Georgia Couple Found Guilty Of Fraud

WGCL-TV reports that a Milledgeville, GA couple have been found guilty of fraud on the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration because the husband claimed and received disability benefits from both agencies for post traumatic stress disorder related to combat in Viet Nam, when the man had not seen combat in Viet Nam. It is not clear from the article what crime the wife was charged with.

No Congressional Action On SSA Appropriation

The House and Senate are now in recess until December 5. The Library of Congress Thomas site shows that no final action has been taken in either body on the Fiscal Year 2007 Labor/HHS/Education Appropriation Bill, which includes Social Security. There will be only a short Congressional session after the Thanksgiving recess before this Congress adjourns sine die. Republicans have already decided not to try to pass the spending bills according to the Associated Press, leaving Social Security operating off a continuing funding resolution until after the new Congress, controlled by Democrats, convenes.

New Vision Listing

Today's Federal Register includes new final vision listings for Social Security. The entire Federal Register item runs to three column pages. As has become usual, there is a lengthy preamble to the listing. Here is the key text of the new listing:

2.01 Category of Impairments, Special Senses and Speech

2.02 Loss of visual acuity. Remaining vision in the better eye after best correction is 20/200 or less.

2.03 Contraction of the visual field in the better eye, with:

A. The widest diameter subtending an angle around the point of fixation no greater than 20 degrees;

OR

B. A mean deviation of –22 or worse, determined by automated static threshold perimetry as described in 2.00A6a(v);

OR

C. A visual field efficiency of 20 percent or less as determined by kinetic perimetry (see 2.00A7b).

2.04 Loss of visual efficiency. Visual efficiency of the better eye of 20 percent or less after best correction (see 2.00A7c).

SSA Wants Info From "Bulk Providers"

Social Security posted a "Request for Information" today. The "bulk providers" they are talking about are, for the most part, attorneys and others representing Social Security claimants. This is an excerpt from what Social Security posted:

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gather information on behalf of the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSA is investigating new ways for people to file applications for SSA Retirement and Disability benefits. Among the options being considered is a process to collect bulk data from third parties who wish to assist claimants filing for SSA and/or other types of benefits. The goal of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit input from potential third party providers to determine the need for and feasibility of SSA building a web service or other electronic means to obtain claims data in bulk from them.

The RFI results will enable SSA to project potential volumes, data quality, and other factors for a Cost Benefit Analysis of the concept. Ultimately, we will attempt to determine whether we can maximize the use of third party data to streamline the claims submittal process for both third parties and SSA, while ensuring there is sufficient data to constitute a claim for benefits upon which SSA can act.

Nothing in this document shall be construed as obligating the Government to issue a solicitation. NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED BASED ON RESPONSES TO THIS RFI.

Treasury Secretary Pushes Social Security Reform

From Yahoo News:

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday the healthy economy creates an ideal chance to address concerns about the long-term financing concerns of the Social Security government retirement program and pledged to engage both political parties in debate.

"It's a good time to deal with it just because our economy's so strong and economic policies are working well, and we're better off dealing with this at a time of strength," he said in answers to questions after speaking to the Economic Club of New York.

New York Times Opposes Biggs Nomination

Some excerpts from the editorial page of today's New York Times:

A day after the midterm elections, President Bush announced that he had deputized Henry Paulson Jr., the secretary of the Treasury, to work with the new Congress on reforming Social Security. ... In an interview with The Times after the announcement, he [Bush] stressed the importance of bipartisanship. “We were going to have to build a consensus, no matter who won the election,” he said.

But then Mr. Bush nominated Andrew Biggs, a zealous advocate of privatizing Social Security, to a six-year term as the next deputy commissioner of Social Security. ...

Mr. Paulson — who has a reputation for pragmatism — could indeed be the right person to take the lead on developing a new set of reforms. But with the nomination of Mr. Biggs, Mr. Bush is signaling that he doesn’t want new ideas.

Mr. Bush’s choice of Mr. Biggs is also no favor to the man he has nominated to be the next commissioner of Social Security, Michael Astrue, a businessman who was an official in the administration of President George H. W. Bush. In a public exchange of letters before the election, Mr. Astrue told Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and Senator Max Baucus of Montana that he would follow the practice of the current commissioner, Jo Anne Barnhart, who has steered clear of the privatization debate....

The Times is mistaken on this last sentence. Astrue did not promise in his letter to stay out of the privatization debate. Astrue made a vague promise to be something like Barnhart, but made no specific committment on staying out of the privatization debate.Astrue may have already made some private committment to Democrats in the Senate, but his letter said no such thing. For that matter, Barnhart herself did not stay out of the debate completely, having contributed an op ed piece to the New York Times supporting privatization and having testified before the House Social Security Subcommittee more or less in favor of privatization, although her testimony, which came at a time when it was already clear that the President's plan would fail, did not sound like a ringing endorsement.

Monthly Statistical Packages Released

Social Security's Office of Policy has issued its monthly statistical packages for Title II and Title XVI of the Social Security Act.

Baucus: "Don't Waste Our Time"

From the Helena Independent Record, in the home state of Max Baucus, the incoming chairman of the Senate Finance Committee:

The incoming chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said Thursday he wants to hold hearings on looming insolvencies in the Medicare and Social Security programs but said President Bush’s plan to partially privatize Social Security is dead.

‘‘Don’t waste our time,’’ said Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana. ‘‘It’s off the table.’’