Major Set Of Articles In Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running three stories on Sunday regarding the backlogs and other problems at Social Security. You can read them today.

Here is some excerpts from Atlanta's Disabled Often Wait Years For Aid:

Atlanta is arguably the worst place in the country to live if you are too sick or injured to work and have to rely on the government for help.

While Social Security hearing offices nationwide are clogged with claims from severely disabled individuals seeking benefits, the two Atlanta locations are known as "the backlog capital of the country."

The Downtown hearing office at Peachtree Center takes 769 days on average — more than two years — to resolve a claim. It has 9,145 claims pending.

The Atlanta North office on Clairmont Road is even worse, with a backlog of 12,497 claims and an average wait of 793 days, according to Social Security figures. Month after month, the two offices consistently rank among the slowest in the country for resolving claims.

The physical and financial health of many of people waiting will deteriorate.

Some will lose their homes and declare bankruptcy. Others will die. ...

"Over the last several months, the Downtown hearing office has gone hog wild on scheduling," said Robert Hughes, an attorney who specializes in Social Security cases. "I've gone from five hearings a month to five a day." ...

"It used to be very uncommon that you would have a claim where someone would die while their appeal was pending," [Rick] Waitsman [an Administrative Law Judge] said. "Unfortunately, that is becoming much more common. People are dying from what they are complaining of." ...

Astrue said he can't explain why Atlanta received less financial support, given the level of filings here. "All I know is it is a very bad practice and we have moved as quickly as we can to provide redress," he said.

He is pushing Congress for more money to open a third hearing office in suburban Atlanta.

Astrue pushing for more money for his agency? He has been lobbying for President Bush's budget for Social Security, which is less than what Congress has wanted to appropriate!

The other two articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are MS Forces Woman to Go From Employee Of The Year To Living With A Friend and Unable To Work, Social Security Has Rejected Benefits For Woman.

Social Security Managers Newsletter

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has issued its July 2008 newsletter. One article title of interest: "Stop the eServices Bandwagon -- I Want To Get Off." There is also an article about video service -- not for hearings but for field office service delivery. The pilots are in Riverton and Cody, WY.

By the way, the newsletter contains a link to an organization that I had not heard of before, the Social Security Employees Activities Association. Did you know that there is a Social Security chorus? A Social Security band? A Social Security basketball league?

OPM Stops Taking ALJ Applications

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) started taking applications for Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) positions on Wednesday, July 30. The announcement said that they would take applications only until midnight of the day upon which they received the 600th application. It only too about a day and a half for them to get to 600. They stopped taking applications last night.

Shutdown Fears

I hate to worry people (and government employees seem to have an incredibly visceral fear of job instability, which may be why they were interested in working for the government to begin with), but here is some news. From The Hill:

The prospect of a September government shutdown loomed over the Capitol on Wednesday as the two parties fought over rising energy prices.

It’s a fight some members of either party are willing to have, but others worry about who will get blamed for a repeat of the 1995 shutdown that President Clinton pinned on a Republican Congress. ...

Senate Republicans debated strategy at a party lunch Wednesday, discussing whether they should block a continuing resolution (CR) that must pass in September if the government is to continue functioning, according to lawmakers who attended.

The moratorium on drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) has been renewed annually for decades in spending bills by Republican and Democratic presidents and Congresses.

Since Democratic leaders this year are not planning to pass most of the individual spending bills, Congress will have to pass a CR to keep government functioning past Sept. 30.

Usually, such resolutions pass easily. But this year, soaring gas prices have changed the political calculus and Republicans have decided the issue might rescue them at the polls. Republican leaders say Congress should not leave for the August recess without taking a vote on drilling.

Republicans would likely have to make the first move by filibustering a bill, or by President Bush vetoing a spending bill. ...

A shutdown fight holds allure for Republicans, who have seen Congress’s favorability ratings slide to record lows with little political consequence for the Democrats in control. Though Republicans tried to tag Democrats with the “Pelosi premium,” polling has shown that Bush is taking far more blame for gas prices than are Democrats.

“It depends on whether the White House wants this fight,” said a Republican aide. “A lot has to be gamed out on both sides.”

Backlogs Keep Getting Worse

I have been paying attention to the overall track of the backlog of claims awaiting a hearing before Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) using the numbers provided by Social Security to the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR). Here are the updated numbers on the state of the backlog at certain points over about the last year and a half:

• January 25, 2007 -- 508 days
• May 25, 2007 -- 523 days
• July 28, 2007 -- 528 days
• August 31, 2007 -- 523 days
• November 30, 2007 -- 500 days
• February 29, 2008 -- 511 days
• May 30, 2008 -- 523 days
• June 27, 2008 -- 529 days
  

This makes one wonder how Social Security can claim with a straight face that it has a Plan to Eliminative the Hearing Backlog and Prevent Its Recurrence.

ALJ Registry Reopens -- Act Quickly If Interested

The Office of Personnel Management is now accepting applications for Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) positions.

The announcement says that "This announcement is open from July 30, 2008 until either 11:59:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on the day on which the 600^th completed application has been submitted or 11:59:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on August 13, 2008 -- whichever comes first." This means that the register could close as early as midnight tonight.

New Instructions On 1695s

The National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) obtained the recent staff instructions from Social Security. Note in particular the language requiring Social Security to contact the attorney or representative if there is no 1695 in the file at the time of implementation.

