Finally An Appropriations Agreement

      There is finally agreement on an Omnibus Appropriations Bill to fund the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. Social Security will get $13.2 billion for its operations. The FY 2021 appropriation had been $12.9 billion. The increase is not nearly enough to cover inflation. The agency remains on a starvation diet that assures that service will continue to decline.

     Whatever lobbying efforts went into obtaining an adequate operating budget for the Social Security Administration were completely ineffective. 

     Individual members of Congress who declare their concern over the state of service at Social Security may be sincere but, in general, there must be nearly zero concern in Congress over the state of the service that the public is getting from Social Security.

The First Step -- Admitting You Have A Problem

      A tweet from Social Security:

We are currently having problems with our local offices and 800-Number phone systems. You may experience service issues, including poor call quality, dropped calls, and long wait times. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and we appreciate your patience.

OHO Phone Outages

      I have received multiple reports of telephone outages at Social Security's hearing offices in several states today. Telephone hearings are going forward, however. We can't call in but can agency employees call out?

An Idea For Social Security

      From Government Executive:

The Internal Revenue Service announced a new Taxpayer Experience Office meant to shore up taxpayer service at the struggling agency on Friday. ...

The IRS says that the new office will work on all parts of "taxpayer transactions" across the IRS. ...

"The IRS is committed to customer experiences that meet taxpayers where they are, in the moments that matter most in people's lives and in a way that delivers the service that the public expects and deserves," said Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer Ken Corbin, who is also the commissioner of the Wage and Investment division.

The IRS is also grappling with how to do identity verification for online accounts. It recently announced it will pivot from private company ID.me, which uses biometrics, to General Services Administration's login.gov after this tax season.

     It would help if Social Security would be honest with itself and the public about the state of the service it provides. It would also help if the agency accepts the reality that personal service including in person service will be required forever. We are not in a transition to completely digital service at Social Security and never will be. Field offices and teleservice centers are never going away.

Another CR?

      We’re almost six months into the federal fiscal year and Congress is still unable to pass appropriations bills. On March 11 the continuing resolution funding Social Security and other agencies runs out. It’s not clear that Congress can meet this deadline. There won’t be a government shutdown but we may end up with yet another continuing resolution giving Congress yet more time. The problem is Republic stonewalling combined with the unwillingness of two Democratic senators to end the filibuster.

Service Sucks At Social Security -- Part One Million

      From AARP:

When Jim Sauer read the letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in October 2021, he was puzzled. Because he was claiming benefits a year after his full retirement age, he was expecting bigger payments than what the SSA said he would receive. So Sauer called the Social Security office near his home in Fairfield Township, Ohio, to address the problem. But after 12 conversations with local SSA customer service representatives and two calls to the agency’s national call center, Sauer remained not only puzzled but also frustrated.​

“It’s not just the issues themselves,” says Sauer, a former career employee at a Fortune 500 company who worked in international finance. “It’s when you call, you wait on hold forever. And then when you finally get ahold of someone, they seemingly just don’t care about helping you and are highly unqualified to answer your questions or to lead you to where you could get answers.” ​ ...

As with most things, customer service issues are tied in large part to money. Since 2010, the SSA’s operating budget — set each year by Congress — has declined by 13 percent and its staff by 12 percent, while the number of Social Security beneficiaries has increased 22 percent, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. ​ ...

Field Office Managers Have Complaints

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

... During our interviews with management and our office visits, we learned office managers—who are not members of a bargaining unit— were the main staff reporting to the offices throughout the pandemic. Approximately half of the office management we interviewed believed they were treated fairly; while the remaining office managers indicated SSA leadership could have provided them more support during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Sixteen members of management stated they felt overworked, dispensable, and unappreciated, and 45 said the Agency did not realize the large volume of non-portable work for which they were responsible. Management noted it was a challenge to juggle their normal managerial duties and the non-portable workload. ...

Harder To Win In Rural States Which Are Mostly Red States

      From Blue Virginia:

Recent data from the Social Security Administration (SSA) shows that rural states are more likely to have low disability claim approval rates as compared to more urban states.

Of the top 15 states with the lowest disability claim approval rates, Oklahoma (30 percent), Hawaii (30.2 percent), and West Virginia (31.9 percent) have the lowest overall approval rates.

Seven of the remaining 15 states have approval rates that fall at or below 35 percent: Alabama (32.3 percent), Kentucky (32.9 percent), North Carolina (33.5 percent), New Mexico (34.4 percent), Florida (35 percent), Indiana (35.2 percent), and Maryland (35.9 percent).

