What's Happened To Barnhart?

Does anyone know what has become of Jo Anne Barnhart since her term as Commissioner of Social Security ended?

Your Reward For a Job Well Done: More Work

A press release from the Idaho Department of Labor:

The Idaho Department of Labor agency charged with evaluating the medical eligibility of Social Security disability claims has received national recognition for its speed and productivity.

The Idaho Disability Determinations Service ranked first nationally for the 2007 federal budget year in expediting claims. The Idaho office processed claims in an average of 58 to 60 days, depending on the type of claim, while the national processing time averaged over 84 days.

The efficiency was achieved in the face of a 3.6 percent increase in cases to nearly 17,000 and a reduction in the number of adjudicators during the year from 26 to 21.

Processing almost 320 cases in an average week won the agency the second highest productivity rating in the country.

Because of the agency’s reputation, the Social Security Administration has asked Idaho to work with other states to improve their operations. Between November and May, Idaho processed nearly 1,200 Utah cases. It was the second year in a row the Idaho office helped reduce the case backlog in another state.

“The staff’s timely, efficient determinations reflect their commitment to top quality service for disabled Idahoans at the time they need assistance,” Idaho Disability Determinations Service Administrator Nancy Vazquez said.

In late August, the agency agreed to handle 300 cases assigned to the regional Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, which has been struggling with an ever increasing case backlog.

The federal government’s annual evaluation of the Idaho operation last summer cited “an extremely high level of performance” and commitment from managers and staff to “the best possible service to the citizens of Idaho.

One Million Online

From the Business Courier of Cincinnati:

The Social Security Administration recognized a West Chester man as its one millionth person to file for retirement benefits online.

Dewey Bales followed the online application process, which recently ranked top of all federal government websites for customer satisfaction, and received his first payment earlier this month.

Birmingham PSC To Get Health And Fitness Center

From a solicitation of bids issued by Social Security's Atlanta Regional Office:

The Social Security Administration, Region IV, intends to issue a Request for Quotations (RFQ) to solicit for a fitness management vendor to operate and manage Social Security Administration new fitness center, Birmingham, AL, for SSA employees [which would have to be at the Program Service Center or PSC].

Happy Thanksgiving!

44 Organizations Work Together On Getting Adequate Administrative Funding For Social Security

Below is the text of a letter that went out yesterday. Take a look at end for the list of the organizations that signed the letter! It is hard to convey just how extraordinary it is for all of these to agree on a single letter. Congratulations and thanks to all involved.

November 20, 2007

The Honorable Jim Nussle
Director
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20503


Dear Director Nussle,

We are writing to ask that you include adequate funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA) in the President’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget to address an increasing number of critical service delivery issues. Our organizations represent a significant number of the stakeholders of SSA.

In order for SSA to meet its myriad of responsibilities, we estimate that the agency needs a minimum of $11.0 billion for its Fiscal Year 2009 administrative funding. SSA expenditures are rising very rapidly and budgets in recent years have not kept up with the increasing demands for resources. The field offices, teleservice centers, hearings offices, Disability Determination Services (DDSs) and other parts of the agency are in critical need of additional staffing.

SSA has lost 4,000 positions in just the past two years. Even if SSA were to receive the funding level of $9.872 billion that was recommended in the FY 2008 Labor-HHS Appropriations Conference Agreement, SSA would only be able to maintain its current level of staffing in most of its components – including the DDSs and the field offices. SSA needs to replenish these lost positions and regain a level of staffing that can meet the demands placed on the agency.

Adequate funding is absolutely critical for SSA. For the past ten years (FY 1998 through FY 2007), Congress has appropriated approximately $1.3 billion less for SSA’s administrative funding needs than requested by the President. In Fiscal Year 2008, the President’s budget for SSA was $843 million less than the Commissioner’s Budget Request for the agency.

Going back to the beginning of FY 2000, the number of pending Social Security hearings has risen from 311,000 to a record high of 758,000. In addition, approximately 84,000 of these hearings are for veterans. The average processing time from filing for a hearing to the time a hearing is finally processed has increased from about 275 days at the beginning of this decade to 512 days in FY 2007. As a result, many people are losing their homes, living in homeless shelters, going without medical help, losing custody of their children, and even dying without ever receiving a decision.

SSA actuaries estimate that SSA will receive approximately 35,000 more initial disability claims in FY 2008 than was projected in the President’s FY 2008 budget due to the fact that baby boomers are expected to file more disability claims as they approach retirement age. The President's budget already assumed SSA would not process as many claims as it received, so this increase in receipts merely exacerbates that problem and will increase the backlog. A total of 83,000 claims would be added to the already substantial backlog. This would result in the highest ever initial disability claim pending level – 660,000 – causing processing times for initial disability claims to also increase.

Not only has there been a marked degradation in the level of service that SSA provides related to the disability process but visitors to local SSA field offices for other services are also being negatively impacted by the agency’s insufficient resources. Understaffed field offices are experiencing an ever-increasing number of visitors per week. Currently, SSA employees interview an average of 850,000 customers nationwide per week. In many field offices, these visitors experience waiting times that are in excess of 2 hours. SSA field offices receive over 60 million business-related phone calls from the public per year. A recent report states that 51% of these callers receive a busy signal.

