or at least enough merit that damages are likely. In Conn's case, the relators are going forward with the qui tam case, although it seems like the case is proceeding at a glacial pace. The most recent thing that's happened is that the Court has ruled on Conn's motion to dismiss the case. The Court has dismissed most, but not all, of the case. This link will only work for a couple of weeks. I hope it works for Social Security employees. Let me know.

     Many believe that Conn is clearly guilty of fraud. He may be guilty as sin. I don't know. I've written before that to me he seems more like a doofus than a criminal. Fraud is awfully difficult to prove. So far, no criminal charges have been brought against Conn. Social Security has not been able to even suspend Conn from practicing before the agency. This qui tam case may not be going so well for the relators. However, Conn's Social Security practice has almost certainly been ruined, probably permanently. The litigation expenses may well bankrupt him. If you're looking for him to be punished, that may be all you get.

Hard To Make A Living Representing Social Security Claimants

     Crain's Detroit, a business newspaper, is running an article on the business of representing Social Security claimants. I can say from personal experience that it's a difficult business to be in. The article notes this. The firms that the newspaper talked with had all decreased the number of attorneys doing Social Security work. Apparently, hearing backlogs in the Detroit area are far, far lower than they are where I'm practicing.

He Got Hooked

     From the Associated Press:

A Massachusetts man seen manning big fishing rods and harpooning huge fish on the reality show Wicked Tuna collected government benefits while claiming to be disabled and unable to work, federal prosecutors said.

Paul Hebert, 50, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, accepted more than $44,000 in Social Security and Medicaid benefits between 2010 and 2013, according to a four-count indictment filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Burlington.

One Sign Of The Field Office Backlogs

     An e-mail I received today from a legal assistant at my firm: "_____ [Field Office] is again telling people it will take them 90 days to even call the clients for the SSI resource interview after they have been approved."

     Actually, it probably won't take that field office that long to do an interview needed before benefits can be computed and paid but it tells you something about workloads at Social Security's field offices that one would say this to a desperately poor person who has just been found disabled.

     And a Social Security spokesperson recently used the phrase "world class service"?

What Entitlement Crisis?

    That "entitlement crisis"? Paul Krugman says it never existed. This chart seems to bear him out.

Do They Have A Plan To Come Up With A Plan?

     The National Journal has an article summarizing the current state of Republican efforts to come up with a plan for the upcoming shortfall in Social Security's Disability Insurance Trust Fund. The takeaway is that the GOP has no plan nor are they likely to have any plan until well into next year.

The Mess In Kentucky

     From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

Dexter Conn needs a lawyer. So do 1,500 of his neighbors.

The 57-year-old from Dana is one of the 1,500 people, mostly in eastern Kentucky, whose federal disability benefits are in jeopardy after the federal government ordered a review of cases handled by attorney Eric Conn. Now those cases are likely headed to hearings before administrative law judges that could start as soon as September.

All of those people need attorneys, and most of them can't afford one. ...

One problem is the attorneys likely will not be paid. In many Social Security cases, applicants are often awarded benefits dating back to the time they became disabled. In some cases that could be up to a year or more of benefits, money often used to pay attorney's fees. But these cases don't have that possibility because they are reviews of existing awards. ...

So far, 80 attorneys have volunteered to help. But [Robert] Johns [Executive Director of the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky] said the "vast majority" have no experience handling Social Security benefit cases, which require extensive knowledge of federal law and regulations while juggling mountains of medical records. Training them will take time. ...

    And before someone raises the questions, let me answer it. No, it's not reasonable to expect the local Social Security attorneys to represent all these people pro bono. It's a rural area. There can't be that many local Social Security attorneys. Every Social Security attorney in the country is struggling to survive in a difficult environment. I'm sure that's the case in Kentucky as well. These attorneys can't drop everything they're doing for the next two years to clean up a mess they didn't create. And, no, it's not reasonable to expect attorneys from other parts of the country to step in and represent these claimants. That's impractical. I'm supposed to not only represent these folks pro bono but spend money to travel to Kentucky? Be realistic.

Interesting Logo For #OneSocialSecurity

Sklar Responsible For Not Delivering World Class Service?

     The Washington Post has a report on the departures of Glenn Sklar and James Borland from Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR). The article refers to ODAR as a "slow-moving, unwieldy bureaucracy." LaVenia LaVelle, who is identified as a spokesperson for Social Security, is quoted as saying “This is not about an individual but about ensuring under Acting Commissioner Colvin’s leadership the Agency is ready to continue its world class customer service to the American public.”

     Note that the article seems to put the blame for ODAR's backlogs on ODAR's leadership rather than on inadequate appropriations and that Social Security's spokesperson seems to endorse this view. If this is the case (and I don't believe it is) why has Carolyn Colvin allowed the backlogs to grow to this disgraceful level. She must not care. She's just another incompetent Obama appointee. There's probably something illegal here. When is President Obama going to fire this bumbling, heartless bureaucrat? We need a Congressional hearing to grill Colvin on this unbelievable situation. It's just like the VA!

Randall Frye Admits ALJs Feel Pressure To Deny Claims

     Take a look at this local TV report on Social Security's hearing office in Charlotte where it's become much harder for a disability claimant to win on appeal. 

