Another AARP Article Coming

I got around to listening to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) radio broadcast on Social Security's budget and staffing problems. It is definitely worth listening to. I learned that the AARP is planning another Social Security article to come out in its November Bulletin, this time on the disability backlogs at Social Security.

I have wondered in the past why the AARP was not doing more on the staffing shortages at Social Security. It is good to see them finally working on this. How much difference can AARP make? The AARP Bulletin is distributed to 29 million households. Everybody in Washington pays attention to AARP.

AARP Radio Show On Long Lines At Social Security Offices

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) ran a story in its Bulletin on staffing shortages at Social Security. This was mailed to 29 million households. This is being followed up with a 23 minute radio program to run on about 120 radio stations around the country. You can listen to the program online if you have the Real Player downloaded.

Dickinson Office To Stay Open

A press release from Senator Kent Conrad announces that the Dickinson, ND Social Security Field Office will stay open. The office had been threatened with closure. Note that this office is in the District of Representative Pomeroy, a member of the Social Security Subcommittee.

Politics In Office Closures?

Here is a list of recent Social Security Field office closures I know about with the names and party affiliation of the representatives of those cities in Congress:

• Auburn, NY -- Senators Schumer (D) and Clinton (D), Representative Arcuri (D)
• Bristol, CT -- Senators Dodd (D) and Lieberman (I, but caucuses with Democrats), Reprentatives Larson (D) and Murphy (D)
• Carbondale, PA -- Senators Spector (R, but increasingly acting in an independent manner) and Casey (D), Representative Carney (D)
• Dickinson, ND -- probable closure, but nothing definite -- Senators Conrad (D) and Dorgan (D), Representative Pomeroy (D -- member of Social Security Subcommittee who talked about how he had been lied to by former Commissioner Barnhart and how the ALJ hiring situation at Social Security was a "god-damned outrage")
• San Pedro, CA -- Senators Feinstein (D) and Boxer (D), Representatives Harman (D) and Rohrabacher (R)
• Slidell, LA -- Senators Landrieu (D) and Vitter (R), Representative Jindal (R) (This office closure was probably inevitable due to the population loss in the area following the hurricane.)

I do not want to seem paranoid, but I think I see a pattern here.

Some caveats are in order. I am only reporting the office closures that resulted in newspaper articles that I can access online. It is certainly possible that some office closures have not been covered by local newspapers. Many of these newspaper articles have been generated by a Congressman's office calling a local newspaper to get coverage of the Congressman's efforts to keep a Social Security field office open. Republican Congressmen may be less likely to make the effort to keep a Social Security field office open or to publicize that effort, leading to fewer stories. Also, not all newspapers are accessible online.

Still, if I were a Democratic Congressman whose local Social Security field office were threatened with closure, I would really like to see a list of all the offices that have been or will be closed. I would also like to know the criteria used in making these decisions. I would also like to know whether the the Social Security Commissioner's liaison to the White House has been involved in these decisions.

OIG And Washington Times On Overpayments And Administrative Finality

From The Washington Times, a right wing paper:

The Social Security Administration is resisting proposed rule changes aimed at fixing longstanding errors that have resulted in tens of millions of dollars in erroneous overpayments to beneficiaries.

More than 44,000 people have received approximately $140 million in extra, undeserved payments because of clerical and other errors by the Social Security Administration (SSA), according to recent estimates by the agency's inspector general.

What's more, the SSA has continued making overpayments even after learning of errors because of an internal rule known as "administrative finality."

Under the policy, the SSA cannot reduce benefits for disability and other beneficiaries after four years except in cases of fraud, even if they later learn that incorrect calculations are responsible for the overpayments.

"We believe that when SSA discovers errors in the payments to beneficiaries, the agency should correct them rather than continuing the errors in future benefit payments," Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr., inspector general for the SSA, wrote in a report sent to Congress and SSA officials last week.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) study is available online. Carroll has seemed to be very much more hard line right wing than anyone else working at the Social Security Administration. We cannot know if he was the one to call the Washington Times, but that seems awfully likely. Certainly, he has not called the Washington Times about other studies OIG has done showing the underpayments to Social Security claimants.

In considering this study, I am reminded that on many occasions the idea has been proposed at Social Security to charge interest on overpayments owed to the Social Security Administration. Every time this comes up some alert person in the room always says, "But if we charge interest on the money they owe us, don't we have to pay interest on the money we owe them?" The idea always dies immediately after this question, since it is obvious that Social Security owes far more money than is owed to it. If Social Security does away with its administrative finality rules it will ultimately have to pay out far more than it will collect.

25% Hike In Disability Pay?

This is Social Security News, not VA News, but if this happens, there is bound to be some fallout for Social Security. From the Army Times:

A presidential commission will call Wednesday for an immediate 25 percent increase in veterans’ disability compensation while awaiting a larger overhaul of disability and transition benefits. ...

With the Bush administration already balking at the $4 billion increase in veterans’ health care and benefits programs being pushed by Congress, it is unlikely that administration officials would support further increases. ...

The commission comes down squarely on the side of veterans on several controversial issues. For example, it supports allowing disabled retirees to receive full veterans’ disability compensation and military retired pay when they are eligible for both, and to allow survivors to receive their full veterans’ and military survivors’ benefits.

Resistance Is Futile!

Results of last week's poll:

Who do think will be win the Democratic nomination for President in 2008?

Joe Biden (0)	0%
Hillary Clinton (77)	65%
Chris Dodd (4)	3%
John Edwards (13)	11%
Mike Gravel (3)	3%
Dennis Kucinich (2)	2%
Barack Obama (10)	8%
Bill Richardson (2)	2%
None of the above (2)	2%
Don't know (6)	5%

Total Votes: 119

Fraud In Sacramento

From the Sacramento Bee:

A 73-year-old Sacramento woman pled guilty in federal court Monday to stealing more than $91,000 in Social Security funds.

Margaret Williams admitted to federal prosecutors that for nearly 35 years, she collected disability benefits under her true Social Security number while working under a fraudulent Social Security number, according to a news release by the office of U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott.

In 1953, Williams was assigned a legitimate Social Security number that she used to work and then to collect disability benefits with until 1988. In 1971, a second Social Security number was issued to Williams, who obtained it using a different name, false birthplace, false parent names and false birthdate. She began working under the fraudulent Social Security number in 1973, the release states.