Jun 17, 2007
Social Security Stats By Congressional District
Social Security's Office of Policy has released a set of Social Security statistics by Congressional district.
Social Security Press Release On Medicare Part D
This has to be a Social Security Administration press release, but it does not show up on Social Security's webpage that is supposed to list press releases.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Social Security Administration and Medicare are using this Father's Day to spread the word about its prescription drug plan for low income seniors.
Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue (AS'-troo) is encouraging anyone who knows a senior or someone who is eligible for Social Security and fits the income levels to apply. Astrue says they've made the application as simple as possible.
You can't make more than $15,000 to qualify as an individual for the plan or 20,000 as a married couple living together. There are asset limitations as well.
Astrue says if your dad is a Donald Trump or Bill Gates -- don't call, but if they are close to the income levels, check it out.
An application is available on the Social Security website.
Jun 16, 2007
Attorney Fee Payments
Social Security has released its attorney fee payment numbers for May 2007. Below, I have reproduced the numbers for this year.
Let me explain why these are significant for people other than attorneys. These are the only numbers that Social Security releases showing how well or how poorly its payment centers are functioning. The payment centers are Social Security's back office. They are where the actual work of authorizing payment of Title II Social Security benefits is done. Regardless of what happens in other parts of Social Security, no one gets Title II Social Security benefits until a payment centers does its job. Attorneys who represent Social Security claimants get paid at about the same time as their clients, so these numbers reflect what Social Security claimants are experiencing.
When you look at these numbers, you see dramatic fluctuations in attorney fee payments. This is a direct reflection of dramatic fluctuations in payments to claimants. These dramatic fluctuations occur because the payment centers are under stress. They lack sufficient personnel and they are being called upon to backup other parts of the Social Security Administration, particularly the teleservice centers. When calls to Social Security's 800 number spike up, the payment centers get "spiked" as they put it -- called away from their regular duties to answer the telephone -- which they do poorly. The payment centers get spiked badly in January and February of each year, because of seasonal fluctuations in the number of calls to the 800 number, but, in general, spiking is becoming more frequent because the teleservice centers are understaffed. Since the payment centers are also understaffed, the result is more backlogs and delays in payment of benefits.
The payment centers are not sexy. No one is going to pay much attention to the payment centers unless they completely break down, in which case all hell breaks loose. My understanding is that the payment centers are under enough stress that a breakdown is not inconceivable.
When you look at these numbers, you see dramatic fluctuations in attorney fee payments. This is a direct reflection of dramatic fluctuations in payments to claimants. These dramatic fluctuations occur because the payment centers are under stress. They lack sufficient personnel and they are being called upon to backup other parts of the Social Security Administration, particularly the teleservice centers. When calls to Social Security's 800 number spike up, the payment centers get "spiked" as they put it -- called away from their regular duties to answer the telephone -- which they do poorly. The payment centers get spiked badly in January and February of each year, because of seasonal fluctuations in the number of calls to the 800 number, but, in general, spiking is becoming more frequent because the teleservice centers are understaffed. Since the payment centers are also understaffed, the result is more backlogs and delays in payment of benefits.
The payment centers are not sexy. No one is going to pay much attention to the payment centers unless they completely break down, in which case all hell breaks loose. My understanding is that the payment centers are under enough stress that a breakdown is not inconceivable.
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-07 | 26,889 | $96,650,134.82 |
May-07 | 24,429 | $86,625,391.60 |
| Fee payments also include payments made to eligible non-attorneys participating in the demonstration project authorized by section 303 of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-203). | ||
Bill Introduced To Waive Disability Waiting Period
Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.)and Chip Pickering (R-Miss) have introduced a bill to waive the five month waiting period for Disability Insurance Benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act for claimants who are terminally ill, according to the Senior Journal. Pomeroy is on the House Social Security Subcommittee.
It will be difficult to pass even such a limited change. The "paygo" rules that Congress is working under require that any bill that goes forward in Congress that would increase expenditures must contain some provision to pay for the increased expenditures. In this case, if a bill eliminated the waiting period, even for a small group of people, it would have to contain some other provision that would cut costs or raise money to offset the increased expenditure.
It will be difficult to pass even such a limited change. The "paygo" rules that Congress is working under require that any bill that goes forward in Congress that would increase expenditures must contain some provision to pay for the increased expenditures. In this case, if a bill eliminated the waiting period, even for a small group of people, it would have to contain some other provision that would cut costs or raise money to offset the increased expenditure.
Baltimore Sun On Social Security Role In Immigration Enforcement
Some excerpts from a Baltimore Sun article:
... the linchpin of future of immigration enforcement is stored in a secure facility in Woodlawn [Maryland, where the Social Security Administration's central offices are located], where computer servers hold the digital Social Security records of hundreds of millions of Americans.
Since 1996, a growing number of employers have logged on to a password-protected Web site and queried those records to see whether job applicants are here legally. ...
The now-imperiled Senate immigration proposal would require such a search, starting with new hires and, within three years, the rest of the work force...
[T]he Social Security database contains errors. A recent report from the agency's inspector general found a 4.1 percent error rate. ...
No matter whose fault it is, the error rate is still enough to generate an enormous amount of work for Social Security employees. ...
If the program is to expand, the agency will need more staff and, therefore, more money. ...
Jun 15, 2007
NCSSMA Posts Minutes
The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has posted the minutes of its annual meeting from May 1 to May 4, 2007. Here are two excerpts from a meeting on May 3, 2007 between the NCSSMA Board and Mary Glenn Croft, Social Security's Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Operations, and Roger McDonnell, head of the Office of Public Services and Operations Support in the office of Social Security's Deputy Commissioner for Operations:
Mary said there’s no good or easy answer for staffing. Even for FY08, Congress may stipulate that specific workloads be processed with any extra money we receive and the money may not go to address staffing shortages. Jim Burkert [a member of the NCSSMA board] asked why field component staff is dropping faster than any other component. He further stated that Part D hires are no longer helping because staffing levels are lower now than they were before we had the Part D workloads. ... Mary stated that there is no master plan to close or consolidate offices. Infrastructure costs (leases and guard service) are extremely high however, and the regions look at leases when they are ready to expire to determine whether it makes good sense to close or consolidate the office.Note that Social Security is already expecting earmarks in its 2008 budget requiring that it deal with the hearing backlogs. Note also that Social Security's budget is so tight that the agency is starting to close field offices. Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate will not like to hear about field office closings.
Senate Finance Committee Hearing
The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing on June 21 at 10:00 on "Barriers to Work for Individuals Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits."
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