COLAs, But Not For Attorneys

The Federal Register notice about Social Security cost of living adjustments is out and there is no increase in the fee cap for representing Social Security claimants. It has been stuck at $5,300 for more than five years. If it had been adjusted for inflation, it would be about $6,100 by now. However, the cap on the user fee for having fees withheld by the Social Security Administration went up to $79. Somehow it does not seem fair that attorney fees go down because of inflation. Here is the entire list:

(1) A 2.3 percent cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (the Act), effective for December 2007;
(2) An increase in the Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) monthly benefit amounts under title XVI of the Act for 2008 to $637 for an eligible individual, $956 for an eligible individual with an eligible spouse, and $319 for an essential person;
(3) The student earned income exclusion to be $1,550 per month in 2008 but not more than $6,240 in all of 2008;
(4) The dollar fee limit for services performed as a representative payee to be $35 per month ($68 per month in the case of a beneficiary who is disabled and has an alcoholism or drug addiction condition that leaves him or her incapable of managing benefits) in 2008;
(5) The dollar limit on the administrative-cost assessment charged to attorneys representing claimants to be $79 in 2008;
(6) The national average wage index for 2006 to be $38,651.41;
(7) The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) contribution and benefit base to be $102,000 for remuneration paid in 2008 and self-employment income earned in taxable years beginning in 2008;
(8) The monthly exempt amounts under the Social Security retirement earnings test for taxable years ending in calendar year 2008 to be $1,130 and $3,010;
(9) The dollar amounts (``bend points'') used in the primary insurance amount benefit formula for workers who become eligible for benefits, or who die before becoming eligible, in 2008 to be $711 and $4,288;
(10) The dollar amounts (``bend points'') used in the formula for computing maximum family benefits for workers who become eligible for benefits, or who die before becoming eligible, in 2008 to be $909, $1,312, and $1,711;
(11) The amount of taxable earnings a person must have to be credited with a quarter of coverage in 2008 to be $1,050;
(12) The ``old-law'' contribution and benefit base to be $75,900 for 2008;
(13) The monthly amount deemed to constitute substantial gainful activity for statutorily blind individuals in 2008 to be $1,570, and the corresponding amount for non-blind disabled persons to be $940;
(14) The earnings threshold establishing a month as a part of a trial work period to be $670 for 2008; and
(15) Coverage thresholds for 2008 to be $1,600 for domestic workers and $1,400 for election workers.

Kansas Field Offices To Close On Wednesdays

From the Lawrence, Kansas Journal-World:

Faced with the worst backlog of disability claims in the country, Kansas congressional leaders are saying thanks, but no thanks to a Social Security Administration pilot program.

In an effort to boost efficiency, Social Security offices in five cities could cut back the hours they are open to the public during part of the work week. ...

Under the proposal, they would be closed on Wednesdays.
...

“It makes no sense to me, and it is just counterintuitive that when there is a study that shows that Kansas has the biggest backlog of claims pending that they would pick Kansas to do an experiment,” said U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan.

The reduction in office hours originally was slated to start in November. SSA agreed to push the launch to March after Congress asked for more time to come up with funding, SSA regional spokesman John Garlinger said. ...

But Garlinger said the proposal could be a way to do more work faster. With rising claims and added responsibilities, Garlinger said SSA has the heaviest workload ever with fewer employees than the agency had 30 years ago.

“People the most affected by this are very excited about the possibility to move work more efficiently and effectively,” Garlinger said.

Buffalo Offices To Close Early On Wednesdays

From The Buffalo News:

Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-Clarence, is criticizing the Social Security Administration for proposing a pilot project that, beginning in March, would close the agency’s Buffaloarea offices to the public three hours early every Wednesday afternoon.

The agency says the program is under consideration as a possible way for office workers to catch up on the mounting backlog of work — growing larger with baby boomers beginning to sign up for retirement benefits and call volume threatening to surpass staffing limitations.

