No Sign Of Overwork At Social Security's Press Office

The website for Social Security's main press office shows that it has at least five employees. In 2006 that office put out a total of seven press releases. Undoubtedly, the office responded to a number of press inquiries, but anyone who looks back over the press articles linked in this space will not see all that many where anyone from Social Security's press office is quoted. It seems unlikely that the main Social Security press office is getting even one call a day from anyone in the press. Note also that Social Security has ten regional press officers to handle the workload.

In May 2006, while Social Security as a whole was struggling to meet its Medicare Part D workload, Social Security was having a national conference for its public affairs personnel, featuring Willard Scott and Ari Fleischer as paid speakers.

Treating Physician Rule A Problem At VA As Well As SSA

The "treating physician rule" which requires Social Security to give special weight to the opinion of a treating physician when making disability determinations has been a frequent bone of contention. The Durham, NC Herald-Sun reports on exactly the same problem at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which also prefers to rely upon the opinions of its staff physicians rather than the opinions of treating physicians.

House Appropriations Committee Members

The House Appropriations Committee probably is more important to the Social Security Administration than the House Ways and Means Committee which has substantive jurisdiction over the agency. No subcommittee assignments have been announced yet. Courtesy of Congress.org, here is a list of the members of the full committee, however.

Committee Chair Rep. David R. Obey (DEM-WI-7th) Ranking Member Rep. Jerry Lewis (REP-CA-41st) Democrats (37) Rep. John Murtha (DEM-PA-12th) Rep. Norman Dicks (DEM-WA-6th) Rep. Alan Mollohan (DEM-WV-1st) Rep. Marcy Kaptur (DEM-OH-9th) Rep. Peter Visclosky (DEM-IN-1st) Rep. Nita Lowey (DEM-NY-18th) Rep. Jose Serrano (DEM-NY-16th) Rep. Rosa DeLauro (DEM-CT-3rd) Rep. James Moran (DEM-VA-8th) Rep. John Olver (DEM-MA-1st) Rep. Ed Pastor (DEM-AZ-4th) Rep. David Price (DEM-NC-4th) Rep. Chet Edwards (DEM-TX-17th) Rep. Robert Cramer (DEM-AL-5th) Rep. Patrick Kennedy (DEM-RI-1st) Rep. Maurice Hinchey (DEM-NY-22nd) Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (DEM-CA-34th) Rep. Sam Farr (DEM-CA-17th) Rep. Jesse Jackson (DEM-IL-2nd) Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (DEM-MI-13th) Rep. F. Allen Boyd (DEM-FL-2nd) Rep. Chaka Fattah (DEM-PA-2nd) Rep. Steven Rothman (DEM-NJ-9th) Rep. Sanford Bishop (DEM-GA-2nd) Rep. Marion Berry (DEM-AR-1st) Rep. Barbara Lee (DEM-CA-9th) Rep. Tom Udall (DEM-NM-3rd) Rep. Adam Schiff (DEM-CA-29th) Rep. Michael Honda (DEM-CA-15th) Rep. Betty McCollum (DEM-MN-4th) Rep. Steve Israel (DEM-NY-2nd) Rep. Tim Ryan (DEM-OH-17th) Rep. C.A. Ruppersberger (DEM-MD-2nd) Rep. Ben Chandler (DEM-KY-6th) Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (DEM-FL-20th) Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (DEM-TX-23rd) Republicans (29) Rep. C.W. Bill Young (REP-FL-10th) Rep. Ralph Regula (REP-OH-16th) Rep. Harold Rogers (REP-KY-5th) Rep. Frank Wolf (REP-VA-10th) Rep. James Walsh (REP-NY-25th) Rep. David Hobson (REP-OH-7th) Rep. Joseph Knollenberg (REP-MI-9th) Rep. Jack Kingston (REP-GA-1st) Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (REP-NJ-11th) Rep. Roger Wicker (REP-MS-1st) Rep. Todd Tiahrt (REP-KS-4th) Rep. Zach Wamp (REP-TN-3rd) Rep. Tom Latham (REP-IA-4th) Rep. Robert Aderholt (REP-AL-4th) Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (REP-MO-8th) Rep. Kay Granger (REP-TX-12th) Rep. John Peterson (REP-PA-5th) Rep. Virgil Goode (REP-VA-5th) Rep. John Doolittle (REP-CA-4th) Rep. Ray LaHood (REP-IL-18th) Rep. Dave Weldon (REP-FL-15th) Rep. Mike Simpson (REP-ID-2nd) Rep. John Culberson (REP-TX-7th) Rep. Mark Kirk (REP-IL-10th) Rep. Ander Crenshaw (REP-FL-4th) Rep. Dennis Rehberg (REP-MT-At-Large) Rep. John Carter (REP-TX-31st) Rep. Rodney Alexander (REP-LA-5th)

