Social Security's Office of Inspector General has issued its March 2007 newletter, that it calls Eye on OIG. The newsletter gives information about OIG's recent investigations and convictions.
Apr 3, 2007
Replacing The DOT -- Delay Order From Martin Gerry
As boring as this may seem, it is a big honking deal.
Social Security relies heavily upon the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) in making disability determinations. The DOT lists something like 12,000 different occupations in the national economy. Social Security uses the DOT in classifying the work formerly performed by a claimant and, more importantly, in coming up with alternative job possibilities for a claimant who can no longer perform his or her past relevant work. Disability claims are approved and denied based upon the DOT.
Social Security relies heavily upon the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) in making disability determinations. The DOT lists something like 12,000 different occupations in the national economy. Social Security uses the DOT in classifying the work formerly performed by a claimant and, more importantly, in coming up with alternative job possibilities for a claimant who can no longer perform his or her past relevant work. Disability claims are approved and denied based upon the DOT.
The problem is that the DOT is seriously out of date -- like 30 years or more out of date. It largely predates personal computers. No one familiar with the situation denies the obvious, that the DOT is seriously unreliable. Social Security is skating on thin ice in making disability determinations based upon the DOT and has known it for years.
The Department of Labor has replaced the DOT with something called the O*NET, but Social Security cannot use the O*NET. The information in the O*NET does not come close to meshing with Social Security's regulations. It may be hard to believe if you are unfamiliar with the DOT, the O*NET and Social Security's regulations, but there is no way to bridge the gap. So what does Social Security do? They were looking at doing their own version of an update to the DOT, but read this from The Work Suite, by John Reeves:
Although no longer listed at the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals’ web site, http://www.rehabpro.org, it was previously reported that:
"SSA [Social Security Administration] and DOL [Deparment of Labor] have been working, both independently and together, to prepare for the transition from DOT to an updated occupationally specific data. Both agencies are preparing a joint white paper that outlines recent and planned SSA and DOL efforts to support SSA’s development of the type of data required for disability programs and vocational rehabilitation services. This document will serve as a basis for executive-level agency discussions, leading to more formal collaborative arrangements, such as an interagency workgroup established under a Memorandum of Understanding. To address the changes anticipated by the eventual obsolescence of the DOT, SSA needs to work with DOL on strategies for SSA’s development of additional occupational data while simultaneously investigating options for updating its medical-vocational policies as well."
According to one participant in the Interorganizational O*NET Task Force [IOTF], IOTF has done nothing further for the past several years. Martin Gerry (Deputy Commissioner for Disability) apparently put a hold on the DOT update that the policy people wanted, and had an RFP [Request for Proposal, a prelude to signing a contract with a vendor] ready for. [emphasis added] There is now a new Commissioner, Michael Astrue. Not surprisingly, SSA apparently has no discretionary dollars because of war in Iraq, so the need for an occupational database might be a unaddressed until after the next presidential election.
And The Winner Is ...
G. Hobbie won our first Social Security News NCAA Pool. Sorry, but your only prize is this public recognition of your prognostication skills.
We will not talk of my humiliation in this NCAA Pool. Honestly, I do know something about college basketball!
Apr 2, 2007
Martin Gerry's Firing Makes The Washington Post
We have complete confirmation of the story now. From today's Washington Post:
The Social Security Administration rarely dumps a political appointee, but Martin H. Gerry, deputy commissioner for disability and income security programs, one of the more powerful policy jobs at Social Security, has been booted out.
The agency has a new commissioner, Michael J. Astrue, who is under pressure from Congress to deal with backlogged disability claims, a process that Gerry had tried to streamline.
Employees said Gerry was escorted from the building, his computer seized and the locks in his office changed. His firing on March 16 was rather abrupt but "not totally uncommon" for a political appointee, Gerry told our colleague Stephen Barr.
"I've heard of it happening before. It was harsh," Gerry said.
His departure set off a wave of rumors that Gerry was snarled in allegations of travel abuses or improper contract activities, but Gerry said that "as far as I know, there isn't any investigation going on. Wouldn't even know what it would be about."
He added: "Obviously, they wanted me to leave quickly and not talk to people there about what was happening."
Social Security isn't talking about what happened either, except to confirm that Gerry is no longer employed by the agency.
SSA Releases Monthly Stats
Social Security has released its monthly statistical packages for February for Title II (benefits based upon earnings records) and Title XVI (SSI) cases. The number of Title II disability benefits recipients went up from 6,546,000 to 6,812,000 over the twelve months, an increase of 4%. SSI disability benefits recipients went up from 5,942,324 to 6,076,191, an increase of 3%. These increases, which are enormous for one year, occurred despite terrible backlogs at Social Security that delayed many claimants from going on benefits. This is a strong sign of the demographic wave of disability claims hitting the Social Security Administration.
NTEU And AFGE Battle
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a union, represents many of Social Security's employees. The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), represents many federal employees who work at agencies other than the Treasury, including many of Social Security's attorneys. These have been some signs of tension between the two unions at Social Security. Now, the two unions are openly battling, although not at Social Securit, as reported on Fedblog:
Looks like the National Treasury Employees Union and the American Federation of Government Employees are back in a state of open warfare. ... [As the two unions fight to establish themselves with Transportation Security Administration employees, the AFGE put out a public statement.] Here's a sampling of the phrases employed by the AFGE folks to characterize NTEU's move:
- "amusing and appalling"
- "imitation is flattering"
- "they have been nowhere in sight"
- "NTEU should be ashamed"
- "demeaning and offensive"
- "pitiful farce"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)