In addition, SSA continues to be given responsibility for new workloads such as processing Medicare Part D subsidy determinations, taking and processing Medicare Part B premium determination appeals and processing increasingly complex security checks and stewardship reviews for Social Security Number issuance, SSI redeterminiations and medical Continuing Disability Reviews. SSA is also facing critical needs to reinvigorate the Ticket to Work Program and other work incentives which, if successful, will reduce the number of beneficiaries dependent on benefits. These programs are designed to actually save money for the trust fund. Yet without adequate administrative funds SSA cannot possibly do all this work. For SSA to process traditional levels of program integrity work (i.e., SSI redeterminations and medical Continuing Disability Reviews), Congress would have to appropriate more than the $11.0 billion recommended by the undersigned.

And, with the recent filing for Social Security benefits by the first baby boomer, SSA will be facing its most daunting challenge ever – the number of workers receiving Social Security retirement benefits will increase by 13 million over the next 10 years. These citizens will be contacting SSA at a time when the agency is proposing to close an increasing number of its field offices in response to inadequate funding to keep the offices adequately staffed and the doors open. Many SSA offices could close and others may reduce office hours without increased funding. With the massive number of baby boomers anticipated to need assistance and services from SSA in the years to come, it is imperative that the agency receives the resources it needs to sufficiently serve the growing numbers of people needing service from the agency.

The effects of the backlog extend throughout SSA. As SSA tries to address the crisis, the agency is forced to divert its limited resources away from its day-to-day operations in field offices and payment processing centers in order to try to manage the disability backlog.
SSA is facing these many workload challenges as its allocated staffing has dropped to the lowest level since pre SSI 1972. Since 1987 staffing has dropped by approximately 28,000. The state DDSs have lost over 900 employees in the last two years. If additional resources are not provided for the agency, staffing levels will continue to decline and service levels will continue to deteriorate.

We urge you to include in the President’s FY 2009 budget a minimum of $11.0 billion in funding to provide SSA with the resources necessary to reduce the backlog and protect many Americans from severe and unnecessary hardship. We are confident that this increased investment in SSA will benefit our entire nation. On behalf of our many members throughout the United States we appreciate your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

AARP
AFL-CIO
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
American Federation of Government Employees
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Federation of Teachers Program on Retirement and Retirees
American Network of Community Options and Resources
APSE: The Network on Employment
Association of Administrative Law Judges
Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
American Postal Workers Union Retirees
B'nai B'rith International
Easter Seals
Epilepsy Foundation
Federal Managers Association
Goodwill Industries International
Gray Panthers
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Association of Disability Examiners
National Association of Disability Representatives
National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers
National Association of Retired and Senior Volunteer Program Directors, Inc.
National Association of Social Workers
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
National Council of Disability Determination Directors
National Council of Social Security Management Associations
National Disability Rights Network
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Employment Network Association
National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives
National Respite Coalition
National Senior Citizens Law Center
National Treasury Employees Union
OWL, The Voice of Midlife and Older Women
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Social Security Disability Coalition
The Arc of the United States
United Cerebral Palsy
United Spinal Association
Voice of the Retarded

Fraud In Connecticut

From the Connecticut Post:

A 62-year-old former Bridgeport resident admitted receiving nearly $11,000 in Social Security disability benefits while working at a job.

Emma Flippen, also known as Emma Jones, now of Phoenix, Ariz., pleaded guilty Monday to theft of government property. She faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines when she is sentenced Feb. 7 by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah R. Slater told the judge that Flippen used the name Emma Jones to obtain $10,967 in Social Security Title II Disability Insurance benefits between 1998 and 2002.

More On British Plan To Cut People Off Disability Benefits

From the Evening News of Edinburgh, Scotland:

A new disability test aimed at ending Britain's "sicknote culture" is not about punishing people, Work and Pension Secretary Peter Hain insisted today. ...

The Government says the new medical test, to be introduced in October next year alongside the new Employment and Support Allowance, will assess what an individual can do - rather than cannot do. ...

"This is about giving people opportunities because you are better off in work, the evidence shows that."

Mr Hain said: "We know that many people want to work - work is good for you and your long-term well-being and we don't think it's right that in the past people were effectively written off.

"We want to work with people to get them back into jobs and help them stay there.

"Currently, there are many people sitting at home in the belief that they are unemployable, with no life choices or long-term prospects because they do not think their illness or medical conditions can be catered for in the workplace.

"But this is just not the case. Many people with such conditions are perfectly able to take up successful careers, if the right support is in place.

"That is why I have introduced the new assessment. It will not only accurately identify a person's physical and mental ability, it will offer advice on the type of help and support a person may need so that they can find sustainable work. ...

Mr Hain said it was "nonsense" to suggest that someone would be able to claim incapacity benefit simply because they were overweight.

The Guardian newspaper quoted Hain as also ridiculing disability benefits to those suffering from acne.

I am sure that when this new plan is implemented Britain will still have a much more humane Social Security disability program (or should I say programme?) than the United States, but the language used in defending this is so eerily similar to the language used in the United States that I find it depressing. There is the same talk of promoting what people can do instead of concentrating upon what they cannot do and of giving "opportunities" to the disabled. It is all defined as "helping" the disabled. There is no way to describe this as anything other than bull, whether it is the United States or the United Kingdom.

The cheap shot attacks upon the obese and those suffering from acne are especially bothersome. Mr. Hain can easily ridicule giving the concept of giving some moderately obese person disability benefits -- when the ridicule is done in the abstract. Could he so easily ridicule a real 500 pound woman who is in agony because of severe arthritis in her weight bearing joints? He can ridicule the idea of disability benefits for acne in the abstract, but could he so easily ridicule a real person suffering from an extreme case of acne conglobata?