Sep 25, 2006
SSA-Medicare Tangle
When Medicare mistakenly sent premium refunds to 230,000 people who had signed up for prescription drug coverage, the Bush administration said the error had resulted from a rare “computer glitch.” But government records and interviews with federal officials show it was the latest example of a strained, often dysfunctional relationship between two of the government’s biggest programs.For more than a year, officials who run the two programs, Social Security and Medicare, have struggled to mesh their computer systems so that Medicare premiums are correctly withheld from Social Security checks, and low-income people get the extra help to which they are entitled. The problems are compounded because this information is collected and used by scores of private Medicare drug plans, each with its own procedures and computer systems. ...
Since the drug program began on Jan. 1, hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries have reported problems in getting the government to carry out their instructions to start or stop the withholding of premiums. Drug plans have repeatedly complained to Medicare officials that premiums have not been properly withheld and that beneficiaries have been upset.
Medicare officials say Social Security and its computer systems bear much of the responsibility. And Social Security says the data it receives from Medicare is often full of errors and does not match the information it already has. Without a perfect match, Social Security officials say they cannot order the Treasury to change the amount of a person’s Social Security payment. ...
Sep 24, 2006
OIG Report On SSA's Response To Hurricane Katrina
Sep 23, 2006
Social Security Disability Problems In Tennessee
In 2003, the state of Tennessee denied more initial requests for Social Security disability benefits than any other state, according to the most recent numbers from the Social Security Advisory Board, a bipartisan commission appointed by Congress. In fact, statistics indicate Tennessee consistently has one of the lowest allowance rates year after year. ...
Critics say that Tennessee’s examiners have consistently been among the lowest paid in the country, and that the state has one of the highest attrition rates among examiners nationwide, suggesting inexperienced employees and frequent turnover might be to blame for the state’s high rate of rejections. ...
Last year in Tennessee, it took an average of 128 days from the time a claim was received by DDS to the time an examiner made a determination, according to the Social Security Administration. That’s compared to the national average of 87 days. ...
In many ways, Social Security’s disability program is the epitome of bureaucracy. The sheer size, coupled with a complicated process and funding shortfalls, create what many applicants refer to as “a nightmare.” But even its harshest critics admit the system is struggling in part because of limited resources.