Connecticut Office Closes

From the Associated Press:

The Social Security Administration will shut its Bristol office on November 2nd.

Operations will be consolidated in the New Britain office, but Social Security will have a representative work a half-day a week in Bristol to provide limited services.

The agency says it will save $113,000 this year and about $1 million over 10 years.

Bristol City Council member Frank Nicastro says he will fight the decision to shut the office.

He says closing the office will force hundreds of elderly and disabled seniors to travel to New Britain for Social Security service.

Dickinson, ND Social Security Office Threatened

The Dickinson [ND] Press reports that rumors are swirling about the possible closure of the local Social Security office. The local District Office manager does not know what is going to happen. Local politicians are lobbying to keep the office open. It is becoming a familiar story.

AARP On Social Security Staffing

From the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Bulletin, mailed to 29 million households:

Texans were already lining up to get help at the Social Security office in Pasadena, a suburb of Houston, at 8 a.m., an hour before the office opens. The glass-and-concrete building, which sits in a no-frills strip mall, is "known for its long waits," says Angelica Obregón, who was leaning against her walker on this muggy September morning, eyeing a gray sky that threatened rain.

"People bring chairs, people bring umbrellas, people bring their breakfasts...because they have a long wait—a long wait," says Obregón, 49, who has visited the office repeatedly about her Social Security disability case.

The Social Security Administration (SSA)—which touches the lives of virtually every American—was once touted as the preeminent can-do agency. But budget cuts, staff reductions and a growing list of new duties involving everything from Medicare to homeland security processing are taking a toll on the system that administers the nation's retirement program, its 1,500 offices in neighborhoods across the country—and the people who rely on them.

"This is a train wreck unfolding right in front of us," says Sylvester Schieber, chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board, an independent, bipartisan body whose members are appointed by the president and Congress to report on the agency.

"People will be alarmed," Schieber says, "to learn this agency they think they're going to depend on … doesn't have the resources to deal with the cases coming its way." ...

Calling a Social Security office can be as frustrating as lining up there. Today, an average of 51 percent of all calls to local offices get a busy signal, according to the SSA's own study.

The Bloomington, Ind., office, for example, serves five counties and has one person answering the phones, says Vicki Ketchum, who was interviewed before she retired as the district manager last month. "People have told me they've called the office for two weeks and couldn't get through," she says, "so they packed up the car and drove up to two hours to get here. That's not right."

Most disturbing may be the backlog in claims for disability insurance. Largely driven by boomers in their 50s—the years when working men and women are most prone to develop illnesses and disabilities, according to the SSA—the number of workers who say they are too sick or disabled to continue to work has grown by a staggering 60 percent in the past few years. Today 750,000 of these vulnerable Americans are waiting an average of 520 days—and in some areas close to three years—for a hearing on their claims.

"The agency is struggling to balance its new responsibilities and its traditional work," without added resources, Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue told a congressional hearing in May.

In a more recent interview with the AARP Bulletin, Astrue said that he is "trying to be optimistic. We're doing our best to stay as far ahead of the curve for as long as we can."

"Right now," he says, "in most parts of the country the level of service is quite high. But waiting times in some offices are more than what I or anyone else would like to see. And the disability backlog is simply unacceptable."

As the workload has been increasing, the number of SSA employees has been shrinking. The agency has lost 4,000 workers in the last two years alone, and staffing is at its lowest level in 33 years. ...

Three New Acting RCALJs

JOA reports on the CONNECT board that three new acting Regional Chief Administrative Law Judges (RCALJs) have been appointed. This is the list:

Judge Carol Sax for the Boston region
Judge Mark Sochaczewsky for the New York Region
Judge Glynn Voisin for the Philadelphia Region

An Photograph From Social Security's Earliest Days

First meeting of the Social Security Board, September 14, 1935. Left to right: Arthur J. Altmeyer, John G. Winant (Chairman), and Vincent M. Miles.

A Brief History Of The Fall Of Bush's Privatization Plan

It may only be the first draft of history, but William Galston of the Brookings Institution has written a paper entitled "Why President Bush's 2005 Social Security Initiative Failed and What It Means For the Future of the Program" and, unlike most of the recent workproduct of "think tanks" that I have read, this is a calm document. My guess is that even most on the right would have little argument with it.

Restroom Case Costly For SSA

From the Baltimore Sun:

A lot of people have done it - used the handicapped restroom stall at work when others were available. But the bad manners usually don't cost an employer thousands of dollars.

An administrative judge awarded a Social Security Administration employee who uses a wheelchair $6,500 in damages this year after nondisabled co-workers occupied the handicapped stall and caused the employee to urinate in his pants on three occasions.

The agency, Administrative Judge Laurence Gallagher ruled, discriminated against the Woodlawn-based worker by not doing enough to prevent the humiliation after he complained several times and resorted to bringing a change of clothes to work.

Charlotte Observer On Consultative Examinations

From the Charlotte Observer:

Jessie Johnson rolled his wheelchair into a small doctor's office for one of the most important appointments of his life. ,,,

But in 16 minutes Johnson emerged, wondering what had just happened.

"I could have done that exam myself," Johnson said.

He is among hundreds of Charlotte area workers who file into Glenn Baumblatt's University City office each year seeking Social Security disability benefits. ...

"The exams are bogus," said Linda Fullerton, president of the Social Security Disability Coalition, an advocacy group for the disabled. "The system is set up so you give up or die." ...

The Observer found:

• Frequent allegations that doctors spent too little time with patients. Federal rules require doctors to set aside at least 30 minutes to one hour per appointment. About half of those interviewed said their exams were shorter than 20 minutes.

• Former and current applicants and their attorneys who described odd behavior by doctors. Some complained of curious attire, such as a Hawaiian shirt. In another instance, an attorney said a doctor spent only minutes, discussing television shows, then dismissed his client.