SSA Makes Big 1099 Error

From YubaNet.com:

The California Society of Enrolled Agents (CSEA) reports that its Members have noticed a Social Security Administration (SSA) error affecting 1099s mailed in January. Enrolled Agents are tax professionals licensed by the federal government to represent taxpayers and assist them with tax planning and the preparation of tax returns.

The SSA 1099 miscue, which appears to be nationwide and not confined to California, affects Social Security recipients with Medicare deductions (Part D). The SSA is aware of the problem and plans to run corrected 1099s by the end of the month. No official press announcement has been made, although SSA spokesperson Leslie Walker, Regional Communications Director for California, confirmed to CSEA that the error occurred and will be corrected. According to Ms. Walker, corrected 1099s should be received "no later than January 29." She estimated that the error affects 2.9 million Social Security recipients.

That Was Then. This Is Now

A little over a month ago, the White House and Congress were locked in a prolonged dispute over the omnibus appropriations bill, with President Bush calling Congressional Democrats as fiscally irresponsible for insisting on about $11 billion more in appropriations than the President favored. That was December. This is January. President Bush is now considering an economic stimulus package that runs to more than $100 billion! It makes you wonder.

Two More Senators Comment On Proposed Regulations

The Social Security Administration has now posted a comment on the proposed procedural regulations made by Senators Stabenow and Levin. The two Senators, like almost almost everyone else who commented, oppose the proposed regulations. These comments were just filed on Jaruary 15, which makes them late.

About The CBS Broadcast

Trisha Cardillo, a non-attorney representative and former Disability Determination Services (DDS) employee, spoke forcefully during CBS News' Tuesday night Social Security disability story. To learn more about how CBS produced the broadcast and about Ms. Cardillo's opinions, take a look at her post on the SSA CONNECT board.

Background Checks For ALJ Applicants

I have heard some ridiculous rumors about the process for selecting Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). Not being an applicant myself, I have little knowledge of the process. However, an attorney who used to work at my firm has applied to become an ALJ. I have received a telephone call from a company hired to do background checks for ALJ candidates. Whatever else may be going on in the selection process, I can say that this background check was quite straightforward. There was only one question that was the least bit unusual. I was one asked whether I thought the applicant could handle a big workload. There was nothing about the background check process that anyone should find worrisome.

House Social Security Subcommittee Hearing

The hearing of the House Social Security Subcommittee is going on at the moment. It can be viewed over the internet. The witness statements are available at the Subcommittee website. The hearing appears to be a grab bag, with much discussion of the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), but also discussion of the five month waiting period for Disability Insurance Benefits, the 24 month waiting period for Medicare, the recent proposal for procedural changes in Social Security adjudication and various plans for improving a wide variety of types of Social Security benefits.

Allsup Got Cut

Earlier today I posted what I thought was the transcript of the story that CBS News ran last night. Actually, the transcript that CBS provided was not completely accurate. Here is a snippet that was in the transcript that did not appear on TV:

Part of the reason for that, says Jim Allsup, who employs former SSA employees at his Illinois-based company Allsup Inc., is that there is “an inherent conflict-of-interest between protecting the disability trust fund and providing the appropriate level of service to the claimant.”

It looks as if they realized at the last minute that they needed to cut a few seconds off the piece and this little bit got cut, but they forgot to change the transcript to reflect this last bit of editing. So, Jim Allsup misses his opportunity for face time on national television.

We know that Allsup was behind the USA Today article on Social Security backlogs that appeared a few months ago. It is unclear whether Allsup persuaded CBS to do this piece or just helped them after they got started. Either way, it is clear that Allsup is engaged in an impressively successful public relations campaign that helps Allsup but which is also of public benefit.

Waiting In Fargo

From the Bismark Tribune:

FARGO - Sharon Eid says she has spent the last four years battling paralysis, both from a spinal condition that left her unable to work and a government agency that left her without benefits. ...

"It's been a very long haul," Eid said Monday at a meeting with Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., and Social Security Administration officials. "If it weren't for my children and my friends and my church taking care of me, I wouldn't be here. I think I would have put an end to it a long time ago." ...

"If it's this hard to reach a final decision in a case of these facts, as disturbing as they are ... what does it take to establish disability?" Pomeroy asked.

The average wait for a person in North Dakota to receive a decision on a disability claim is 435 days, nearly twice the average in 2001, Pomeroy said. The national average is a 520-day wait.

"I tell you something, if I had regulated an insurance company that took more than two years whether or not to play a claim, that would have been a company in a whole lot of trouble with me as insurance commissioner," Pomeroy said.