Thousands of people in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana are waiting right now for benefits they earned, but can't get. We're talking about Social Security disability benefits, something you pay for in taxes deducted from every paycheck.
The I-Team's Hagit Limor has been looking into a huge backlog that's costing some people their lifelong savings. She found delays of up to four years from the time people apply. They can't work due to their disabilities but are too young for social security, so they need disability pay.
Hagit first reported last year that Uncle Sam hasn't hired enough judges to hear these cases. Since our report, the government's taken some action, but Tri-Staters desperate for help tell us, it's not nearly enough. ...
"It's just a terrible, terrible situation. There has to be fundamental reform if it's going to be fixed," says Jim Allsup. He used to work for Social Security. Then he started a company that handles claims like Stegeman's for a fee. ...
Allsup’s company is not the only one that’s sprouted up to handle these cases. Some lawyers are becoming specialists too. It's like hiring a CPA to do your taxes. People are giving up a part of what they earned so someone else handles the bureaucracy, hopefully faster.
Feb 26, 2008
Backlogs In Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana
From the Kentucky Post:
Effects Of No Match
A few months ago only a restraining order from a federal court prevented Social Security from sending out a huge number of no-match letters notifying employers that they had workers whose names and Social Security numbers did not match and threatening action if these situations were not resolved. It seems likely that the no-match letters will eventually go out.
Here is a report from CBS2 in Chicago on what happened in their area recently:
Here is a report from CBS2 in Chicago on what happened in their area recently:
A workers right group says about 70 workers walked off their jobs at a Batavia plant in solidarity with 10 others who were fired after being notified of problems with their Social Security numbers.Think about the consequences of multiplying what happened in Batavia by many thousands, both for the Social Security Administration and the country.
Tim Bell of Chicago Workers Collaborative says the workers, all Hispanic, were fired from the Proex Incorporated packaging plant after refusing to verify their employment eligibility.
Bell says company officials told workers they received notices from the Social Security Administration informing them of discrepancies in the workers' stated identity information. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration from sending such letters to crack down on illegal workers.
Results Of Last Week's Unscientific Poll
What is your highest educational attainment?
| Less than high school (2) | 2% |
| |
| High School (5) | 5% |
| |
| Some college (11) | 11% |
| |
| Bachelor's degree (21) | 21% |
| |
| Graduate or professional degree (60) | 61% |
|
Total Votes: 99
Congressional Opposition Blocks Reducation In Field Office Hours In Kansas
From a press release posted by Congresswoman Nancy Boyda of Kansas:
Congressman Dennis Moore (Kansas Third District) and Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) praised the decision this week by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to suspend its plans to institute a pilot program that would limit public office hours in Kansas City’s SSA field offices.Michael Astrue is likely to get some questions on the subject of field office service when he testifies before the House Appropriations Committee. Closing field offices or reducing field office hours is generating great opposition in Congress.
In October 2007, the SSA announced their proposed pilot program to close public office hours of selected field offices, including those in Kansas. According to SSA, this effort was created to help address their current backlog of benefits and disability cases by improving the processing of claims and inquiries. ...
In response to the proposed pilot project, Rep. Moore and Rep. Boyda authored an October 2007 letter to SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue, expressing their deep reservations about the pilot program and asking that the SSA not only delay the start of the pilot program, but that the SSA field offices in Kansas be removed from the pilot program completely. Rep. Moore and Rep. Boyda reiterated their strong reservations in a November 7, 2007, meeting they organized with Commissioner Astrue and the Kansas congressional delegation. ...
The pilot project was originally scheduled to begin on November 1, 2007, but was temporarily postponed until March 2008. Rep. Moore and Rep. Boyda received a letter from Commissioner Astrue dated February 5, 2008, announcing the indefinite postponement.
Ticket To Work Panel Backs Off
I have not been paying much attention to the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel (which I will refer to as the Panel), because I regard it as inconsequential. Others have been paying attention, however. The minutes of the October 31, 2007 panel meeting show that Berthy de la Rosa-Aponte, the Panel Chairperson, was at pains to defend the Panel from outside criticism.
The minutes say that she referred to a letter from some Congressmen stating that the Panel had gone beyond its charge. Apparently, the letter said that the Panel had been listening too much to a "self-selected group of beneficiaries who have an interest in work, who have the capacity to participate in [the Panel's] discussions, and [that] the folks [the Panel was] hearing from aren’t really representative of the typical Social Security beneficiary."
