Social Security To Study Mental Health Treatment

Westat, ValueOptions and Colorado Health Networks have been awarded contracts with Social Security's Mental Health and Treatment Study. As best one can tell from the press release, the study is to determine whether better treatement for individuals disabled by mental illness can result in their enjoying more success in returning to work.

On-Line Quiz For Disability Claimants

Frederick Johnson, a non-attorney representative of Social Security disability claimants, has issued a press release touting an online test he has developed to determine the chances of success for a Social Security disability benefits claimant. There may be reason to question the validity of the test, since it does not ask about the claimant's age, education or work experience, all of which are crucial factors in determining disability under the Social Security Act.

Controversy Over Welfare Agencies Seizing Social Security Benefits

The New York Times (registration may be required) has an article about litigation in North Carolina over local welfare agencies seizing the Social Security and SSI benefits of children in foster care. This is happening because the welfare agencies are underfunded. The problem goes well beyond North Carolina. In the North Carolina case, seizing the child's Social Security benefits has left the child unable to prevent foreclosure on a house he inherited. A state trial judge has already ruled in the child's favor, but the case is on appeal.

SSA To Verify SSNs

Social Security is proposing to verify Social Security Numbers (SSNs) -- for a fee, with appropriate authorization from the number holder. According to the proposal:

SSA is planning to offer a new service to any interested parties. As long as the party first obtains the required written consent of the number holder, we will, for a fee, verify a name and Social Security number combination as being correct (or incorrect) for any party registered to use the service. There also will be a substantial fee to register to use the service because Social Security Trust Fund monies cannot be used to develop this service. This new service is contingent on OMB approval. Currently, we anticipate a May or June 2006 start date for the service. There will be a limited time for parties to enroll in this service. Once the enrollment period ends, there could be as much as a 3- year wait before additional companies will be permitted to enroll.

Mom on Ice

According to the Associated Press, "A man convicted of keeping his dead mother in a freezer for years was indicted Wednesday on a federal charge accusing him of illegally collecting thousands of dollars of her Social Security benefits after she died." Since he has already been convicted of keeping the mother in the freezer, they probably have him cold on the Social Security fraud charge.

Budget Reconciliation Still In Dispute

The Associated Press reports that the Budget Reconciliation Bill that would, among many other things, change the way in which SSI back benefits are paid, is still up in the air. The versions passed by the two houses of Congress were not precisely the same, a fact that was not recognized until after the President signed the bill. The Republican leaders of the House of Representatives have decided to do nothing about the matter, insisting that the differences between the bills passed by the House and Senate do not affect the validity of passage. There is considerable reluctance to bring the matter to a new vote in the House of Representatives since the bill was extremely controversial and only passed 216-214. An Alabama attorney has now brought a civil action to force a ruling.

Unnecessary SSI Claims Slowing Process at Social Security

Walter Wouk writes in his VVAW blog that the Social Security administration is taking unnecessary SSI disability claims and that this is slowing down processing of claims and leads to delay in paying benefits when claims are approved because of the time spent doing an unnecessary windfall offset computation. The SSI claims are unnecessary because SSI is a needs based program. There is no point in taking an SSI claim if the claimant is clearly not poor enough to qualify for benefits. Wouk believes that many clearly unnecessary claims and being taken. He attributes this to a policy of taking unnecessary SSI claims in order to make service at SSA look better than it is. However, a better explanation may be that Social Security District Offices are given staff based upon the number of claims they take, giving local managers an incentive to take as many claim as possible to get as much staff as possible.

Interesting Question, But The Answer Is Probably "No"

Social Security benefits may be partially taxable, depending upon the recipient's other income. George Saenz, who has a tax advice column at Bankrate.com, answers an interesting question. Imagine a disabled person who is receiving Social Security disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act and that the Social Security is that individual's only income, but this disabled person has a spouse who works and has substantial income. Would it make sense for the disabled person and his or her spouse to file separate income returns so that the disabled person's Social Security disability benefits would not be taxed? Interesting question, but the answer is "probably not" because the non-disabled spouse would be unable to take an exemption for the disabled person and would be unable to itemize, but this may still be an idea worth considering for some Social Security recipients.