Delays -- Where Does The Fault Lie?

Tim Moore at My Social Security Disability SSI Blog posts about what has become an all too common problem. A claimant for Social Security disability benefits files a claim or an appeal and the claim or appeal sits for many monhts on the desk of someone at a Social Security field office without being forwarded to the office that is supposed to adjudicate the case. How could this happen? Why would the field office employee not just put the claim or the appeal in an envelope and mail it? The answer is not given by Moore, but it is not too hard to figure out. The problem is that all that information was handwritten by the claimant or their attorney on Social Security's paper forms -- forms that have become longer and longer over the years. Someone at the Social Security field office must then type all that information into Social Security's computer system before sending the information along to an adjudicator. Field office staff has been and is being cut dramatically. No one has time to do all the data entry, so the file sits and sits. This is a significant problem already and threatens to become a horrific problem over the next year, given the near total hiring freeze at Social Security.

Social Insecurity in Quincy

The Patriot Ledger of Quincy, MA reports on the Social Security disability problems facing Theresa Vidito in an article called Social Insecurity -- A Bureaucritic Nightmare. Ms. Vidito appears to be caught in a serious bind as Social Security attempts to straighten out her case. The problem appears to have started with an ambiguous decision by a Social Security Administrative Law Judge. The problem may not be all that complicated, but the effect for Ms. Vidito is terrible. The article talks of a relatively new group of Social Security disability claimants called the Social Security Disability Coalition.

Case On Consitutionality Of Deficit Reduction Act Continues

The constitutionality of the Deficit Reduction Act has been challenged on the grounds that the bill did not pass both houses of Congress in the same form. That Act, assuming it truly is an Act of Congress, includes Social Security provisions, most prominently delays in the payment of back SSI benefits. Thus far, all of the District Courts that have considered the matter have unheld the Deficit Reduction Act on the basis of a old Supreme Court decision.

The most prominent of the cases on the Deficit Reduction Act was brought by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. That case has now reached the Court of Appeals and Public Citizen has filed its brief with the D.C. Court of Appeals. Because of the sweep of the Deficit Reduction Act, a win for Public Citizen would have dramatic consequences not just for Social Security, but for the government as a whole.

Lockheed Martin Touts E-DIB

Government Computing News has an article which must be based upon a Lockheed Martin news release touting Social Security's e-DIB paperless processing system. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for this project. The article claims that "SSA has nearly completed the rollout of the Electronic Disability System for online case processing." The reality is that SSA has years to go before E-DIB is fully implemented. Further, the article claims that "Operating without paper, eDib streamlines SSA disability processes to such an extent that the agency projects a reduction of 100 days in the average time to process a claim ..." But what has been seen so far are productivity losses as a new system is implemented. Any gains in processing time remain speculative.

The article claims that "SSA has rolled out e-Dib to all states and territories except parts of Nebraska, New York and the District of Columbia, which will be completed by the end of the year", but it is not clear what is meant by "rollout" since SSA has often talked about "rollout", when all that was meant was having each employee process a token number of e-DIB cases on a trial basis.

The article includes the following claim that few people close to the situation would take at face value: "The eDib system is beginning to demonstrate benefits. Even with a 25 percent increase in filings, the number of cases pending has decreased by about 50,000. SSA so far has carved off seven days from the claims processing time. "

Nurse Case Manager Positions Advertised

Despite the fact that Social Security is in a near total hiring freeze, the agency has just announced job openings for 15 Nurse Case Managers. This position must be of the absolute highest priority for the Social Security Commissioner. The job description contains the following ominous language:

Ensures consistency in disability determinations by the DDS, ROs, and /or ALJs in terms of the regulations and national practices associated with disability examining and adjudication as it relates to medical and vocational expertise.

Interview With Social Security CIO

Tom Hughes, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Social Security, sat down for an interview with Mary Mosquera of Government Computer News. Hughes mostly talked about computer security at Social Security. Whatever problems SSA may have otherwise, the agency certainly excels at computer security.

Privatization Proposal Costing GOP

Steven Thomma of the McClatchy newspaper chain reports on the political cost to Republicans of President Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security. Several Republican congressional candidates are in deep trouble because they touched the "third rail of American politics." Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Representative Deborah Pryce of Ohio, Representative Clay Shaw of Florida (former chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee) and Rick O'Donnell of Colorado are all facing uphill election battles because of Social Security.

Overpayments Of Attorney Fees

Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a report on overpayments of attorney fees by SSA. The report concludes that:

During Calendar Years (CY) 2003 and 2004, we estimate SSA issued 594 improper payments to attorneys totaling approximately $2.2 million. While this represented a small portion of the approximately 458,000 attorney payments issued during this period, additional controls could have prevented these improper payments. For example, SSA staff had the ability to bypass system warnings and process payments without indicating the reason for the override or obtaining supervisory approval. We also found the Agency improperly recorded the processing fees collected from each attorney payment. As a result, collected fees associated with the attorney payments may be overstated.

From my experience, I would have to say that this is almost certainly an understatement of the problem.

OIG also found that over one third of the time the attorney did not return the excess fee, although I would wonder how long OIG gave for repayments to come back and be recorded. It can take some time after an attorney returns an excess fee before Social Security's records show this. I have been billed for overpayments long after I returned the money. Also, there are some attorneys who wait to repay money until they receive a bill from Social Security.