Newsletter Gives Important Information on DSI

The Disability Benefits Project of Massachusetts Legal Services, has published its May-June, 2006 Newsletter. Massachusetts is part of Social Security's Region I, where the Disability Service Improvement (DSI) plan has just started. The Newsletter provides important information about DSI based upon a July training session with SSA officials. Here is the expected timeline for DSI in Region I:

• August 1, 2006: DSI begins.
• Early September 2006: Initial cadre of FedROs are ready to accept cases; the Medical and Vocational Expert System (MVES) is ready to accept cases.
• Early December 2006: ODAR hearing offices and the Decision Review Board (DRB) are ready to accept cases.
• Early 2007: Cases start arriving at hearing offices and DRB in larger numbers.

The Newsletter provides the following information about staffing and training for DSI:

SSA is hiring 70 FedROs; about 15-20 support staff; and 7 supervisory ROs, who will all be located in Falls Church, VA, at ODAR headquarters to facilitate close monitoring during the initial DSI implementation. Eventually, they may be located in other areas of the country. To distinguish the FedROs from the ALJ hearing process, there is a separate ODAR Associate Commissioner for FedROs. The current Acting Associate Commissioner is Jim Winn. FedROs will receive eight weeks of training, starting in August; support staff will receive two weeks.

The Newsletter reveals that SSA plans to tell the claimant and their attorney in an acknowledgment letter the name and contact information for the Federal Reviewing Officer assigned to the case.

The Newsletter contains news about the Medical Vocational Expert System and the Nurse Case Managers it will employ:

The Medical and Vocational Expert System—MVES – will be the new way that medical and vocational expertise is sought by adjudicators. As explained by Martin Gerry, the FedRO “may” obtain a medical expert (ME) or vocational expert (VE) for a case from the MVES. The FedRO is “required” to contact the MVES if new evidence is submitted or he or she intends to change the DDS decision. He stressed that the FedRO will “consult” with the MVES and is not required to follow the MVES expert’s opinion. ALJs who want an ME or VE will be required to go through the MVES.

How will expert requests be handled? SSA provided this example. The FedRO gets case with new evidence. The FedRO contacts the MVES to “consult” and get medical advice. The case will be assigned to a nurse case manager (NCM), a new position. While most will be in units for different body systems, there will be some who can deal with multiple impairments. The NCM will identify the problem and then refer the case to an appropriate expert in the MVES. With the electronic folder, it will be easy for the expert to access the folder.

Who are the experts? Initially, doctors in the Federal DDS will form the core of the MVES. SSA is working with Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD, to provide the rest of the expertise. As examples of MEs who will be available nationally, Mr. Gerry mentioned specialists in autoimmune diseases, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), and claimants who are chronically homeless. For VEs, current lists will be used until national qualifications are established.

Who will conduct CEs? SSA is preparing a request for proposal to medical professionals in Region I, primarily in academic medical institutions, who will be paid the “going rate” to perform CEs. SSA understands the need for local access and is looking at these major medical institutions because they generally have clinical networks in a number of locations.

Despite the description of the duties of the Nurse Case Managers, I would suggest watching this carefully. The number of Nurse Case Managers being hired just for Region I, 90, plus the job title suggests that some additional duties are being planned for the Nurse Case Managers.

The Newsletter says that "SSA headquarters will provide the Field Offices with DSI instructions on August 1st, but a public version of instructions will not be available for one to two months."

Treasury Secretary Eager For Social Security Privatization

MarketWatch reports that Henry Paulson, in his first speech as Secretary of the Treasury, spoke of his desire to make progress towards President Bush's goal of "reforming" Social Security with private accounts.

Illiteracy and Social Security Disability

Social Security regulations give some weight to a claimant's illiteracy in determining disability. It may surprise some just how common illiteracy is. A 2003 study by The National Center for Education Statistics found that 14% of adults have below basic skills in reading prose. One would expect this group to be greatly overrepresented among disability benefits applicants.

Disability Service Improvement In Effect In Region I

Social Security's Disability Service Improvement (DSI) experiment is officially under way today in Social Security's Region I, the Boston Region. However, the central part of DSI, the Reviewing Officer (RO) position is far from ready for business. The reports are that the first ROs will not report for duty for another week and will then begin two months of training. It is also unclear whether other parts of DSI, such as the "quick disability determination" process, the Medical-Vocational Expert System or the Decision Review Board are even as far along as the ROs.

Upcoming Meetings and CLE

• August 1, 2006, Massachusetts Legal Services CLE, Boston, MA
  
• August 4-5, Philadelphia Regional Management Association Annual Meeting, Williamsburg, VA
• August 9-11, 2006 8th Circuit Social Security CLE, Omaha, NE
• August 10-11, 2006 Retirement Research Consortium, Washington, DC
• August 16-18, 2006 Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel, Arlington, VA
  
• September 8, 2006 Louisiana State Bar CLE, New Orleans, LA
• September 8, 2006 SSI Coalitition Meeting, Boston, MA
  
• September 11-13, 2006 NADE Regional Training Conference, Jefferson City, MO
  
• September 16-21, 2006 National Association of Disability Examiners NADE), San Diego, CA
• September 21, 2006, Social Security Advisory Board Meeting, Washington, DC
  
• October 6-7, National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA) Regional Meeting, Atlanta, GA
  
• October 11-14, 2006 National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) CLE, Phoenix, AZ
• October 16-19, 2006 NCSSMA National Meeting, Milwaukee, WI
• November 2-4 2006, NCSSMA Regional Meeting, San Juan, PR
  
• November 17, 2006 SSI Coalition Meeting, Boston, MA
• April 18-20 2007, NADE Regional Conference, Albuquerque, NM
  
• April 18-21 2007, NOSSCR CLE, Baltimore, MD
• May 7-10 2007, NADE Regional Conference, Atlanta, GA
  
• May 20-23, 2007, National Association of Disability Examiners Meeting, Stowe, VE
• October 17-20, 2007, NOSSCR CLE, St. Louis, MO
• April 8-11, 2008 NADE Regional Conference, Austin, TX
  

Judicial Inconsistency Not Just An SSA Problem

Social Security Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) have frequently been criticized for inconsistency. Some Social Security ALJs approve 90% or more of the disability claims they hear. Others approve less than 20%. A report on the Cox News Service shows that this sort of inconsistency is not just a Social Security problem. Immigration judges making decisions on applications for asylum show a similar pattern of inconsistency, with one immigration judge approving 90% of asylum applications while another approves only 3%. One interesting aspect of this report is that the Office of Immigration Review released the data in a manner which shows what each judge did, by name. Social Security has released similar data, but refused to identify ALJs by name.

Social Security Disability 50 Years Old This Month

Social Security has put out a news release marking the 50th anniversary of disability insurance benefits this month. The Herald Star Online has published the news release.

Republican Plans To Get Serious On Social Security Privatization In January

From a Washington Times interview with House Majority Leader John Boehner:

Q: Where does Social Security reform stand?

A: I just met with Congressman [Frank R. Wolf, Virginia Republican], a few minutes ago with his SAFE Commission [formed to fix the entitlement programs]. In 1990 when I first ran for Congress, I talked about the need to reform these big entitlement programs because the sooner we began the process, the easier it would be to make the necessary changes so that these programs were sustainable for the long term. … If I’m around in a leadership role come January, we’re going to get serious about this.