The other six states have marginally higher approval rates. Still, they fall below the national approval rate average of 41.7 percent: Montana (36.2 percent), Utah (36.2 percent), Arizona (36.4 percent), Mississippi (36.6 percent), Georgia (36.7 percent), and Tennessee (37.9 percent). ...

If They Haven't Gotten Better, Why Are We Ending Their Benefits?

      From Does Welfare Prevent Crime? The Criminal Justice Outcomes of Youth Removed From SSI by Manasi Deshpande & Michael G. Mueller-Smith (emphasis added):

We estimate the effect of losing Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits at age 18 on criminal justice and employment outcomes over the next two decades. ... We find that SSI removal increases the number of criminal charges by a statistically significant 20% over the next two decades. The increase in charges is concentrated in offenses for which income generation is a primary motivation (60% increase), especially theft, burglary, fraud/forgery, and prostitution. The effect of SSI removal on criminal justice involvement persists more than two decades later, even as the effect of removal on contemporaneous SSI receipt diminishes. In response to SSI removal, youth are twice as likely to be charged with an illicit income-generating offense than they are to maintain steady employment at $15,000/year in the labor market. As a result of these charges, the annual likelihood of incarceration increases by a statistically significant 60% in the two decades following SSI removal. The costs to taxpayers of enforcement and incarceration from SSI removal are so high that they nearly eliminate the savings to taxpayers from reduced SSI benefits.

     You've been granted SSI disability benefits as a child. It wasn't easy. You had to have been pretty sick. However, at age 18, even though you haven't gotten a bit better, you're made to prove all over again that you're disabled and in many, many cases cut off your SSI, leaving you with no income. Why? Does turning 18 make people healthier? How can we realistically expect anything other than bad results from such a brutal policy? This study is looking at just the dollar costs to the government. What about all the misery caused to disabled people and their families? That has value too.

Going Online To Schedule Appointments To File Claims

      Under the Paperwork Reduction Act Social Security must post notices when it develops new forms requiring information from the public. This is from such a notice posted today in the Federal Register:

... SSA developed an online tool to allow internet users to request an appointment to file an application for benefits and to establish a protective filing date with SSA. The electronic protective filing tool will allow individuals to submit information for the appointment request using a computing device, such as a personal computer or handheld (mobile) device instead of calling SSA by phone or visiting an FO [Field Office]. The tool will be available to potential claimants, as well as those individuals assisting them ...

[T]he system will ask the individual to tell us whether they are answering these questions about themselves, or about another person. To do so, the system will present several options for individual to select from the categories of individuals who, under current regulations, can establish a protective filing date. The next screens ask for basic information about the individual who will be claiming benefits, or requesting SSI payments. Additionally, the tool will collect the name, phone number, and email address (optional) of the person submitting the information, if that person is different than the person who will be claiming benefits or SSI payments. Once the system collects the data, it gives the individual the opportunity to review the information provided and electronically sign and submit the form. The system then transmits the information into eLAS [?] and establishes a protective filing date. ...

     The notice does not say when this might come into effect. The agency estimates that only 21,250 of these forms will be completed annually, which sounds awfully low.

Fighting To Survive

 

The Least Partisan Issue

 

EMs Allowing Benefits For Those Who Had Been Unable To Marry Due To Unconstitutional State Laws

      Social Security had earlier announced that it was settling two class actions concerning those who had been denied benefits due to the nine month duration of marriage requirement for widows/widowers benefits in the setting of couples who had been unable to marry due to state laws, later found unconstitutional, prohibiting same sex marriages. Now, the agency has issued two Emergency Messages (EMs) showing how it will implement the new policies.

     The Thornton v. Commissioner EM and the Ely v. Saul EM tell agency adjudicators to consider these questions in determining whether there was an intent to marry that was thwarted by unconstitutional state laws:

· Would the claimant have married their partner if not for a State law that prohibited same-sex marriage? 

· What date would the couple have married if they were not prohibited from doing so? 

· Did the law of the State where the couple lived permit same-sex marriages before the NH died? For information about when States and U.S. territories permitted same-sex marriages, refer to GN 00210.003. 

· Did the couple have a commitment ceremony or attempt to have the relationship formally recognized in any other way prior to the NH’s death? 

· Did the couple exchange commitment rings? 

· Was the claimant in a committed relationship with the NH? If so, for how long?

