QDD Made National

Effective immediately, the "Quick Disability Determination" or QDD process has been made national, according to a Federal Register item. Previously, QDD was an experiment in the Boston region only.

I have stated previously that I regard QDD as little more than a new name for something that has been around for decades. This may induce those unfamiliar with the program to think that Social Security has a new process to make disability decisions faster, but the truth is that this applies only to a small number of claims from the most seriously ill claimants, most of whom have terminal cancer. Social Security has always processed such claims expeditiously. Everything I have seen tells me that QDD is meaningless hype.

Opposing Views

From the Associated Press:

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton promised retirees that if elected president she will not cut Social Security benefits, raise the retirement age or privatize the taxpayer-funded system. ...

"This is the most successful domestic program in the history of the United States," Clinton said to applause from seniors gathered in Washington to push their policy agenda. "When I'm president, privatization is off the table because it's not the answer to anything."

Also from the Associated Press:

[Republican] Presidential hopeful Sam Brownback said the current Social Security system "stinks" for younger workers -- including his children -- and instead should be shifted to optional personal accounts. ...

He said the system is making unfair promises to younger generations, missing an opportunity to make itself solvent and failing to offer any meaningful support for older Americans.

New Regulation

From today's Federal Register:

We [the Social Security Administration] are revising our regulations to reflect two provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 that affect the payment of benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). One of the provisions extended temporary institutionalization benefits to children receiving SSI benefits who enter private medical treatment facilities and who otherwise would be ineligible for temporary institutionalization benefits because of private insurance coverage. The other provision replaced obsolete terminology in the Act that referred to particular kinds of medical facilities and substituted a broader, more descriptive term.

New ALJ Forum

Online message boards can be an important source of news and views. Unfortunately, as anyone who has frequented them knows, their openness allows irresponsible people to drive away those who are responsible. These problems have seriously damaged the ALJ Improvement Board, dedicated to discussions of issues pertaining to Social Security's Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). There is now a new message board dedicated to the same topic, the ALJ Discussion Forum, which is doing much better. Unlike the old board, this new one requires registration to post, which may prevent the problems seen on the old board.

Fraud In Paradise

From The Honolulu Advertiser:

Five people were charged yesterday for allegedly defrauding and stealing money from the Social Security system. ...

They face a maximum prison term of five years for the Social Security offenses, 10 years for theft and a $250,000 fine if convicted. Pendleton is accused of using two different identities and Social Security numbers to obtain Social Security pensions worth $50,000. Brester's indictment alleges that he claimed disability payments of $158,000 from Social Security while working as a heavy-machine mechanic.

Daano, aka Rufino Daano, is charged with allegedly claiming Social Security benefits intended for his former wife and stepchildren totaling $67,000. Von Jovi is charged with Social Security and passport fraud offenses related to the alleged use of multiple identities and Social Security numbers.

Keola is charged with theft for allegedly collecting Social Security payments to his dead father totaling about $83,000.

An Image From 1965

Getting Congressional Help

This bit of naivete is from Mercury News:

Q Regarding help from congressional representatives, about four years ago my son injured his back while working. He had to have major spine surgery.

He was having great difficulty convincing the Social Security Administration of his complete inability to ever work again.

Doctors and a hearing officer said he would never work again.

Still, he was denied disability benefits.

I helped him write letters to Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer outlining the entire debacle and asking that someone intervene on his behalf.

Feinstein assigned one of her top aides to delve into the problem.

Within three weeks my son received notice from the Social Security office that he had been awarded disability coverage.

We are absolutely certain that had Feinstein not intervened he would have been denied a third time.

P.S. I have also written letters for other problems such as non-payment of rebates with the notation "cc: Action Line" and always get immediate attention.

Thanks for having such a strong reputation that vendors and manufacturers hurry to resolve complaints in order to avoid having their names published in the newspaper.

Gloria DeJarlar
San Jose

A Thanks, Gloria. From the mail I'm getting, it looks like the folks in congressional offices can really make things happen. So, if you have a problem with a federal agency, get in touch with your local representatives. You'll find their contacts information on the Web or in the phone book.

I call this naivete because all that results from contacting a Congressman or Senator about a pending Social Security case is a meaningless exchange of form letters, with the Senator or Congressman getting all the credit if the claim happens to be approved. Funny, but the Congressional representatives never seem to get the blame for denials and delays.

Protest On No-Match Letters

This happened just before the injunction that prevents Social Security from mailing the new no-match letters and may be a sign on what is to come if Social Security is able to go ahead with sending the new no-match letters. From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

More than a dozen representatives of labor, church and immigrant-rights groups gathered Thursday outside the Social Security Administration office in Seattle, trying to dissuade its administrator from taking steps they said will lead to mass firings nationwide.

The petitioners handed a request to SSA spokeswoman Joy Chang asking administrator Don Schoening to refrain from mailing so-called no-match letters next week. Chang agreed to consider a meeting addressing the group's concerns.

I do not know who Don Schoening is.