INDIA is trying to expedite a totalisation agreement with the US that would exempt Indian professionals working for a limited period in that country from paying mandatory contributions for social security. India has included discussions on the social security agreement (SSA) in the Indo-US bilateral trade talks launched recently.
Sources said India is attempting to link progress in the agreement to the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) being worked out between the two sides. Since the US is keen on BIT, India is hopeful that linking the two would ensure the totalisation agreement would also be worked out. Indian professionals could save a total of $1 billion they contribute to social security annually.
Official sources told ET a team of officials from the ministry of overseas Indian affairs and the commerce and industry ministry will visit the US soon to discuss the pact. They would take forward the talks that took place in India earlier this year. Both sides are working on the pre-requisites and the content of the proposed pact. Sources said notes would be exchanged by the two sides in the next meeting.
“India is very keen on signing a totalisation agreement with the US. We have been trying to persuade the US for a long time. Now that the discussions are taking place in a structured manner, we hope something will work out,” an official said.
The US has signed totalisation agreements with 16 countries. However, it has been hesitating to sign one with India as the country’s social security structure is vastly different from the US social security net. US officials have also met officials from the Employee’s State Insurance Corporation and provident fund commission of India.
May 20, 2008
India Eager For Totalization Treaty
May 18, 2008
Obama Makes Social Security A Campaign Issue
Democrat Barack Obama told seniors Sunday that Republican John McCain would threaten the Social Security that they and millions like them depend on because he supports privatizing the program. ..."Let me be clear, privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George W. Bush proposed it, it's a bad idea today," Obama said. "That's why I stood up against this plan in the Senate and that's why I won't stand for it as president." ...
Obama said McCain would push to raise the retirement age for collecting Social Security benefits or trim annual cost-of-living increases. Obama has rejected both ideas as solutions to the funding crisis projected for Social Security in favor of making higher-income workers pay more into the system.
"We have to protect Social Security for future generations without pushing the burden onto seniors who have earned the right to retire in dignity," he said.
No Stamped Signatures -- And An Interesting Coincidence
HALLEX Chapter I-2-8-1 General has been revised to only permit an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to sign a decision and all official copies with his/her "wet" signature or verified electronic signature, unless a "wet" signature or verified electronic signature entered by another person is authorized. A rubber stamp or other mechanical signature is not authorized under any circumstances.
By the way, last year I commented upon the lack of HALLEX updating in a long time. Shortly thereafter there was a minor HALLEX updating. Almost a year later, I again commented upon the lack of HALLEX updating in almost a year. Again, shortly thereafter this minor updating of HALLEX. I am not claiming to be responsible for anything, but this is an interesting coincidence.
By the way, would you not think that HALLEX should be updated for all the changes affecting the way Social Security disability files are being set up -- without exhibits being numbered and on the eDIB system? I do not see modifications for HALLEX for all these changes.
May 17, 2008
Fraud Alleged In Johnstown
JOHNSTOWN — A Somerset County woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Johnstown on a charge of illegally converting Social Security benefit checks.
In the one-count indictment, Tammy J. Kearns, 47, of the 600 block of Sipesville Road, Sipesville, is accused of cashing checks issued to her on her son’s behalf after he was no longer eligible to receive the benefits.
May 16, 2008
Fraud Alleged On Long Island
A Long Island man with a six-figure salary is charged with collecting nearly $300,000 in disability and Social Security benefits he didn't deserve. ...I wish they would not put "post-polio syndrome" in quotes. It is a very real malady.
Chathapuram Kumar ... faces up to 15 years in prison after filing claims in 2004 that he was suffering from "Post-Polio" syndrome, which he said prevented him from working.
Prosecutors say he was seen going to work as a consultant at an information-technology firm in 2006, where he earned $168,000 a year.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editorial On E-Verify
Rather than spend the money to create a new database that works, the states browbeat the federal government to force the Social Security Administration to do something it was never meant to do —- become an immigration enforcement agency. And as it has scrambled to make quick fixes to E-Verify, Social Security has fallen behind on its real job, determining whether elderly and disabled Americans qualify for social services and benefits they have spent years supporting through payroll taxes.
The backlog for appeals in disability cases is now more than 500 days. If the administration is forced to spend $40 billion over the next 10 years to make E-Verify work, the basic services of
VA Facility Tried To Avoid PTSD Diagnosis
A psychologist who helps lead the post-traumatic stress disorder program at a medical facility for veterans in Texas told staff members to refrain from diagnosing PTSD because so many veterans were seeking government disability payments for the condition.
"Given that we are having more and more compensation seeking veterans, I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out," Norma Perez wrote in a March 20 e-mail to mental-health specialists and social workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Olin E. Teague Veterans' Center in Temple, Tex. Instead, she recommended that they "consider a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder." ...
Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake said in a statement that Perez's e-mail was "inappropriate" and does not reflect VA policy. It has been "repudiated at the highest level of our health care organization," he said.