· Did the couple live together? If yes, how long did they live together?  

· Did they own property together?

· Did the claimant inherit from the NH based on a will?

· Did the NH name the claimant as a beneficiary for life insurance or retirement benefits?

· Did the couple have children together or did they raise any children together from prior relationships?

· Did the claimant and the NH share joint responsibility to care for one another?· Would the claimant and the NH have been otherwise eligible to marry if the law had not barred same-sex couples from marriage? Consider the following questions when determining whether the parties were eligible to marry:

· Were the claimant and NH related to each other in a way that would prevent them from marrying?
· Were the claimant and NH both over the age of 18 during their relationship (or, if not, over the relevant age of majority to marry)?
· Were the claimant and NH prevented from marrying each other because one of them was married to someone else?

· Did the couple choose not to marry prior to the NH’s death for reasons other than a State law prohibition on same-sex marriages?

· Is there any other available evidence regarding whether the couple would have married, and what date they would have married, if State law did not prohibit same-sex marriages?

It's Time To Get These Problems Solved

      From some television station in central New York:

On March 17th, 2020, Social Security offices across the country closed their doors to the public. The federal agency cited the emergence of COVID-19 as the reason - aiming to "protect" those they serve.

While restaurants, schools, and other government agencies like the Department of Motor Vehicles have all since resumed in-person business, social security offices are still closed. They won't open again until early April, according to a spokesperson, over two years since the pandemic began.

This has caused problems for people in Central New York, left to try to reach representatives on the phone. Some have reported waiting for hours trying to get through to someone at Social Security - at times, the call will just drop without anyone answering.

Jeanne Marshall first reached out to CNY Central in November of 2021. Having moved to Nedrow at the end of the summer from Colorado - Marshall said she was in a desperate situation, missing thousands of dollars worth of checks from Social Security.

 She said she had spent over 48 hours cumulatively on the phone - finally learning that there was an alleged issue with her bank routing number. Even after learning that, she said nothing was actually fixed, left without money coming in for three months in a row. ...

Checking the google reviews for the office, she's not alone.

As recently as one month ago - a user wrote "been calling for couple months and no one ever answers."

Another from 3 weeks ago said, "I can't wait till they reopen this office and these people go back to work and are held accountable for their actions of not doing their job!" ...

SSA Phones Down?

      My firm has been experiencing even greater difficulties than usual communicating with Social Security since yesterday. There seem to be technical difficulties so that nothing is going through. I'm hearing reports that this problem extends at least into other parts of North Carolina and South Carolina.

     How extensive is this problem?

Black History In Social Security's Early Days

   

The "Black Cabinet"

   From Black Past (emphasis added):

The Black Cabinet was an informal advisory group of African American civil servants who lobbied for African Americans to receive equal access to federal benefits and employment and job training programs associated with President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Often promoting programs closely aligned with the demands of working-class Blacks, they encouraged First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and white liberals to press FDR on institutionalizing support for racial justice within his New Deal administration. ...

The leaders included Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of the National Council of Negro Women, economist Robert C. Weaver in the Department of the Interior; educator Ambrose Caliver in the Works Projects Administration (WPA) and the Office of Education; lawyer William Hastie in the Department of the Interior; former National Urban League Executive Director Eugene K. Jones in the Department of Commerce; social worker Lawrence W. Oxley in the Department of Labor; and sociologist Ira De A. Reid in the Social Security Administration. ...

Officially this group called itself the Federal Council on Negro Affairs, but it was popularly known as FDR’s “Black Cabinet.” Its central leadership usually met every Friday for group updates and planning sessions...

Who Is Naive Enough To Believe This?

      From Roll Call:

If Republicans take one or both chambers of Congress in November, don’t be surprised if shoring up Social Security’s finances becomes an area of bipartisan focus.

Pronouncements like that have been made before only to die on the next election campaign’s vine. But the spirit of compromise that animated discussions around last year’s bipartisan infrastructure package appears to be creeping into nascent talks about finally, really, this-time-we’re-not-joking doing something to stave off Social Security insolvency.

The prospects look brighter now in the Senate, where veterans of previous bipartisan “gangs” have begun talking about the need for fixes. ...

     What are the chances that Democrats agree to benefit cuts? Nearly zero. What are the chances that Republicans agree to tax increases? Nearly zero. Spirit of compromise? Are you kidding? Nothing's going to happen until there's a gun to their heads.

