Senate Finance Committee Schedules Hearing

From the Senate Finance Committee:

More Work, Less Resources: Social Security Field Offices Struggle to Deliver Service to the Public

May 8, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Member Statements:
Max Baucus, MT
Charles Grassley, IA

Witness Statements:

Barbara D. Bovbjerg, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security, Government Accountability Office, Washington, D.C.

Linda S. McMahon, Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD

Richard E. Warsinskey, Immediate Past President, National Council of Social Security Management Associations, Washington, D.C.

Witold Skwierczynski, President, National Council of Social Security Administration Field Operations Locals, AFL-CIO, Baltimore, MD

Settlement In Class Action

The Social Security Administration has sent out a notice of settlement in the Kaplan v. Chertoff class action lawsuit. The lawsuit has to do with the seven year limit on receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for non-citizens. The problem has been with non-citizens losing SSI benefits because of long delays in processing applications for naturalization.

Here is part of Social Security's description of the settlement:

The key terms of the settlement agreement provide that any class member may request Expedited Processing from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) for pending applications for naturalization or adjustment of status, or for future applications for naturalization or adjustment of status filed during the pendency of the Settlement Agreement, if six months have elapsed since the filing of the pertinent application without a decision. USCIS will request priority processing of any pending or future security checks and provide the earliest available appointment for applications requiring an appointment. If an Oath of Allegiance is required, USCIS will administer or schedule the Oath at the next available opportunity.

USCIS will also, through identifying information provided by SSA, attempt to identify individuals whose SSI benefits have been terminated or will be terminated in the near future and have pending applications for naturalization or adjustment of status. Where those individuals are positively identified, USCIS will automatically expedite their pending application. The automatic expedites will take place close to the end of the first year of the Settlement Agreement.

Future Systems Technology Advisory Panel

Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue is forming a "Future Systems Technology Advisory Panel." Here is the description of the body:

Panel members will analyze SSA's current technology status and provide independent advice and recommendations for future systems enhancements based on their knowledge of the needs of the Agency and technological advancements. This will serve as a road map for the Agency in determining what future systems technologies may be developed. It will help SSA carry out its statutory mission. Advice and recommendations can relate to SSA's systems in the area of internet applications, customer service, or any other arena that would improve the Agency's ability to serve the American people.

The Panel shall be composed of not more than 12 members, including:

(1) Members of academia and private industry recognized as experts in the area of future computer systems technology;

(2) Members of private industry familiar with the use of computer technology in the fields of customer service, health care, privacy, financial, and document management;

(3) Experts that can speak to the needs of SSA's clientele; and

(4) SSA experts familiar with the Agency's policies, systems, and practices with regard to its mission.

It's Hard To Get On And It Doesn't Pay Much

KIMT in Mason City, Iowa is running a piece about the difficulty of living on Social Security disability benefits -- after a disabled person waits and waits to get approved.

Message From Commissioner

A broadcast e-mail from Commissioner Astrue (emphasis added):

Message To All SSA And DDS Employees

Subject: Ways and Means Hearing

Last week, I testified before the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S House of Representatives, one of our two authorizing committees in the Congress. I want to share with you some highlights of what I shared with lawmakers. You also can see the full testimony at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/legislation/testimony_042308.htm.

We are using the additional $148 million allotted to us this fiscal year to not only replace losses, but to hire additional front-line service personnel, Administrative Law Judges and support staff.

More money alone will not solve all of the service challenges we face. We also must innovate, and we are making great strides on that front as well.

Using alternative forms of authentication, retirees born in this country no longer need to present their birth certificate as proof of age. Eliminating this requirement is already easing the burden for both the claimant and our employees.

Soon we will unveil a new look to our website. In addition, in a few months, we plan on launching an easy-to-use and highly accurate online benefit estimator. In September, we will turn on a simplified retirement application that will make filing over the Internet much easier.

We are testing other concepts that can help our busiest field offices, including kiosk computers in waiting areas and office television monitors that silently inform visitors of the documents they need for each service, as well as a menu of services they can use by phone or computer from their home or office. Our notices also need updating so that we tell people more completely and clearly what they need to provide to us in order to receive the quickest response.

On the disability front, the national rollout of Quick Disability Determinations is allowing thousands of truly disabled applicants to receive both a decision and a benefit check within weeks. A pilot later this year with compassionate allowances should further reduce the number of cases requiring an appeal.

We are embracing technologies like the electronic file, video hearings and the new National Hearing Center, which enables us to shift work away from the busiest hearing offices. I am very excited about an upcoming pilot allowing claimants to attend video hearings at their attorney's office. This could be another win for both the agency and the people we serve.

We continue to make updates to the Listing of Impairments that determine whether someone meets the definition of disability. Some important listings have not been updated in decades. I'm pleased to report that we now have a schedule in place to update all medical listings every five years, and we’re going to try to do even better than that.

