Astrue Blames ALJs For Backlog Discrepancies

I was unable to watch the entire hearing and missed this part. From the Houston Chronicle:

Nearly six years after a top federal official promised improvements in the way disability cases are handled in Harris County, a Social Security administrator told a congressional committee Wednesday that Houstonians get different levels of service depending on which office hears their case.

Under questioning by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue acknowledged that wait times for hearings at an office in far southwest Houston are about 40 percent longer than at the downtown Houston office.

"It's our view that the issue with that office is a human issue," Astrue told the House Ways and Means Committee.

The commissioner chalked up the problem to hard-to-discipline, lifetime appointees.

He described three of the 11 administrative law judges in the southwestern office on Bissonnet as "historically very unproductive."

Calls to the Bissonnet office were referred to an administration spokesman, Mark Hinkle, who confirmed Astrue's testimony.

Hinkle would not give any further information, including the names of the judges, because, he said, "it is considered internal personnel matters."

The Association of Administrative Law Judges, the judges' professional organization, did not respond to a request for comment. ...

The average time between an appeal and hearing at the southwest office is 522 days, well above the national average of 503 days, the Social Security Administration says.

By contrast, the wait time at the downtown office is 374 days. ...

Under questioning from Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Plano, Astrue said judges nationwide have had "serious misconduct issues and serious productivity issues." ...

"There's no accountability," Astrue said, adding, "Many commissioners have given up trying to discipline administrative law judges."

Brady praised Astrue for his plain speech. "I've never heard a commissioner as candid as he was in identifying a personnel problem," he said after the hearing. "It's refreshingly candid."

CCD Budget Recommendation

The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), an extremely important umbrella group representing dozens of non-profits interested in disability issues, has issued its budget recommendations. Here is what they had to say about Social Security.

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Limitation on Administrative Expenses
In millions
FY 2007 9,298
FY 2008 9,745
FY 2009 President's recommendation 10,327
FY 2009 CCD recommendation 11,000

Due to the serious consequences of the persistent and cumulative under-funding of SSA’s administrative expenses, CCD recommends that SSA receive for its FY 2009 Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE), at a minimum, the President’s request of $10.327 billion plus $240 million. However, in order for SSA to meet its responsibilities, CCD estimates that the agency needs a minimum of $11.0 billion for its FY 2009 administrative budget. This amount will allow the agency to not only significantly reduce the backlog, but also keep local offices open, provide adequate telephone services to the public, and maintain the integrity of its programs by performing more continuing disability reviews and SSI redeterminations.

Six Months For Cashing Dead Mother's Checks

From WTNH of Connecticut:

A federal judge has sentenced a Willimantic woman to six months home confinement for cashing her dead mother's Social Security checks.

Patricia Macha, 66, had pleaded guilty in January to one count of theft of government property.

Prosecutors say that between February 2001 and February 2007, Macha received more than $64,000 in Social Security benefits to which she was not entitled.

Macha has been ordered to pay full restitution at $50 per month, which will be deducted directly from her Social Security disability checks.

If my math is correct, it will take Ms. Macha over 100 years to pay back the money.

Confusing People In 15 Languages

The Social Security Administration has announced that it now offers information on the internet in the following 15 languages other than English:

Arabic
Armenian
Chinese
Farsi
French
Greek
Haitian-Creole
Italian
Korean
Polish
Portuguese
Spanish
Russian
Tagalog
Vietnamese

Italian, but not German? Portuguese, but not Japanese? Korean, but not Hindi-Urdu? Greek, but not Swahili? There are choices to be made. Perhaps they based it upon the frequency with which they encounter immigrants speaking a particular language. Perhaps, they are working on others.

Rick Warsinskey On Marketplace Radio

Rick Warsinskey, the former head of the National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, was on Marketplace radio this morning, talking about Social Security's backlogs and budgets. You can listen to the piece online.

Excerpt From Written Statement Of Marty Ford

A very short excerpt from a much longer written statement by Marty Ford, Co-Chair of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Social Security Task Force, a large and important umbrella group representing many non-profits concerned with helping the disabled.