What Will Social Security Do About The Marasco & Nesslebush Case?

      I had written recently about Social Security's inability to react to an adverse ruling by a court at anything other than a glacial pace. Let me ask when the agency might decide what it's going to do about Marasco & Nesselbush v. Collins. On July 16, 2021 the First Circuit Court of Appeals held that:

... SSA's rule barring payments to attorneys for work completed before they enter government service is both arbitrary and, in some circumstances, in conflict with the statutory mandate to pay "a reasonable fee" for successful representation of SSA claimants. ...

and further held that:

... SSA must adjust its rules, as described above, to ensure that the law firms that employ salaried associates to represent SSA claimants may receive direct payment of the attorney's fees to which the firms' associates are entitled for representation performed while employed by those law firms. ...

     This didn't go to the Supreme Court so Social Security has no choice but to implement it in the First Circuit area (most of New England) but it makes little sense to try to apply it just to that one area of the country. Payment centers all over the country are involved in authorizing attorney fees in the cases of claimants residing in the First Circuit area. Why would you want to have two systems? I can't exclude the possibility that Social Security will be that pig-headed but I hope that wiser heads prevail. Something should have been done about this problem decades ago.

So, Wendell Primus Is The Problem?

      From The Intercept:

Democratic Rep. John Larson of Connecticut has written a bill titled“Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust” that would immediately expand the program’s benefits for all 65 million recipients. It has at least 200 co-sponsors, all Democrats, in the House. And increasing Social Security payments should be an easy lift for Democrats, especially in an election year.

Yet the bill still awaits a vote in the Subcommittee on Social Security — chaired by Larson — of the House Ways and Means Committee, much less a vote on the floor. Why?

Part of the answer appears to be Wendell Primus, a senior aide to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Primus is seen by many in the world of Washington, D.C., progressive politics as embodying a mindset from the Democratic Party’s past, when all that seemed possible was preventing cuts to important social programs, rather than going on offense.

Primus “passionately cares about children, he’s always made the point that we have to make sure that we’re taking care of the children,” Larson said in a recent appearance on The Intercept’s podcast Deconstructed. “Wendell’s concern would be that there’s only so much money to go around. We have only so many expenditures.” Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. …

According to Larson, Mark Meadows, former chair of the House Freedom Caucus and later chief of staff for former President Donald Trump, once told him that if his legislation “makes it to the floor, you’re going to find a lot of Republicans are going to be voting for [it].”

Social Security 2100 would then face a tougher challenge in the Senate. According to Senate rules, changes cannot be made to Social Security via the reconciliation process, which requires a simple majority. It would therefore need to attract the votes of all 50 Democratic senators as well as 10 Republicans to end a certain filibuster. …

Workshop On Covid And Social Security Disability

      From the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine:

REGISTER HERE

Monday, March 21, 2022 | 10:30am - 4:00pm ET

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 | 10:30am - 3:30pm ET

A planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will hold a public workshop to explore the long-term and potentially disabling health effects stemming from COVID-19 infection and how they might impact survivors’ ability to work.

This two-day virtual workshop, sponsored by the U.S. Social Security Administration, will bring together invited experts to discuss a range of topic a

reas including:

• Overview of long COVID, characteristics of the population affected, and research initiatives underway
• Postacute sequelae of SARS-COV-2 infection and implications for recovery
• Experiences of long COVID patients and their caregivers
• Long-term impairments from COVID-19 and effects on work-related functioning
• Best practices to improve recovery and potential future advancements in knowledge

The workshop agenda and list of confirmed speakers will be posted to this page soon.

     By the way, my impression over the years has been that the National Academies are less a scholarly organization and more a Beltway Bandit, set up to attract lavish consulting contracts from government agencies. They always produce lengthy reports that say nothing of consequence and which contain the vaguest imaginable recommendations, except that there's always a definite recommendation for more "research", presumably done by them. I've never seen a report from a Beltway Bandit that had the slightest impact on actual operations at Social Security. Hiring them is what you do when you think you're supposed to do something but you really don't want to do anything other than kick the can down the road.

     It doesn't take any grant of money from Social Security for me to tell you the state of knowledge at this point. There hasn't been enough time elapsed to get a really good idea of the long term impacts of Covid. While there are suggestions that Covid will lead to disability claims, either directly or indirectly, there hasn't been more than a trickle of such claims filed at Social Security so far. No one knows what that means. I'll be amazed if we learn anything more specific that that at this workshop.