Identification Number AM-08092 REV Effective Date: 06/27/2008
Intended Audience: All RCs/ARCs/ADs/DDSs/FOs/PSCs/OCO/ODAR/TSCs
Originating Office: DCO OPSOS DOACS
Title: Processing SSA-1695s - Identifying Information for Possible Direct Payment of Authorized Fees
Type: AM - Admin Messages

Program: All Programs
Link To Reference: GN 03910.042
GN 03920.017
GN 03920.055

Retention Date: December 27, 2008

Revision: 7/17/08 - The instructions have been revised to separate and highlight processing instructions for the DDS and ODAR hearing offices. References to Form eSSA-1696 was removed because it does not exist.

The purpose of this message is to provide information and instructions for processing SSA-1695 (Identifying Information for Possible Direct Payment of Authorized Fees). This message also includes an important reminder for DDS and ODAR.

A. Background

Current policy in GN 03910.042 states that all appointments made on or after January 1, 2007 require the claimant representative to register and submit an SSA-1695, prior to the date SSA issues a favorable decision in order to receive direct payment of the representative’s fee. Upon receipt of an SSA-1695, field offices are instructed to establish a link on the SSA system between claimant and representative by:
· inputting information from the form;
· destroying the paper form; and
· sending a manually-generated letter of acknowledgement to the representative.

We’ve received an unusually high number of complaints from appointed representatives with allegations that field offices (FOs) are not acknowledging receipt of form SSA-1695. The complaints also allege that some FOs are not processing the SSA-1695s that are submitted. On April 8, 2008, the president of the National Organization of Social Security Claimant Representatives lodged a formal complaint with SSA; and questioned the policy on how representative fees are released and the workflow for processing of SSA-1695.

Operations staff is currently working with the Office of Retirement and Disability Policy to support an online initiative to reduce this manual workload in the future. Until that initiative is implemented, the procedures below should be followed.

B. Procedures

When the DDS or ODAR hearing offices receives an SSA-1695:
1. DDS and ODAR hearing offices do NOT process SSA-1695s.
2. These offices should send SSA-1695 immediately to the claimant’s servicing FO for processing.

When the FO receives an SSA-1695:
1. Input the information on the Appointed Representative Direct Payment Screens located in POTS, #27 on the SSA Main Menu (If concurrent, input for both Title II and Title XVI cases—verify input posts to records);
2. Prepare and send the manual acknowledgement notice to the representative; and
3. Shred SSA-1695.

NOTE: When an appointed representative does not receive acknowledgement of receipt 30 days after submission of an SSA-1695, he/she is instructed to contact the field office or National 800 Number and then determine if it is necessary to fax the SSA-1695 directly to the field office manager for processing.

When the FO receives a faxed copy of the SSA-1695:
1. Query the appointed representative’s SSN on the Appointed Representative Direct Payment Screens, selection 5, located in POTS, #27 on the SSA Main Menu;
NOTE: If the link is established (if concurrent, verify both Title II and Title XVI cases.)
2. Check ORS to determine if the acknowledgement was sent to the representative, if not;
· Prepare and send the manual acknowledgement notice to the representative; and
· Shred faxed SSA-1695.

OR
1. Query the appointed representative’s SSN on the Appointed Representative Direct Payment Screens, selection 5, located in POTS, #27 on the SSA Main Menu.
NOTE: If the link is not established and no favorable decision has been effectuated, follow existing procedures in GN 03910.042 for processing SSA-1695.
2. Input the information on the Appointed Representative Direct Payment Screens located in POTS, #27 on the SSA Main Menu (if concurrent, input for both Title II and Title XVI cases—verify input posts to records);
3. Prepare and send the manual acknowledgement notice to the representative; and
4. Shred faxed SSA-1695.

When FO does not receive SSA-1695 prior to effectuating the claim:
1. If the SSA-1695 is not present or recorded in POTS prior to effectuation of the claim, and the representative later complains that he/she did not receive direct pay, request proof of timely submission of the SSA-1695.
2. If he/she cannot provide proof of submitting the 1695 prior to effectuation of the claim, follow procedures in GN 03920.017C.3.

When the claim is ready to effectuate/adjudicate a favorable decision; there is an SSA-1696, or written equivalent from a representative; the fee is not waived; and is otherwise eligible for direct pay:
1. Contact the representative;
2. Inform him/her that SSA has not received the SSA-1695,if the representative wants direct payment;
3. Instruct the representative to fax the SSA-1695 immediately.
NOTE: The link must be established before the claim is effectuated.

When the representative provides proof of submitting a 1695 prior to the date the claim was effectuated; and the 1695 is located in the FO after effectuation and receipted in by the FO prior to effectuation; but was not linked or acknowledged:
This is considered an inadvertent release of withheld past-due benefits to the claimant.
Follow procedures in GN 03920.055 if the representative has evidence of submitting the 1695 prior to a favorable decision.

C. Reminders
· After information is input into the system, always send acknowledgement for SSA-1695s; then promptly destroy the paper forms.
· SSA-1695s should never be scanned into the electronic folder nor sent to DDS or ODAR offices.

Additional scenarios for processing SSA-1695 can be found at:
· Appointed Representative Database; and
· Title II Attorney Fee Coding Guide

Direct all program–related and technical questions to your RO support staff or PC OA staff. RO support staff or PC OA staff may refer questions or problems to their Central Office contacts.

You Know Things Are Bad When ...

There is an article in the paper with the headline "Social Security Office Moves Into 'Bat-Free' Location." As the article says, "It was quite startling for the workers."