Delays In Utah

The Salt Lake City Tribune reports on Don Uchida, the director of Utah's disability determination agency. Uchida is unhappy with his agency's performance. He blames it, in part, on a 30% annual turnover of employees. The interesting part is that Uchida had to go through the process of filing a claim for disability benefits for his adult daughter who is autistic. He found it tough going.

Social Security Beneficiaries By County

Social Security has published statistics showing the number of Social Security beneficiaries by type and by county of residence. Sound like an enormous bore? Maybe, but it is also vital information for an attorney who wants to figure out where potential Social Security disability clients might live -- and no, you cannot figure that out just by considering population. Wealthy, populous counties may have few claimants, while smaller, poorer counties may abound with Social Security disability claimants.

Baltimore Sun Discovers Social Security Budget Problem

You would hardly know that Social Security's headquarters are in Baltimore if your only source of news was the Baltimore Sun. Despite the fact that Social Security has to be one of Baltimore's larger employers, the Baltimore Sun hardly ever mentions the agency. Although the newspaper has not yet discovered that President Bush has nominated Michael Astrue to be the new Social Security Commissioner, the newspaper has finally discovered that Social Security has a budget problem. Of course, the article does not get it right, saying that the agency is only hiring one new employee for each three who departs, when SSA is actually hiring just about no new employees. The article also suggests that the threat of furloughing SSA employees is merely a negotiating ploy to get more money, when it is a stark necessity, and that SSA faces budget problems due to its own inefficiency, when the agency has cut its work force by about 33% over the last 20 years while its workload has soared.

Astrue Resigns From ArQule

In a display of confidence that he will be confirmed Michael Astrue, President Bush's nominee for Commissioner of Social Security, has resigned from the board of directors of ArQule, Inc, a Boston area biotech company.

Social Security Rewards A Jail

The Birmingham News reports on Social Security's program to reward jails which report incarcerated SSI recipients. The reward is $400 per inmate if the report comes within 30 days after the imprisonment and $200 for reports from 31 to 90 days after imprisonment. Sound like small potatoes? It amounted to $228,000 to Jefferson County, Alabama over the last four years.

Three Members Of Family Indicted For Social Security Fraud

Three members of a Missouri family have been indicted for concealing a 1997 death in order to collect the man's Social Security benefits, according to a KSHB article. The allegation is that the man's body was secretly buried on the family farm.

Big Fraud Ring Alleged In Wisconsin

The La Crosse Tribune reports on charges brought against 19 people for fraud against the Social Security Administration. The alleged fraud happened at several Social Security offices in Wisconsin. Authorities allege that the defendants filed false claims that Social Security checks had been lost or stolen. Those involved are said to have cashed both the original check and the replacement check. There may have been more than 1,000 illegal transactions.

COLA Announced

The Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security for this year is 3.3%, according to the Associated Press.