In addition, CCD also urges Congress to separate SSA’s LAE budget authority from the Section 302(a) and (b) allocations for discretionary spending. The size of SSA’s LAE is driven by the number of administrative functions it conducts to serve beneficiaries and applicants. Congress should remove SSA’s administrative functions from the discretionary budget that supports other important programs. The LAE would still be subject to the annual appropriations process and Congressional oversight.

I present this excerpt since I think this seemingly technical issue is of huge importance. There is likely to be a serious effort to remove Social Security from the budget or at least to remove it from the sort of budget limitations that apply to other agencies.

Statement Of Witold Skwierczynski

Some excerpts from the statement of Witold Skwierczynski, President of the American Federation of Government Employees National Council of Social Security Field Operations Locals:

I present this statement on behalf of approximately 50,000 bargaining unit Social Security employees who work in over 1500 facilities nationwide. ...

The primary message the Union wants to convey to this Committee is that Social Security is in dire need of both additional administrative funding and Congressional oversight of its service delivery practices. ...

Claimants find it difficult to interact with a Social Security employee when they need assistance. 25 % of the calls to the 800 number are unanswered. If a claimant calls their local office they can’t get through 51% of the time. ...

Few claimants attempt to navigate the SSA hearings appeal system without representation. However, SSA has plans to encourage and assist 3^rd parties in expanding the menu of services that they offer claimants for a fee. ...

Commissioner Astrue has decided to hire and train insufficient support staff that each new ALJ relies upon to prepare cases for hearing and write and process post-hearing decisions. ...

So far in FY 08 more than 61 percent of Social Security disability claims for benefits are approved in the Washington DC DDS, while just 30 percent of those who file for benefits are approved in the South Carolina DDS. New Hampshire approves the most initial SSI only disability cases with more than a 55 percent allowance rate. However, residents of Michigan, Ohio, Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia are approved less than 30 % of the time by their respective DDS. ...

Removing SSA’s LAE [Limitation on Administrative Expenditures, Social Security's operating budget] from discretionary spending caps will allow Congress to assess SSA’s administrative requirements without regard to the competing budgetary demands of the Departments of Labor, HHS and Education agencies. ...

Because potential payments are involved, SSA is required to send letters to people who fail to keep appointments and notify them that their benefits will be protected for up to six (6) months. If SSA does not send this letter, the protective filing date is left open and a person could be paid years of retroactive benefits if the matter is not dealt with promptly.

However, SSA has decided NOT to apply this law to Internet claims. Under the current system, when someone initiates an application on SSA’s Internet site but cannot complete it, SSA issues a confirmation number to the individual to re-access the application but the Agency does not consider the unsuccessful attempt to file evidence of a desire to file which would protect the date of filing. ...

In fact, SSA intends to solicit 3^rd parties to engage in bulk filing of electronic claims for multiple claimants. This will enable for profit companies to offer a filing service for claimants in return for a fee. ...

Additionally, AFGE records indicate that in 2007 SSA closed a record number of offices. In 2007, the Administration closed 17 offices including:

Burbank, CA

Industry Hills, CA

San Fransisco-Parkside, CA

SF Western Addition, CA

San Pedro, CA

Hallandale, FL

Miami-Central, FL

St Louis NW, MO

Warrensburg, MO

Auburn, NY

Bay Ridge, NY

N Charleston, WV

Nacogdoches, TX

Cheektowaga, NY

Bronx River, NY

Carbondale, PA

Brentwood, PA

Scheiber Statement To Ways And Means: 43% Of Re-Recons Approved

An excerpt from a much longer statement by Sylvester Schieber, Chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board, to the House Ways and Means Committee:

One of the initiatives in the Commissioner’s Plan to Eliminate the Hearings Backlog is the informal remand process. Cases that were denied by the DDS and are waiting for a hearing at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) are being screened and where appropriate returned to the DDS for another look. The program has been in place for about a year now and the cases that are sent back have been purposely selected because they are the most likely to be proper allowances. Nonetheless, out of the 34,000 cases informally remanded so far, the DDSs have allowed 43 percent and well over two-thirds of those were allowed without any additional development.