     This is from an interview with Administrative Law Judge Randall Frye, who is, or recently was, the head of the Association of Administrative Law Judges (AALJ), an employee union:

[The reporter] asked Frye if there's any pressure to deny more cases, to save money.

“I don't want to suggest that it forms the basis of a decision but it is something that's out there,” he answered. “There's pressure from Congress, the administration, the peer pressure.”

Democratic Senators Protect Social Security Disability

     From Daily Kos:

Two provisions to cut Social Security benefits in the proposed highway bill caused Democrats in both the Senate and House to revolt. Democrats have succeeded in getting both of those provisions removed, but now Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is facing a serious challenge in getting the bill past his own party, in both chambers of Congress. 

Senate Democrats defeated McConnell's first effort to bring the bill to the floor for debate, arguing they didn't have time to read the 1030-page bill in the few hours he had given them, and because of these spending provisions that hit Social Security. Immediately following that defeat, the Social Security cut to people who were concurrently receiving disability benefits and unemployment insurance was removed. The second cut, which would have ended benefits to anyone with an outstanding felony warrant, was was axed before a second procedural vote Wednesday night. Democrats pointed out that the last time this was attempted, and stymied by the courts, the government had to pay back $500 million to some 80,000 people who were wrongly cut off.

McConnell got the votes of 14 Democrats after removing these provisions, and the bill is moving forward this week in the Senate. ...

     Reality check, GOP: If you can't pass these changes to the Social Security disability program, what makes you think you can pass dramatic cuts in the program?

News Coming On DOT Replacement?

     The National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE) is an organization of personnel involved in making initial and reconsideration determinations on Social Security disability claims. They've posted their Summer 2015 newsletter. There's not much in the newsletter to interest those who aren't NADE members other than the listing of speakers at NADE's national conference in Portland next month. Note that Philip Doyle, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Compensation Levels and Trends, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will be speaking. Why is that of significance? BLS has been working with Social Security for some time on a replacement for the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). The DOT is used by Social Security in making disability determinations even though everyone, including Social Security, knows the DOT is ridiculously out of date. Any DOT update has serious implications for Social Security disability determination. Many people will be approved or denied benefits based upon the DOT update. Social Security's work with BLS has been kept under wraps. I don't know what Mr. Doyle could be speaking on other than the DOT update. I know that a full replacement for the DOT isn't ready yet but Doyle speaking at this conference is probably a sign that Social Security and BLS are about ready to reveal something.

     Any readers out there who will be attending this conference and who could give us a report on what Doyle has to say?
     By the way, a conference in Portland in August sounds nice.

Some Personnel Actions

     Click on each page to view full size.

Social Security's Finances Looking Slightly Better Than Last Year

     The entire 2015 report of Social Security's Trustees hasn't been posted yet. Here's a link for it when it's published. Here's the summary given out so far:

Taken in combination, Social Security’s retirement and disability trust fund reserves are projected to be exhausted in 2034, one year later than was projected in last year’s Trustees Report.  After trust fund exhaustion, annual revenues from the dedicated payroll tax and taxation of Social Security benefits will be sufficient to fund about three-quarters of scheduled benefits through 2089.   The 75-year actuarial deficit for the combined trust funds is estimated at 2.68 percent of taxable payroll, down from 2.88 percent of taxable payroll estimated in last year’s Report.  This improvement is due to new data and improved projection methods. 

Social Security’s Disability Insurance (DI) program faces the most immediate financing shortfall of any of the separate trust funds.  The DI Trust Fund reserves are projected to be depleted in late 2016, unchanged from last year’s estimate, after which time dedicated revenues are projected to cover 81 percent of scheduled benefit payments.  Legislation will be needed to address this financial imbalance.

     By the way, no one came up with a legal reason why the plan for saving the Disability Insurance Trust Fund that I posted yesterday wouldn't work. That plan requires no Congressional action.

     Update: The entire report is out now. It shows the Disability Insurance Trust Fund being $800 million short of making it through 2016. This is based upon a projection that the Disability Insurance Trust Fund will lose more ground in 2015 than it lost in 2014 and, in fact, that the Disability Trust Fund will lose more ground in 2015 than the projection made last year even though 2014 was better than the projection for 2014. The Actuary projects that the increase in benefits paid in 2015 will exceed the rate of inflation. However, so far in 2015 the Disability Insurance Trust Fund has run $900 million better than it ran in the first five months of 2014 and the number of people actually drawing Social Security disability benefits is going down, not up. I keep telling people that the Disability Insurance Trust Fund will last into early 2017. You have to assume a significant worsening of conditions to make the Disability Trust Fund exhaust in 2016 at a time when all indications are that conditions are modestly improving.

Trustees Report Due Out At 1:30 EDT

     In case you were wondering, the word is that the annual report of the Social Security Trustees is due out at 1:30 EDT today.

Republicans Want To Insure That People Who Are Actively Hallucinating Aren't Denied Access To Firearms

     Almost all of the Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee (and none of the Democratic members) have signed a letter sent to the Acting Commissioner of Social Security opposing any plan to provide the names of Social Security recipients who have a representative payee to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for purposes of limiting the ability of those who have been found incapable of handling funds to obtain firearms.

     You know, this sounds important to these Republicans. You know what's important to Democrats? Protecting the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund. ... Just saying.