Final Rules On SSI Withholding And Non-Attorney Withholding

The Social Security Administration has issued final rules on the extension of withholding of fees for representing Social Security claimants to SSI cases and to some non-attorney representatives of claimants. This replaces "interim final rules" that had published on April 5, 2007.

Senior Attorney Program Reinstated

Effective today, Social Security has reinstituted the Senior Attorney program. The announcement appeared in today's Federal Register. Here is a summary from the notice:

... we are permitting attorney advisors, under managerial oversight, to conduct certain prehearing proceedings to help develop claims, and issue fully favorable decisions in appropriate claims before a hearing is conducted. We expect that this change will help us reduce the very high number of pending cases at the hearing level by enhancing claims development before the hearing and by permitting attorney advisors to issue fully favorable decisions in appropriate claims.

The Senior Attorney program was in effect some years ago and was quite helpful in reducing a much smaller backlog at that time. The new regulations put a two year limit on the Senior Attorney program, although the regulation states that this time could be shortened or lengthened. It is most unlikely that Social Security will work off its hearing backlog in the next two years.

Federal Register Alert

Each day the Office of Federal Register posts brief summaries of items they have received for publication in the Federal Register the next day. Here are two interesting items from Social Security that just showed up on this list. I know no more than I can glean from this bare description, but the first one sounds like senior attorney decisions.

Social security benefits and supplemental security income:

Federal old age, survivors, and disability insurance and aged, blind, and disabled--

Attorney Advisory program; amendment, E7-15422 [SSA-2007-0036]

Social security benefits and supplementary security income:

Federal old age, survivors, and disability insurance and aged, blind, and disabled--

Attorney Fee Payment System extended, eligible non-attorney representatives fee withholding and payment procedures, and past-due benefits definition, E7-15242 [SSA-2006-0097]

No Match Storm Coming

The Social Security Administration is not ready for this. From the New York Times:

In a new effort to crack down on illegal immigrants, federal authorities are expected to announce tough rules this week that would require employers to fire workers who use false Social Security numbers. ...

“We are tough and we are going to be even tougher,” said Russ Knocke, the spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. “There are not going to be any more excuses for employers, and there will be serious consequences for those that choose to blatantly disregard the law.” ...

The new rules codify an uneasy partnership between the Department of Homeland Security, which enforces the immigration laws, and the Social Security Administration, which collects identity information from W-2 tax forms of about 250 million workers each year, including immigrants and Americans, so it can credit the earnings in its system.

Mark Hinkle, a spokesman for Social Security, said the agency expected to send out about 140,000 no-match letters to employers this year, covering more than eight million workers. After the rules are announced, the agency is anticipating a surge in requests from employers seeking to clarify workers’ information, he said. [emphasis added]

SSA Urged To Upgrade Online Services

A Press Release From the National Academies:

WASHINGTON -- The Social Security Administration should make a clear, strategic commitment to upgrading its online services for an increasingly Internet-savvy clientele, says a new report from the National Research Council. Although SSA's present computer and database systems continue to operate and do not jeopardize the current delivery of benefits, enhancing online service offerings and maintaining the systems will become increasingly difficult without significant changes.

The SSA developed an "e-government" strategy in accordance with the President's E-Gov Initiative and asked the Research Council to form a committee to review the strategy. The committee found that although SSA offers some online services, it does not strongly promote use of the Internet as an alternative to its traditional methods of customer service. The online services SSA does offer lag behind those offered by private financial institutions, and the agency has not kept pace with technological improvements supporting electronic services, the report adds. SSA has a long-standing tradition of individualized customer service delivered in person or over the phone, which is very labor intensive. However, the new wave of baby boomer clients for SSA benefits and services, unlike previous generations, is more comfortable with computers and electronic commerce.

The report recommends that SSA follow the example of large firms that have successfully rolled out electronic services by giving a high-level office responsibility for developing and managing electronic information and service delivery. To be successful in developing and upgrading its electronic services, the SSA also needs to undergo a shift in organizational culture toward embracing change -- by regularly evaluating emerging trends in technology, business practices, demographics, and public expectations -- as a constant factor in how it does business.

