Commissioner Barnhart at House Social Security Subcommittee

Social Security Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart is testifying today before the House Social Security Subcommittee on her Disability Service Improvement plan. There is little new in her prepared remarks. The following is a new, however:

I also established a new Office of Quality Performance to manage the Agency’s newly developed and still evolving integrated quality system which I believe will improve our disability determination process, as well as other program areas such as the Social Security retirement program and the SSI age-based program. The new Office of Quality Performance will manage a new quality system that includes both in-line and end-of-line quality review throughout the new DSI process. The Office of Quality Performance will be able quickly to identify problem areas, implement corrective actions, and identify related training as we implement the new DSI process.

The problem is that she gives no explanation of how the Office of Quality Performance is different from its predecessor, the Disability Quality Branch. Barnhart has already changed the name of Social Security's Office of Hearings and Appeals to the Office of Disability Appeals and Reviews without making any meaningful change in its operations. Without more information, it is tempting to label this change as being just as meaningless.

She goes on in her prepared remarks to say:

So far, we have developed major new computer systems to support the DSI initiative. We have performed all of the personnel and hiring work necessary to make sure that we have the new employees in their new positions, properly trained, in time to perform their new DSI duties when implementation begins. We are working to ensure that effective training is prepared and presented to every employee who will be involved with the new disability determination process. Although we do not have the same kind of personnel or hiring issues at the hearing level as we do for other levels, we do have systems needs unique to the hearing level, and we are currently working to ensure that the necessary computer systems are in place by the time the first DSI claim reaches the hearing level.

The report that the major computer systems for DSI have been developed is reassuring, but the fact that this statement is coupled with a statement that "all of the personnel and hiring work" for the Reviewing Officer (RO) position has been performed is unsettling. It is clear that all of the hiring work for the RO position has not been done since the RO jobs have only recently been advertised. It is unlikely that anyone has been hired as an RO or RO supervisor so far. Clerical positions to support the ROs have not even been announced yet. She only states that Social Security is "working" on preparing training, which suggests that Social Security has much further to go in this area.

SSA Releases "Congressional Statistics"

Social Security has released what it calls "Congressional Statistics" that show the number of Social Security benefit recipients per state and county and their average benefit.

Monthly Statistics Released

Social Security has released its monthly statistical package for Title II and Title XVI of the Social Security Act.

Witness List For Social Security Subcommittee Hearing

The House Social Security Subcommittee has released the witness list for the June 15 hearing on Social Security's Disability Service Improvement plan:

Panel: The Honorable Jo Anne B. Barnhart, Commissioner, Social Security Administration

	Panel:
	Robert E. Robertson, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office
	Marty Ford, Co-Chair, Social Security Task Force, Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
	Sarah H. Bohr, President, National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives, Atlantic Beach, Florida
	James Hill, President, Chapter 224, National Treasury Employees Union, Cleveland, Ohio
	The Honorable Ronald G. Bernoski, President, Association of Administrative Law Judges, Inc., Sussex, Wisconsin
	Gary Flack, Chairman, Social Security Section, Federal Bar Association, Atlanta, Georgia

New Ruling

Social Security Ruling 06-02p has been published. The ruling deals with a situation in which one child has been determined to be the child of a deceased wage earner and eligible for benefits and the brother or sister of that child files a claim for benefits on the same account. If the second child can prove via DNA testing that he or she is the sibling of the child already on benefits, then the second child can also be accepted by Social Security as eligible for benefits on the same account.

A Small Sign

Social Security has a huge amount of work to do to make the Reviewing Official position that is the keystone of Commissioner Barnhart's Disability Service Improvement plan work. There will be many, many details to attend to. One small sign of this on-going effort appeared in the Federal Register recently. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act all government agencies must submit all new forms to be filled out by the public to the Office of Management and Budget for approval and publish a notice in the Federal Register. Social Security has published a notice concerning a new form to request Reviewing Officer review. This can only be the tip of an iceberg. The vast majority of what has to be done will not require any public notice.

Social Security Computer Security Excellent

The Tyler Morning Telegraph reports that Social Security received an A+ grade from the House Government Reform Committee on computer security, making it the top agency in the federal government.

Social Security Budget News

According to the Washington Post, the House Appropriations Committee has approved an additional $184 million dollars next year for Social Security. Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee has approved $38 million in supplemental funding to Social Security for the current fiscal year to deal with the costs associated with Katrina and other hurricanes in 2005. Neither bill has been finally passed, however.