A proposal requiring claimant representatives to use iAppeals will eliminate an enormous amount of unnecessary repetitive work in our hearing offices.

Important discussions are under way with the states in New Orleans today over a unified IT system to replace the 54 separate COBOL-based systems currently employed by the various Disability Determination Services. If we can obtain a sufficient degree of consensus, I will ask Congress to fund this critical project in FY 2010.

On October 1, we will be forced to absorb more than $400 million in automatic inflationary increases. These costs, combined with an extended Continuing Resolution, would have devastating consequences for our forward momentum. Timely support of the President's budget is critical to maintaining our progress, and you can be sure that I am personally making our case to as many Members of Congress as possible. Today I have two meetings with Members of the House Appropriations Committee.

Aside from the hearing, I also want to let you know that we are working hard on drafting a new Agency Strategic Plan, which we hope to complete this summer. It should give you a better sense of how we will move forward in a time of rising workloads.

Finally, thanks again to all of you for all you do for the American public. With all the talk of data and technology, I never forget that our foundation is the care and hard work of our employees.

Michael J. Astrue

Commissioner

Paying Benefits Overseas

The Washington Times, a right wing newspaper affiliated with Reverend Moon's Unification Church, publishes items from time to time about audit reports of Social Security's Office of Inspector General. I would infer that Social Security's Inspector General is alerting the Washington Times. Here are some excerpts from an article in today's Washington Times:

The Social Security Administration is paying out more than $100 million a year to people getting benefits overseas despite rules that say recipients cannot live outside of the United States, a new government audit has found.

The report by the SSA's Office of Inspector General says the agency relies on people to "self-report" absences from the United States, but estimated that as many as 40,000 recipients in foreign countries were overpaid more than $225 million from 2005 to 2007.

"Despite SSA's efforts to identify residency violations, we estimate a substantial number of violations have not been detected, resulting in millions of dollars in overpayments," Inspector General Patrick O'Carroll Jr. concluded.

Of course, the article is misleading since it strongly suggests that it is improper to pay Social Security benefits to those living overseas. Benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, that is benefits paid based upon earnings and taxes paid, are properly payable to American citizens living overseas. There is nothing controversial about that. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is normally not payable to those living outside the United States. The actual audit report concerned SSI benefits, an important fact not revealed in the article.

The Inspector General accessed the bank account records of some 250 foreign born SSI recipients and found ATM withdrawals at locations outside the U.S. for 10 of those 250 people. While it is possible that some of those 10 people had remained in the U.S. but used ATM cards to transfer money to relatives in other countries, most of these people were ineligible for benefits for some period of time because of being outside the U.S.

I am not sure that it is appropriate to extrapolate as much as the Inspector General did from such a small sample. For example, the Inspector General was unable to contact six of the ten individuals identified as having foreign ATM withdrawals -- and concluded that they were ineligible for anything. Maybe, but plenty of native born SSI recipients are hard to get up with it. The Inspector General report explains the small sample by noting that the audit was a labor intensive process.

The Inspector General report also fails to mention that lack of personnel at Social Security is a major contributing factor to this and other systemic problems at the Social Security Administration. Calling for more personnel at Social Security is something that does not fit into the right wing agenda. Blaming foreigners for every sort of problem imaginable does fit into the right wing agenda, however.

Trying To Save An Office

From the Clinton, Iowa Herald:

The Clinton City Council held a special council meeting Tuesday afternoon to approve a resolution requesting that the Social Security Administration office in Clinton remain open.

The resolution states the city “has concerns that the local community may not be adequately served if the Social Security Office closes” and requests the local office remain open and serve the local community. A copy of the resolution will be forwarded to Congressman Bruce Braley’s office in Davenport.

Galveston Loses Social Security Office -- And Regional Communications Director Misspeaks

Why not just tell the truth from the beginning? From the Galveston Daily News:

A crowded waiting room, upstairs training area and lack of private conference space is driving the island Social Security office to move to League City, said office manager Patsy Lewis.

Rent for the office ... had nothing to do with the decision to move, she said.

While Wes Davis, regional communications director for the Social Security Administration, had said it wasn’t cost-effective to keep the office in Galveston because rent on the office was expected to rise three to four times higher than the government pays now, Lewis said that wasn’t true. Lewis said the space doesn’t meet their needs. ...

Davis has said the administration would not consider staying in Galveston.

Some disabled and elderly islanders might have trouble getting to the Social Security Administration office if it moves from Galveston to League City.

Many people who qualify for Supplemental Security Income won’t be able to afford the taxi ride to and from League City, said Frank Avery, who works for the island-based Transitional Learning Center, a brain injury rehabilitation center. For some, it might come down to paying for medicine and food or catching a cab to ensure their Social Security checks continue, he said.