Comptroller General Calls For More Funding For SSA -- And Jo Anne Barnhart Reappears

From Federal Computer Week:

The Social Security Administration is making progress in reducing its backlog of disability claims, but without more resources, it will like fall further behind as aging boomers overwhelm the system, Comptroller General David Walker said.

SSA needs more funding from Congress and it needs to hire more staff, Walker said.

“There are serious fundamental and systematic problems. We need to change the pipeline, not just the tail end. We need to look at the flow,” he said Jan. 16 at a panel sponsored by the Association of Administrative Law Judges. Administrative law judges hear disability cases as claims wind through the lengthy process.
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SSA received an increase in appropriations last month to hire a number of administrative law judges this year to reduce the backlog. That means, however, that SSA will not be able to hire for positions in earlier stages of claims processing, said Jo Anne Barnhart, Social Security commissioner from 2001-2007.

Barnhart estimated in 2004 that it would take 8,000 employee years or four years to clear the backlog. However, SSA has steadily fewer employees, she said. While commissioner, SSA started the Disability Service Improvement initiative to evaluate what happens with claims at each stage of the process.

Funny, but I do not seem to remember Jo Anne Barnhart making much of a pitch for increased staffing while she was Commissioner. She seemed, if anything, to be promising much better processing times no matter what how much or little money was appropriated to the Social Security Administration -- as long as her Disability Service Improvement plan went forward.

Social Security Response To CBS Report

The CBS report on the Social Security disability programs came up briefly at yesterday's House Social Security Subcommittee hearing. Representative Lloyd Doggett asked David Rust, Social Security's Associate Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs, a softball question on the subject. You can see the question and Rust's response in an excerpt from the hearing available on the CBS News website. Basically, Rust denied that there was a culture of denial, but then emphasized that it was a complex subject.

NADE Reacts To CBS Story

The National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE), an organization representing the examiners who make the determinations at the initial and reconsideration levels, has posted the following statement on the recent CBS News reports on the Social Security disability system:

Members of the National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE) viewed with interest the news story broadcast by CBS Evening News on January 14 and 15. We commend CBS for highlighting some of the problems that have been previously known to exist within the disability program and hope that the story will build momentum for a positive examination of these issues/concerns, and for a true exploration of their potential solutions. However, we were disappointed that the news story sensationalized many of these problems and we were equally disappointed that the CBS story did not offer any of the pending solutions. We were saddened that the story misrepresented many concerns and seemed to report allegations as facts. We believe this story to be an unfair representation of how the disability program is operated. We are prepared to refute the allegations presented in the story as well as to offer a more definitive explanation of the disability process and how it serves the American public. Had we been invited to be interviewed for the CBS story, we would have presented our response on camera.

We are disappointed that CBS did not choose to offer an unbiased examination of the issues but chose to concentrate on sensational reporting. NADE has been working with SSA and with other stakeholders to address the problems highlighted in the CBS story for many years now, and we will continue to do so. Our efforts, however, will continue to be aimed at how best to arrive at reasonable solutions to these issues rather than focusing on the problems. We will continue to be professional in our approach and will continue to honor our commitment to provide world class customer service. This will always be our paramount objective.

Georgina Huskey
President

Let me pose a question for NADE to think about: Does NADE favor or oppose more discretion for disability examiners? If NADE favors more discretion for disability examiners, I think that now would be a great time to say so. It was obvious at the House Social Security Subcommittee hearing yesterday that various groups were trying to lay out an agenda for consideration after the next election. NADE's expressed distress about the CBS report, although understandable, suggests that NADE opposes more discretion for disability examiners. Is that the agenda that NADE wishes to pursue?

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.