Senate Appropriations Committee Members

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees may be more important for the immediate future of the Social Security Administration than the committees that have substantive jurisdiction over the agency.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet named its subcommittees, but, courtesy of Congress.org, here are the full committee members for this Congress:

Committee Chair Sen. Robert C. Byrd (DEM-WV) Ranking Member Sen. Thad Cochran (REP-MS) Democrats (15) Sen. Daniel Inouye (DEM-HI) Sen. Patrick Leahy (DEM-VT) Sen. Tom Harkin (DEM-IA) Sen. Barbara Mikulski (DEM-MD) Sen. Herbert Kohl (DEM-WI) Sen. Patty Murray (DEM-WA) Sen. Byron Dorgan (DEM-ND) Sen. Dianne Feinstein (DEM-CA) Sen. Richard Durbin (DEM-IL) Sen. Tim Johnson (DEM-SD) Sen. Mary Landrieu (DEM-LA) Sen. Jack Reed (DEM-RI) Sen. Frank Lautenberg (DEM-NJ) Sen. Ben Nelson (DEM-NE) Republicans (14) Sen. Ted Stevens (REP-AK) Sen. Arlen Specter (REP-PA) Sen. Pete Domenici (REP-NM) Sen. Christopher Bond (REP-MO) Sen. Mitch McConnell (REP-KY) Sen. Richard Shelby (REP-AL) Sen. Judd Gregg (REP-NH) Sen. Robert Bennett (REP-UT) Sen. Larry Craig (REP-ID) Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (REP-TX) Sen. Sam Brownback (REP-KS) Sen. Wayne Allard (REP-CO) Sen. Lamar Alexander (REP-TN)

House Ways And Means Committee Schedules Meeting To Get Organized

The House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a business meeting for January 10, 2007 with "organization of committee assignments" on the agenda. Presumably, members will be assigned to subcommittees at this meeting.

The Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee has always been the most important Congressional body for the Social Security Administration (SSA), although everyone interested in Social Security now may have to pay far more attention to the appropriations committees, because of SSA's terrible budget problems.

Maximus Issues Ticket To Work Newsletter

Maximus, the prime contractor for the Ticket to Work program, has issued its Winter 2007 Newsletter, with information about implementation of the program. The Newsletter continues the annoying practice of referring to the "Maximus Ticket to Work" program, as if the program exists to provide work for Maximus (although that may be what it amounts to).

The Newsletter provides an interesting chart showing employment network payments for 2007. For instance, providing rehabilitation which keeps a person entitled to Disability Insurance Benefits off benefits entitles the organization providing the rehabilitation to $378 per month, up to a maximum of $22,680. Despite these high reimbursement amounts, few rehabilitation organizations join the employment networks and few Social Security disability recipients get rehabilitated.

SSI Coalition Newsletter

Massachusetts Legal Services has issued its November-December 2006 SSI Coalition Newsletter. The Newsletter contains this very early report on the implementation of the Disability Service Improvement (DSI) experiment in Social Security's Boston region:

We have heard from a few of you about your experiences with DSI but would like to hear more. Please let us know what you are experiencing as you interact with the FedRO [Federal Reviewing Official]. We are especially interested in seeing copies of FedRO allowances and denials.

Here’s what we have learned from those of you who have cases pending at the Federal Reviewing Official (FedRO) level of appeal: ƒ

• The FedRO acknowledges receipt of the appeal with a notice to the claimant/representative. ƒ
• The acknowledgment notice explains how to get in touch with the office, how to request the file, how to request a subpoena, how to submit additional evidence and when to submit it. The preferred method for submitting new evidence is by fax using the barcode provided with the acknowledgment notice.
• ƒSo far, there seem to be several different forms of the notice in use – but they all seem to impose a 10 day deadline in which to submit additional evidence. See copies of FedRO acknowledgment notices in this newsletter. If you contact the FedRO you can let the FedRO know whether you will need more time. So far, we have not heard that getting more time has been a problem when it has been requested. The worry, of course, is that some, especially unrepresented individuals, will not request additional time and the result will be that important documentation will not make it into the record before the FedRO. ƒ
• The DSI regulations do not impose a 10 day time limit for submitting new evidence. The proposed DSI regulations imposed a deadline, but the final regulations do not. See 20 CFR 405.215. In the response to comment section of the federal register publication of the final regulations, SSA states that evidence may be submitted until the Fed RO issues the final decision. 71 Fed. Reg. 16423, 16433 (3/31/06). ƒ
• Ethel Zelenske, NOSSCR, has informed Jim Winn, Associate Commissioner for the Office of the Federal Reviewing Official, of these concerns about the acknowledgment notice. We understand that the acknowledgment notice is being revised to make it more apparent that additional time can be requested if new evidence cannot be submitted within 10 days.

User Fee Remains At 6.3%

The user fee charged attorneys and others eligible for direct payment of fees for representing Social Security claimants remains at 6.3%, according to a notice in the Federal Register. However, the user fee is now capped at $77 per case.