Because the underlying databases are essential to delivery of electronic services, the report also examines SSA's plans to update its more than 20-year-old "MADAM" database system, which is well-behind current commercial technology, and which has not been replaced despite warnings from as far back as 1986 about the risks of maintaining it. This obsolete, custom technology requires highly specialized expertise that is in increasingly short supply. SSA personnel with this expertise will begin retiring in greater numbers and replacing them will be difficult because the required skills are no longer in the mainstream. Moreover, it is much easier to implement electronic services with a modern database system. The report recommends that SSA give considerable weight to the efficacy of electronic delivery of services and remain open to the incorporation of new technologies when planning for conversion and upgrade. Because modernization of MADAM is critical to the SSA's mission, and because the committee has concerns about SSA's current plans for updating MADAM, the committee also recommended seeking technical advice from a broader range of experts in undertaking a conversion.

SSA's approach to balancing risks and rewards for modernization is overly cautious, the committee concluded. It recommended a more appropriate balance that better recognizes the risks associated with failing to modernize and the benefits of modernization such as cost reduction, fraud prevention, and customer satisfaction.

I think I can tell the National Research Council why Social Security does not promote its online services more. It is because they do not work very well. So far, most people find them frustrating to use and there is little or no savings to the agency when they do. Of course with enough money, Social Security might be able to make its online services work better, but since Social Security was struggling just to keep its doors open a few months ago, enough money to greatly upgrade the agency's online capacity may be a pipe dream at this point.

Dramatic Story From Milwaukee

This is one of the more dramatic stories on Social Security's backlogs. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Disabled by an enlarged heart and unable to work, welder David Olson, 54, waited almost two years to be approved for Social Security disability payments. In July, he was found dead in his recliner at his Montana home.

His sister, Nancy Olson, 53, of Milwaukee, fears help might come too late for her, as well. She is on continuous oxygen because of a rare lung disease caused by inhaling microscopic spores of a fungus.

Olson is part of a nationwide backlog of more than 749,000 seriously ill people who say they are unable to work and are awaiting a decision on disability payments. She's been waiting almost two years. ...

The situation is acute in Milwaukee and getting worse. Last month, 10,956 people were waiting for a hearing to determine whether they qualify for the benefit. That's up about 19% since September 2005 and a historic high, according to records obtained by the Journal Sentinel.

The Milwaukee Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, where the hearings are held, is also well above the national average in the number of days it takes to process a case. In July, the national average was 528 days, and in Milwaukee, the average was 651 days.

"It's horrible," said U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a member of the House Ways and Means subcommittee that oversees the Social Security Administration. "No doubt about it, this is a crisis."

Legislation On Wounded Warriors

From a Social Security Administration Legislative Bulletin:

On July 25, 2007, the Senate amended and then passed by unanimous consent H.R. 1538, the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act. When the House takes up the Senate-passed version, it will either accept the Senate amendments and clear the bill for the President, or disagree with the Senate-passed version and request a conference to resolve the differences.

The Senate-passed bill contains the following provisions of interest to SSA: ...

• Would require the Department of Defense to develop and maintain a comprehensive handbook that describes the compensation and other benefits to which a service member and that member's family would be entitled upon the member's separation or retirement from the Armed Forces as a result of a serious injury or illness.

In developing and maintaining this handbook, the Department of Defense would be required to consult with the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Health and Human Services. The provision would be effective upon enactment.

NCSSMA Executive Committee Conference Call Discusses OCO Problems

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has posted the minutes of its July 12, 2007 executive committee conference call. Here is an snippet that may have some resonance with attorneys who represent Social Security claimants:

Rick [Warsinskey, NCSSMA President] spoke with Roger McDonnell [Social Security's Associate Commissioner for the Office of Public Services and Operations Support] regarding [backlogs in PC 7, which is part of the Office of Central Operations] this morning. Roger is aware that the backlogs are growing and that processing time is increasing. He has talked with Carolyn Simmons [Associate Commissioner for the Office of Central Operations] in the last month about these issues. He would like NCSSMA to share some feedback with Carolyn Simmons. Rick wants to establish a way to communicate to the module managers when there are problems. The Executive Committee discussed the issue. Some reported success by getting assistance from their Regional Offices after two attempts without success. Others reported frustration even at the Deputy Director level at PC 7. Many agreed that there are some modules in PC 7 that are very responsive and “customer” focused and that there are others that are very difficult to deal with.