Apr 9, 2007
Results Of Last Week's Unscientific Polls
Should Martin Gerry have been fired in the manner in which he was fired (lock on door changed, escorted out of building by security guard)?| Yes (68) | 54% |
| |
| No (32) | 26% |
| |
| Don't Know/No opinion (25) | 20% |
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Total Votes: 125
How do you rate the overall quality of service that the Social Security Administration currently gives to the public?
| Excellent (10) | 16% |
| |
| Good (10) | 16% |
| |
| Fair (21) | 34% |
| |
| Poor (21) | 34% |
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Total Votes: 62
Large Scale Hiring At SSA
The USAJobs website now lists 76 open jobs at Social Security. To put it in perspective, Social Security would have to list several hundred just to make up for the job losses since the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1, 2006.
What Will Andrew Biggs Role Be?
Social Security has updated its website to show Andrew Biggs as Deputy Commissioner. Curiously, the organizational chart still shows him to be "Deputy Commissioner, Policy," which is a different job. Is it possible that Biggs will not be involved in the day to day operations of the Social Security Administration, as one might expect of THE Deputy Commissioner, that functionally he will continue to operate as the "Deputy Commissioner, Policy"?
There has been no sign that Biggs has ever had any interest in the day to day operations of the Social Security Administration. Why would you want to be responsible for keeping the trains running on time if your goal was to blow up the locomotives and tear up the tracks? The Policy office does research, which is closer to the kind of work Biggs has done in the past, although recently he has been more of a polemicist than a researcher.
There has been no sign that Biggs has ever had any interest in the day to day operations of the Social Security Administration. Why would you want to be responsible for keeping the trains running on time if your goal was to blow up the locomotives and tear up the tracks? The Policy office does research, which is closer to the kind of work Biggs has done in the past, although recently he has been more of a polemicist than a researcher.
Apr 8, 2007
NY Times On Biggs
From the New York Times editorial page:
...Andrew Biggs, the president’s choice to be deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration, is a champion of partially privatizing the program he is being sent to administer. The agency dispenses checks to beneficiaries and traditionally provides factual information on the state of the program. But under this president the agency has become increasingly politicized, using questionable arguments and projections to support Mr. Bush’s drive for private accounts. As a lower ranking official in the agency, Mr. Biggs was in the thick of that politicization. His appointment is a sure sign that Mr. Bush intends to keep using the agency as a propaganda machine to push a privatization scheme that has little public support.
Apr 7, 2007
Attorney Fee Payments Go Up Dramatically In March
Social Security has released the March 2007 figures on payments of fees to attorneys and others for representing Social Security claimants. They are shown below. Payments shot up in March, apparently because Social Security was able to authorize a large amount of overtime for its payment center employees.
Payments of attorney fees closely mirror payments to claimants. Slowdowns or speedups in these payments reflect slowdowns and speedups in payments to claimants who have been approved..
Where did the money come from for overtime? There had been no overtime at Social Security from October until late March. A good guess is that money that had been earmarked for implementation of former Commissioner Barnhart's Disability Service Improvement (DSI) plan was released for other, more pressing, purposes. There was a flurry of activity at Social Security in mid-March indicating that DSI was dead.
Payments of attorney fees closely mirror payments to claimants. Slowdowns or speedups in these payments reflect slowdowns and speedups in payments to claimants who have been approved..
Where did the money come from for overtime? There had been no overtime at Social Security from October until late March. A good guess is that money that had been earmarked for implementation of former Commissioner Barnhart's Disability Service Improvement (DSI) plan was released for other, more pressing, purposes. There was a flurry of activity at Social Security in mid-March indicating that DSI was dead.
Fee Payments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Month/Year | Volume | Amount |
| Jan-07 | 15,331 | $55,149,991.81 |
| Feb-07 | 19,301 | $69,731,683.72 |
| Mar-07 | 26,505 | $94,396,916.02 |
Apr 6, 2007
RICO Claim Against UNUM Allowed To Go Forward
Law.com reports that UNUM lost a big one. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a lawsuit to go forward against the company under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The lawsuit concerns UNUM's practices in terminating Long Term Disability (LTD) benefits. Damages under RICO can be ruinous. Additionally, losing a RICO suit gives a company the taint of criminality.
LTD benefits are typically reduced because of the receipt of Social Security disability benefits. While LTD is of no direct concern to the Social Security Administration, it is of huge concern to many people receiving Social Security disability benefits. UNUM is, by far, the largest writer of LTD insurance.
LTD benefits are typically reduced because of the receipt of Social Security disability benefits. While LTD is of no direct concern to the Social Security Administration, it is of huge concern to many people receiving Social Security disability benefits. UNUM is, by far, the largest writer of LTD insurance.
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