Eric Schnaufer, a prominent Social Security attorney, has suffered a serious injury. He is hospitalized at the Evanston Hospital in Evanston, Illinois. He was in intensive care, but has now been released to a regular room.
Dec 22, 2005
A Christmas Wish List
What I am wishing for in this Christmas season are answers to a few questions:
- How long is it taking to get a Social Security hearing these days? Can anyone at SSA send me a list showing how long it is taking to get an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearing in each of the hearing offices? I think there are quite a few people who would be interested in this.
- What happened to the results of the pilot projects that SSA did some years ago on eliminating the Appeals Council? It is no secret that such studies were done, yet SSA denies having any data produced by these projects. That is odd and surprising. It begs an explanation, yet SSA has not provided an explanation. There is great interest in what will happen when the Appeals Council is abolished, which is likely to start happening in 2006.
- There have been some signs that SSA may be ready to enforce the requirement that approval be obtained before charging a fee for representing Social Security claimants even if the fee is paid for by the Long Term Disability (LTD) insurance company paying benefits to the claimant. Is SSA ready to bring charges? Are those representing LTD carriers changing the way they do business?
If you can help with my Christmas list, please e-mail me at charles@charleshallfirm.com.
Dec 21, 2005
Coal in the Stocking for SSI Claimants
The Senate voted today to pass the budget reconciliation bill according to this Washington Post article (may require registration). This bill would require staged payments of back SSI benefits that total more than three months of benefits at the full SSI rate. The budget reconciliation bill is not final. Some small changes were made in the Senate from the House of Representatives version of the bill. These changes do not affect SSI, but the bill must go back to the House of Representatives for final passage. That will not happen until after the Christmas recess, but it is unlikely now that anything could derail this bill.
Inspector General Gets Criminal Convictions
Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a newsletter boasting of achieving a number of criminal convictions for Social Security fraud.Dec 20, 2005
Former SSA Employee Sentenced For Fraud
WJLA reports that Franklin Thomas, a 35 year former SSA benefits authorizer, has been sentenced to one and a half years in prison for stealing more than $250,000 from SSA.
Profs Say They Have A Plan
Three professors have come up with what they call a non-partisan plan to "save" Social Security. The plan calls for benefit cuts, tax hikes -- and small private accounts, meaning that the plan will please no one and have no chance of adoption under current political circumstances. The curious thing about this document is that it can be accessed from SSA's Chief Actuary's website. No other plan is accessible from the Chief Actuary's website.
Dec 19, 2005
Social Security Website for Children
The Social Security Administration has produced a website designed for children they call the Kids' Place. Below is an excerpt. The layout is changed significantly by the transition to this format. This is a surprising way for SSA to use its scarce administrative budget when there are dramatic staff shortages throughout SSA and it is taking over two years in some areas of the country for a disabled person to get a hearing on their Social Security disability claim.
Dec 18, 2005
NJ CEs Superficial
The pressofAtlanticcity.com reports that consultative examinations (CEs) are often superficial in Southern New Jersey. CEs are examinations by physicians arranged by Social Security for purposes of evaluating Social Security disability claims.
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