The Chairperson also told the Panel that she had met with Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue and that he had told her that the Panel's draft final report went beyond the Panel’s charge.
Marty Ford, Chairperson for the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) spoke at the same meeting and warned that the Panel's recommendations should "not threaten necessary income supports for individuals with disabilities." She told the Panel that the CCD did not "support radical changes in the existing Social Security and SSI disability programs. " She urged the Panel to "first and foremost do no harm.'" She asked the Panel not to recommend changes in Social Security's definition of disability or that participation in work activities be made mandatory or that disability benefits be subject to time limits.
Thus far, I have been unable to find a copy of what the Panel was considering. However, in the end, it looks like the Panel listened to its critics. The final report urged only that:
The minutes say that she referred to a letter from some Congressmen stating that the Panel had gone beyond its charge. Apparently, the letter said that the Panel had been listening too much to a "self-selected group of beneficiaries who have an interest in work, who have the capacity to participate in [the Panel's] discussions, and [that] the folks [the Panel was] hearing from aren’t really representative of the typical Social Security beneficiary."
The Chairperson also told the Panel that she had met with Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue and that he had told her that the Panel's draft final report went beyond the Panel’s charge.
Marty Ford, Chairperson for the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) spoke at the same meeting and warned that the Panel's recommendations should "not threaten necessary income supports for individuals with disabilities." She told the Panel that the CCD did not "support radical changes in the existing Social Security and SSI disability programs. " She urged the Panel to "first and foremost do no harm.'" She asked the Panel not to recommend changes in Social Security's definition of disability or that participation in work activities be made mandatory or that disability benefits be subject to time limits.
Thus far, I have been unable to find a copy of what the Panel was considering. However, in the end, it looks like the Panel listened to its critics. The final report urged only that:
Congress and the Administration should take action to evaluate the impact of modernizing the Social Security definition of disability by defining disability in a manner that acknowledges the interaction between the person’s impairment and the environment and does not require the individual to prove their inability to engage in substantial gainful activity.There was no recommendation of time limited benefits or mandatory work activity or anything else radical.
Feb 25, 2008
Appropriations Hearing On February 28
Even if the House Social Security Subcommittee is not ready to bring the Commissioner of Social Security in for a hearing, the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services of the House Appropriations Committee is -- and David Obey, the Chairman of the full Committee is Chairman of this Subcommittee. From the Subcommittee's website:
This should be available by webcast.HearingThe Disability Backlog at the Social Security Administration
February 28, 2007 10:00 AM, 2358-C Rayburn
Michael Astrue, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Patrick O'Carroll, Inspector General, Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General
Richard E. Warsinskey, Immediate Past President, National Council of Social Security Management Associations
Marty Ford, Co-Chair, Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Social Security Task Force
Ronald G. Bernoski, President, Association of Administrative Law Judges
Federal Register Items Coming
All federal agencies, including independent agencies such as the Social Security Administration, must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is part of the White House, before publishing new regulations in the Federal Register. OMB has just cleared the following items, which should be appearing in the Federal Register in the near future (and note that OMB forced change in one of them, although I do not know what the change was):
| Agency: SSA | RIN: 0960-AG67 |
| TITLE: Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating HIV Infection (3466A) | |
| STAGE: Prerule | ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: No |
| RECEIVED DATE: 01/17/2008 | LEGAL DEADLINE: None |
| COMPLETED: 01/31/2008 | COMPLETED ACTION: Consistent without Change |
| AGENCY: SSA | RIN: 0960-AG49 |
| TITLE: Amendment to the Attorney Advisor Program (3398I) | |
| STAGE: Final Rule No Material Change | ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: No |
| RECEIVED DATE: 01/28/2008 | LEGAL DEADLINE: None |
| ** COMPLETED: 02/22/2008 | COMPLETED ACTION: Consistent without Change |
| AGENCY: SSA | RIN: 0960-AG54 |
| TITLE: Compassionate Allowances (3427P) | |
| STAGE: Prerule | ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: No |
| RECEIVED DATE: 02/11/2008 | LEGAL DEADLINE: None |
| COMPLETED: 02/21/2008 | COMPLETED ACTION: Consistent with Change |
About Time For A Hearing
The last time that Michael Astrue, the Commissioner of Social Security, appeared at a hearing before the House Social Security Subcommittee was May 1, 2007, almost ten months ago.
I think we are overdue for another hearing.
I think we are overdue for another hearing.
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