Fraud Indictment in Oklahoma

The Associated Press reports that Terry Johnson of Enid, OK has been indicted for embezzling $15,000 in Social Security survivor benefits.

How Important Are Social Security's ALJs?

Judges in ordinary civil and criminal courts obviously hold positions of considerable importance to the public. They send criminals to prison, and occasionally to execution. They make decisions in civil litigation that affect millions of dollars. Their actions are frequently reported in the press. How important is the work done by Social Security's Administrative Law Judges in comparison? They do not send people to prison and they are only rarely in the news. It is easy to think that their jobs do not matter that much, but once one takes a look at the dollar value of the cases they hear, it becomes obvious that they hold jobs of great importance.

Let me try to put a rough value on an average Social Security DIB claim. The total DIB benefits paid in 2003, the most recent year for which this figure is given in SSA's Annual Statistical Supplement, was $70.9 billion. Of course, this figure includes benefits for people approved over many years. The number of people shown in the Statistical Supplement as being approved for DIB in 2003 was 777,461. Those individuals will be paid benefits over many years. However, if you divide the total benefits paid in 2003 by the total number of people newly approved for DIB in 2003, you get a rough idea of the cash value of a DIB claim over the life of a beneficiary. That average figure was $91,236.73. This underestimates the value because of the inflation adjustment and because more people are going on benefits now than in prior years, meaning that the amounts paid out in the future to Social Security disability recipients will be much greater than they were in 2003, but it is still as good a rough estimate of the cash value of a DIB claim as we are likely to get.

The cash value of DIB is only part of the equation. There is also Medicare. The Medicare costs for 2003 for recipients of DIB were $19.6 billion for Part A and $16.7 billion for Part B, for a total of $36.3 billion according to CMS figures. This works out to a Medicare value per claim approved of $46,690.44.

The total for both cash benefits and Medicare would be $137,927.17. An ALJ who decided 50 cases per month would be making decisions involving about $6.9 million per month or or about $83 million per year. How many judges hearing civil cases adjudicate cases involving anything like that amount of money? How many judges in other circumstances have anything approaching the discretion of a Social Security ALJ?

Service on Advisory Committee Cannot Be SGA

Service on a federal advisory committee can no longer be considered substantial gainful activity (SGA) under the Social Security Act, regardless of the pay, according to a new final rule just adopted by the Social Security Abministration (SSA).

New ALJ Hires Cut in Half

There are anonymous reports on the ALJ Improvement Board that instead of 100 new Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) this year as the Commissioner of Social Security had promised, there will only be 50, in two classes of 25. The number has reportedly been reduced due to budget problems.

New Rules on Attorney and Rep Disqualification

Social Security has published new final rules which become effective on February 17, 2006 concerning disqualification of attorneys and others from representing Social Security claimants. The rules are non-controversial and drew few public comments.

Medicare Part D Problems at SSA

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA) has sent out an e-mail to its members about its contacts with top management at SSA asking for help in dealing with a deluge of claimants seeking information about the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D of Medicare) and help in signing up for it. Here is how the NCSSMA President describes the situation:

The core of our call today was discussing the impact of the huge increase in telephone calls to the 800# and the huge increase in visitors to SSA since the beginning of the year. The 800# is seeing a 100% increase in calls on some days for comparable periods the same time last year. Many FO’s [Field Offices] are seeing walk-in traffic far beyond what they have seen in years.

Unfortunately, the rest of the e-mail suggests that there is no relief on the way for the beleagured SSA employees, or the public.

Ticket to Work Meeting

The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel has scheduled a meeting for San Juan, P.R. for February 1-3, 2006. The Caribbean in February, hmmm. I guess the members do not worry about appearances. Even though the Panel is holding the meeting in Puerto Rico where there would only be a limited number of English speaking claimants available to speak, the Panel wants testimony from beneficiaries on:

(1) Ending the requirement that an individual’s medical benefits must be tied to their eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) cash benefits;
(2) gradually reducing beneficiaries’ monthly SSDI checks once they earn a certain amount for a certain period of time instead of ending them all at once; Social Security work rules would affect
(3) allowing beneficiaries to earn more and still remain eligible for a monthly Social Security check;
(4) providing beneficiaries accurate, understandable information about how Socia'l Security work rules would affect them;
(5) extending beneficiaries’ eligibility for other federally funded support services, such as financial help with housing and food for a transition period of up to 3 years after reaching full-time employment; and
(6) any other issues not listed above that would affect beneficiaries’ ability to return to work.

Privatization Not Dead?

In an interview with the Jacksonville, TN Sun, Allan Hubbard, President Bush's assistant for economic policy and head of the National Economic Council, insists that the president is not giving up on Social Security "reform." Hubbard blames Democrats and the AARP for the lack of progress on the President's plan.