New Entitlements Commission Proposed

From the Capitol Insider put out by the Disability Policy Collaboration (no link available this time but you can sign up to receive this newsletter):

During consideration [of] the FY 2009 appropriations for the Financial Services bill, an amendment to create a commission to examine the cost of entitlement programs (such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare) and limiting their growth failed by a vote of 31-32. House Majority leaders are concerned that this approach would limit Congressional responsibility and give too much power to the Executive Branch.

A Suggestion For Video Hearings

The Social Security Administration is making extensive use of video technology to allow Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) to hold hearings for claimants located in other towns. I represented a claimant at such a hearing yesterday. On the video screen I could barely distinguish the ALJ from the high backed chair in which she was sitting. It was hard to tell the source of the voice we heard, since the ALJ was almost invisible. This had nothing to do with the way the equipment was being operated. Zooming in helped little. This is a problem I have been seeing ever since video hearings started. I do not think the problem lays with the equipment. I think the problem is simple. Video cameras work poorly when used with ordinary office florescent lighting. If Social Security is going to spend so much money on cameras, televisions and bandwidth, I think it would be a good idea to spend a little money on adequately lighting hearing rooms for television. It will not cost much but I expect it will make a big difference in video quality. I might even be able to see the ALJs and they might be better able to see me and my clients.

More On Social Security's Search For Updated Occupational Data

I had earlier posted about the Social Security Administration's effort to find a contractor to furnish updated occupational data, which sounds awfully boring, but which is vitally important in disability determination. Hundreds of thousands of claimants are being approved or denied disability benefits each year based upon terribly out of date occupational data.

The Social Security Administration has now posted some answers to questions posed by entities considering Social Security's solicitation. Here is one important one (emphasis added):

Question 3.

Section 2.1 (A) (13) allows for “unlimited use” of the data. Again, it may be inferred that the data may only be used in the context of the evaluation, but we would appreciate clarification that SSA/IE’s use is for evaluative purposes only.

The OIC shall permit SSA to test and validate the occupational information and periodic updates in all manners deemed necessary by SSA. SSA will not use the occupational information for claims adjudication or other business process purposes.

Can anyone help me understand what is going on here?

Employment Levels At Social Security

Below are the most recent statistics on the total number of employees at the Social Security Administration and some historical numbers for comparison:

• December 2007 61,822
• September 2007 62,407
• June 2007 62,530
• March 2007 61,867
• December 2006 63,410
• September 2006 63,647
• September 2005 66,147
• September 2004 65,258
• September 2003 64,903
• September 2002 64,648
• September 2001 65,377
• September 2000 64,521
• September 1999 63,957
• September 1998 65,629

Note the 2.5% decline in the number of employees between the end of 2006 and the end of 2007, despite Democrats becoming the majority party in Congress and despite the fact that the number of Social Security claims filed increased rapidly.

And I Thought They Were Done

The Department of the Treasury soldiers on in the battle to privatize Social Security. I thought they were done, but they have now released Issue Brief No. 5 Social Security Reform: Strategies for Progressive Benefit Adjustments.

The essential assumption of these "Issue Briefs" is that there is it is already abundantly clear to all that Social Security must be, at least, partially privatized. The only issue left is exactly how we go about doing this. This "Issue Brief" deals with the ticklish subject of how do we cut benefits. Even though it would not be nearly enough to eliminate Social Security's long term financing problems even under current law, the "Issue Brief" advocates adjustments in inflation indexing to reduce benefits payments in future years. However, even this painful adjustment would be nowhere near enough money to finance even the most modest effort to divert Social Security taxes into private accounts.

Waiting In Asheville

From the Asheville, NC Citizen-Times:

The horror stories roll off their tongues like a litany: claimants who die while they wait, families falling apart, bankruptcies, homelessness, even suicides.

Disability attorneys and advocates say these are the fates of an increasing number of people who become ill or injured and apply for federal Social Security Disability benefits.

From first application, people who cannot work because of illness or disability wait an average of three years for benefits. Many wait longer, and a large percentage of people simply give up. ...

A few cases are approved quickly - when people are elderly or clearly dying, said Cynthia Strom, a disability attorney in east Asheville.

"But for most people, it's a waiting game," she said. "I've had clients commit suicide while they wait because they just can't do it anymore." ...

Curtis Venable, an attorney with Pisgah Legal Services, said he has clients who have waited more than four years for approval. Getting approval in less than 2 years is rare.

"I'll bet one-third of the people living in homeless shelters are people waiting for disability," he said.

Bruce Peterson, district director for U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, said the office gets hundreds of calls a month asking for help with disability.

I Wonder How Long It Took Them To Notice There Were More Than 1,000 Bats In The Ceiling

From First Coast News:

A bat invasion has closed the only Social Security office in our nation's oldest city [St. Augustine, FL].

The office, located off U.S. 1 South, has been closed for the past two weeks. A spokesperson says the plan right now is to set up temporary offices. ...

Tom Moore with Rascal Rangers, the company hired to remove the bats, estimates that there were more than 1,000 brown bats in the ceiling area.

Moore says the biggest health concern with bats is the excrement they leave behind.

Meeting About Buffalo Backlogs

I keep posting about this, because the papers in the Buffalo area keep running articles. If every Congressman put this kind of pressure on Social Security, things would change. From the Amherst, NY Times:

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) today met with senior Social Security Administration officials with direct oversight over Social Security hearing office operations to discuss the SSA’s plans to address the egregious backlog of Social Security cases in the Buffalo Hearing Office region. ...

“The Social Security Administration has taken the first step, but has only scratched the surface of the egregious backlog problem in Western New York,” Said Higgins. “It is crucial that we now continue to build on this start and in order to eliminate the backlogs that exist now and ensure that Western New Yorkers never have to deal with backlogs like this in the future,” Higgins said. ...

“The SSA knows that it can and must do better for Western New Yorkers whose lives have been put on hold while they await a decision on their Social Security cases,” Higgins said. “This is not a matter we will let go unchecked simply because the SSA has made a step towards solving the problem.”