Customer Service Report Card Coming For Social Security?

From Government Executive magazine:

Legislation that would prod government agencies to be more consumer-driven with an annual review was approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Tuesday.

The measure (H.R. 404), approved on a voice vote, would establish a report card system to gauge customer service performance at each agency. Federal agency leaders would be responsible for gathering data using surveys and focus groups, which would then be submitted to and evaluated by the Government Accountability Office.

The head of each federal agency would also have to appoint a customer service representative to implement standards and oversee progress, according to language in the bill.

Listings Extended

Today's Federal Register contains a notice from the Social Security Administration extending until July 1, 2008 the effective date of the Listings for eight body systems. Commissioner Astrue has indicated that he intends to work hard on the Listings, which may explain the short extension time.

We are still awaiting the major changes in the mental impairment Listings promised recently by Glenn Sklar.

Federal Times On Social Security Budget

The Federal Times is reporting on the letter from 43 senators urging a bigger budget for Social Security. The letter was published here yesterday.

See the letter above signed by 43 Senators urging that Social Security's operating budget by about $400 million above the President's recommendation. The following is the list of Senators who signed, with members of the Appropriations Committee highlighted:

Akaka (D-HI)

Baucus (D-MT)

Bayh (D-IN)

Biden (D-DE)

Bingaman (D-NM)

Boxer (D-CA)

Brown (D-OH)

Cantwell (D-WA)

Cardin (D-MD)

Casey (D-PA)

Clinton (D-NY)

Coleman (R-MN)

Collins (R-ME)

Conrad (D-ND)

Dodd (D-CT)

Dole (R-NC)

Dorgan (D-ND)

Durbin (D-IL)

Enzi (R-WY)

Feingold (D-WI)

Hagel (R-NE)

Kennedy (D-MA)

Kerry (D-MA)

Kohl (D-WI)

Levin (D-MI)

Liberman (I-CT)

Lincoln (D-AR)

Menendez (D-NJ)

Mikulski (D-MD)

Nelson, Bill (D-FL)

Obama (D-IL)

Pryor (D-AR)

Reed (D-RI)

Rockefeller (D-WV)

Salazar (D-CO)

Schumer (D-NY)

Smith (R-OR)

Snowe (R-ME)

Stabenow (D-MI)

Tester (D-MT)

Voinovich (R-OH)

Whitehouse (D-RI)

Wyden (D-OR)

Witness List For Senate Finance Committee Hearing

The Senate Finance Committee has announced the following witness list for its June 21 hearing on "Barriers to Work for Individuals Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits."

Sue Suter, Associate Commissioner for Employment Support Programs, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD

Allen Jensen, Senior Research Staff Scientist, Center for Health Services Research and Policy, The George Washington University, Washington, DC

Dr. David C. Stapleton, Director, Cornell Center for Policy Research, Washington, DC

Jim Brown, SSDI Beneficiary, Independent Advocate, Billings, MT

Senate Appropriations Committee Schedules Markup Session

The Senate Appropriations Committee has scheduled the full committee markup of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill for Thursday, June 21 at 2:00. This bill includes funding for Social Security's administrative budget.

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette On Hearing Backlogs

Eventually, there will be a story like this in every newspaper in America. Some excerpts from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

In nearly 30 years, Thomas Williams has worked in a hospital, an ice cream factory and a group home. With each paycheck, he’s paid into a government system that promises to help workers if they get too sick to hold a job.

A degenerative back condition has put him in a wheelchair, unable to do the jobs he’s qualified for. But instead of paying his bills with money from monthly disability checks, Williams, 47, relies on food stamps, some help from the township trustee, a subsidized apartment and whatever his sister and sons can chip in.

Since the summer of 2005, Williams has been waiting for the government to agree with his doctors’ assessment. His case hasn’t been scheduled for a hearing. ...

Thousands of Hoosiers are scraping the bottom of their savings accounts, relying on food banks and bunking with relatives while they wait to find out whether their Social Security disability claims are approved under the safety net Congress created decades ago for physically injured or mentally disabled Americans who can’t work. ...

“It puts people under a tremendous stress and strain,” said Thomas Knight, a Fort Wayne attorney who has seen the waiting period stretch dramatically since he started handling Social Security disability cases six years ago.

San Pedro Field Office Closing

The Social Security Administration is planning to close its office in San Pedro, CA, forcing residents of that city to drive to Long Beach or Torrance to do their business with Social Security, according to the Daily Breeze. What a name for a paper!

The local Congresswoman, Jane Harman, is very unhappy. A Los Angeles Daily News blog quotes her as saying:

After months of effort by residents and elected officials, including me, to keep the San Pedro office open, the offer of a part-time contact office is insulting. Apparently, SSA has not been watching the meltdown of our passport system. Putting too few resources on a big issue creates a bigger problem.