Gerry Promises Tremolite Change

The Billings, MT Gazette quotes Martin Gerry, Social Security's Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs, as promising to change Social Security's "regulations" to include victims of disease related to tremolite asbestos, a problem which may be specific to the Libby, Montana area. Exactly what will be done is unclear since Social Security seems to lack any regulations dealing specifically with asbestos related disease other than Listing 13.15 for mesothelioma, which is caused by asbestos, but that Listing does not require proof of any type or degree of asbestos exposure. An article in the Daily Interlake of Kalispell, MT indicates that SSA will release a Ruling that will specify that a person can qualify for benefits based upon exposure to tremolite asbestos as well as exposure to the more common chrysotile asbestos. No ruling was published in the Federal Register today. This all sounds quite mysterious since the word "chrysotile" cannot even be found in Social Security's enormous Program Operations Manual Series. Distinctions over the source of asbestos which has led to disability seems utterly irrelevant to disability determination anyway. Montana residents with asbestos damage from tremolite exposure may be making a not uncommon mistake -- thinking that the problems they are experiencing in obtaining Social Security disability benefits must be the result of some form of discrimation rather than a general problem affecting most Social Security disability claimants.

Update: A ruling on this subject is scheduled for publication on Friday, May 26.

Veterans Disability Benefits Commission Votes Down Social Security Offset

The Veteran's Disability Benefits Commission has voted 11-2 to not even study the possibility of offsetting veterans disability benefits by Social Security disability benefits. This must be considered a rebuke for the chairman of the Commission who had been pushing the idea of an offset. Instead of an offset, the Commission intends to study issues:

... such as waivers if a veteran has less than six quarters of SSDI eligibility, or possibly to expedite reviews for veterans already service-connected by VA or for those medically retired from the military. Other key considerations would be to understand the effects on quality of life for disabled veterans and to understand utilization rates of SSDI by veterans.

SSA Receives Award

The Association of Government Accountants has presented its annual Certificate of Excellence to the Social Security Administration, along with seven other agencies. The Certificate recognizes "outstanding Fiscal Year 2005 Performance and Accountability Reports."

SSA Official Plans To Be Doubledipper

James Lockhart III, who holds the second ranking position at Social Security as Deputy Commissioner has been nominated by the President to be the Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). Lockhart is awaiting Senate confirmation, but in the meantime the President has appointed Lockhart to be the Acting Director at OFHEO. Morningstar reports that Lockhart plans to keep his job as Deputy Commissioner at Social Security even after confirmation in the OFHEO job. He is receiving no salary from OFHEO now, but Lockhart expects to draw salaries both from OFHEO and SSA once he is confirmed at OFHEO.

Lockhart has already been critical of the compensation paid to executives at Fannie Mae, one of the federal housing corporations that he is now overseeing. Those executives were granted enormous bonuses based upon fraudulent accounting. Lockhart is quoted in the Washington Post as saying that "You could argue none of it [bonuses paid to Fannie Mae executives] was deserved."

Lockhart's dual role could cause serious problems for OFHEO and SSA if something happens to Jo Anne Barnhart, the Commissioner of Social Security, since Lockhart would then become the acting head of Social Security as well as OFHEO.

DSI Training

Social Security's Disability Service Improvement (DSI) plan is scheduled for implementation on a trial basis in Social Security's Boston Region, beginning on August 1. The National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) and the Disability Law Center in Boston are sponsoring an all day training session on DSI at Suffolk University Law Center in Boston on July 10 for attorneys and others who represent Social Security disability claimants. Details are still being worked out and no information about the meeting is available online at either the NOSSCR or the Disability Law Center websites at this time. To register, send an e-mail tobsiegel@dlc-ma.org.

Social Security History Preserved

The Baltimore Sun has a nice article on the work of Larry DeWitt, the official historian of the Social Security Administration.

"Special" Medical-Vocational Profiles

Social Security has posted an addition to its Program Operations Manual Series (POMS) that lists three "special" medical-vocational profiles in which a claimant should be found disabled. These profiles are in addition to what are generally referred to as the "grid regulations", which list several dozen such profiles. Here are the three profiles listed in this POMS issuance:

I. A finding of “disabled” will be made for persons who:

• are not working at SGA level, and

• have a history of 35 years or more of arduous unskilled work, and

• can no longer perform this past arduous work because of a severe impairment(s), and

• have no more than a marginal education.

NOTE: This provision would not necessarily be defeated by very short periods of semi-skilled or skilled work if no transferable skills exist or by longer periods of semi-skilled or skilled work if it is clear that the skill acquired is not readily transferable to lighter work and makes no meaningful contribution to an individual’s ability to do any work within his or her present functional capacity.

II. A finding of “disabled” will be made for persons who:

• have a severe impairment(s), and

• have no past relevant work (PRW), and

• are age 55 or older, and

• have no more than a limited education.

III. A finding of “disabled” will be made for persons who:

• are not working at SGA level, and

• have a lifetime commitment (30 years or more) to a field of work that is unskilled, or is skilled or semi-skilled but with no transferable skills, and

• can no longer perform this past work because of a severe impairment(s), and

• are closely approaching retirement age (age 60 or older), and

• have no more than a limited education.

NOTE: To satisfy the requirement for this profile, the 30 years of lifetime commitment work does not have to be at one job or for one employer but rather work in one field of a very similar nature. If the person has a history of working 30 years or more in one field of work, the use of this profile will not be precluded by the fact that the person also has work experience in other fields, so long as that work experience in other fields is not past relevant work which the person is still able to perform.

Retrieving Old Folders at SSA

Old claim folders are a perennial problem for attorneys representing Social Security disability claimants. Many claimants with currently pending claims have filed previously. Sometimes they have been on disability benefits previously. Often the attorneys want these old claim files retrieved. This can be difficult to accomplish since field office personnel are often unfamiliar with the process. Even when the old file is properly ordered, it can take quite some time before it is retrieved. Social Security has issued new instructions in its POMS manual of how it is done.