“I understand concerns about having insufficient staff to adequately handle the agency’s current workload, but I assure you that limiting access to the public will not solve that problem and will only create further backlogs, confusion and dissatisfaction among the members of the public whom your agency serves,” Reynolds said in a letter to Michael J. Astrue, Social Security commissioner.

Reynolds said the plan could backfire and adversely affect senior citizens and disabled people.

New Hours For Social Security Field Office

Who cares what the hours are for a Social Security field office? If you are reading this, you should, because announcements of this sort are a sign of the acute understaffing problems at Social Security's field offices. See this article from The Examiner of Jackson County, Missouri:

Effective Nov. 5, Social Security offices in the metropolitan area will have the following new hours: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Offices are closed to the public on Wednesdays.

The Social Security Administration says it is testing changes in office hours "to determine whether doing so will allow employees to more efficiently handle the large volume of work that needs to be done after visitors leave the office, to ensure they receive timely and accurate service." The test is scheduled to last a minimum of six months.

Interesting OGC Opinion On Pardoned Prisoners

Here is an excerpt from an interesting opinion from Social Security's Office of General Counsel (OGC). At least I find it interesting.

QUESTION

You have asked whether a convicted felon who was pardoned by the Governor of Florida and released from confinement in prison is entitled to Social Security benefits for the time he was confined in prison.

ANSWER

We conclude the applicant is not entitled to re-payment of benefits suspended during his confinement in prison.

Social Security's First Disability Program

A little history about a little known program from a 1997 Social Security Bulletin article:

Disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act became part of the law in 1956, and Medicare came into being in 1965. We might assume, therefore, that the first cash disability payments made by the Social Security Administration (SSA) occurred sometime around 1956, and the first medical benefit claims would have been processed sometime around 1965.’ But in the early months of 1943, a small team from the Social Security Board (the organizational forerunner to SSA *), and the Public Health Service Administration, began adjudicating disability claims and medical benefit claims under the Civilian War Benefits (CWB) program.’ From March 1943 until the program ended in May 1945, SSA adjudicated about 1,000 disability claims and assisted in the processing of thousands of claims for medical-care reimbursement. The CWB program continues even into the present day. As of September 1996, there were four CWB beneficiaries-three receiving survivors benefits and one receiving partial disability benefits. The total benefit payout in fiscal year 1996 for this vanishing program was $14,773.4 The idea behind this unique wartime program was that there are inevitably civilian casualties of war, civilians who become injured or killed through some action related to the hostilities of war, and the intent was to pay disability, survivors, and medical-care benefits to such civilians.

Michael Astrue's Paygrade

From Wikipedia:

Level I of the Executive Schedule

Level I of the Executive Schedule is the pay grade for cabinet officials. In addition to the fifteen cabinet secretaries, seven positions are listed in the Level I, of which only four (Administrator of the EPA, Director of the OMB, Director of the National Drug Control Policy, and the U.S. Trade Representative) are in the cabinet. The remaining three are:

Office	Incumbent
Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System	Ben Bernanke
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration	Michael Astrue
Director of National Intelligence	Mike McConnell

And the rate of pay for Level 1 of the Executive Schedule is $175,000 per year, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

Bristol Office Closing Amendment

From the Bristol Blog of the Bristol Press, although this amendment applies to any Social Security office, not just the Bristol, CT office:

Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) took a significant step forward in the fight to prevent the Social Security Administration (SSA) from closing its field office in Bristol. The Senate unanimously passed an amendment introduced by both Senators to the appropriations bill that funds the Departments of Education, Labor and Health and Human Services (HHS) that would not allow SSA to close the Bristol office until they meet certain requirements (outlined below). The bill now must go to President Bush. ...

The amendment requires SSA to provide the following to Congress before closing the Bristol field office:

• A thorough analysis of the criteria used for selecting field offices for closure and how the SSA analyzes and considers factors relating to transportation and communication burdens faced by seniors and the disabled as a result of field office closures;

• A cost-benefit analysis of closing the office that takes the following into account:

• The savings anticipated by the closure;
• The burdens placed on seniors and the disabled;
• Any costs associated with replacing the services lost by closing the office.