ALJ Database

As part of the story about backlogs at Social Security discussed above, The Oregonian has posted a database online that shows the number of dispositions per Administrative Law Judge, by outcome, for each of the last four years.

From taking a look at it, I can take an educated guess that this lumps dismissals of requests for hearings with denials, which can be misleading, particularly for Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judges (HOCALJs). HOCALJs typically issue all or most of the dismissals for an entire hearing office when a request for hearing is clearly filed too late or too early.

New Disability Entitlement Program Proposed

They have not been making much noise about it so far, but some important disability advocacy groups are proposing a new entitlement program for the disabled. The name given to this proposal is CLASS, Communtity Living Assistance Services And Supports Act. The proposal is for a program run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), but if this ever happens, I think it is a good deal more likely to be run by the Social Security Administration. Here are some details of the proposal:

• Financed through voluntary payroll deductions of $30 per month (with opt-out enrollment like Medicare Part B)
• Any individual who is at least 18 years old and actively working would be automatically enrolled (unless they opt out), and pay their premiums through payroll deduction or another alternative method. Any nonworking spouse could enroll in the program and pay their premiums through an alternative payment procedure.
• To qualify for CLASS Act benefits, individuals must be at least 18 years old and have contributed to the program for at least 5 years. Eligibility for benefits would be determined by state disability determination centers and will be limited to: (1) individuals who are unable to perform two or more activities of daily living (ADL) (e.g. eating, bathing, dressing), or (2) individuals who, due to a cognitive or psychiatric impairment, require supervision, cueing, or hands-on assistance to engage in activities that will enable the individual to perform at least 2 of the following critical life functions: communicating; taking medications; household management; and basic money management.
• To account for differences in independence support needs, there would be two cash benefit tiers. Tier 1 benefits ($50/day) will be payable to eligible individuals who are unable to perform 2 or 3 ADLs or have a cognitive or psychiatric impairment requiring assistance with 2 or 3 critical life functions. Tier 2 benefits ($100/day) will be payable to individuals who are unable to perform 4 or more ADLs or have a cognitive or psychiatric impairment requiring assistance with 4 or more critical life functions.
• Eligibility for CLASS Act benefits would not have any effect on eligibility for Social Security retirement, survivors, or disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, Medicare, or Medicaid.
  

There are some problems with this proposal beyond the obvious one of whether it is possible to enact a new entitlement program even in the current political climate. I have strong doubts that the $30 a month deductions would begin to cover the costs of this program. It would be quite difficult to administer. It would exclude those who have been disabled since birth, who are the people most in need of such benefits. Still, I have to give high marks for audacity to those sponsoring this proposal. I hope this gets serious consideration.

Grievance On ALJ Productivity Standards

A grievance that several Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) filed against the Social Security Administration in the Chicago region has been posted online. The grievance concerns the production standard that has been more or less established at Social Security that each ALJ should produce 500-700 decisions per year. The grievance argues at some length that the standard is illegal and unreasonable. It is also unenforceable, but that does not mean that it is unimportant.

What Would Open Government Mean At Social Security?

From Amy Harder at the Lost in Transition blog:

Fast-forward 10 or 20 years and you might see a Congress that passes "wikied" legislation created by millions of Americans, a president who submits a daily diary via video, and a vast online repository of all the Freedom of Information Act requests ever submitted.

Rewind back to today, and you'll see a handful of innovative, tech experts discussing these ideas at Google's Washington headquarters. During a panel discussion today, a packed room listened to Internet-savvy people within Congress, from the presidential campaign and third parties weigh in on how President-elect Obama should use the Web to promote open government.

So, what sort of things should the Social Security Administration do to promote open government? What are your ideas?

I will start by mentioning one small area. Social Security should quit keeping most of its Emergency Messages to its staff secret. Anything that is available to tens of thousands of Social Security employees cannot be truly sensitive. Social Security employees do not have to engage in the old school bureaucratic nonsense of keeping pointless secrets to prove their importance. I already think Social Security employees are important. Knock off the pointless secrecy, Social Security.

Judge Judy And Disability

The clip that I posted from the Judge Judy show may not be the first time that the subject of Social Security disability benefits has come up on her show. Here are some comments from the web about two other Judge Judy shows.

• Judge Judy just had a case with a woman who was the defendant and losing and Judy did her usual grilling. She asked the woman if she worked and she said no, that she was on SSI. Judy asked the nature of her disability and she answered "multiple sclerosis." "Well, you look fine to me!" Judy said haughtily. MS World Board February 14, 2008
• We LOVED the guy on Judge Judy who sued his wife (or ex wife) for selling his musical instruments, in order to feed their children. He said he needed them in order to earn $100 a night, playing in a band. This was the only work he could do, under the table, to supplement his SSI. HUH? Judge Judy declared the instruments "marital property" and said the wife was within her rights, to sell them. She added that someone from Social Security was going to see the show and would be very interested in his case. Etiquette Hell Forum April 19, 2007

Etiquette Hell! An appropriate forum to discuss Judge Judy.

OIG Report On Processing Time

Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has done a report on the agency's processing times on Social Security disability claims. It seems to me to show that a lot of the processing time figures given out by Social Security over the years may be misleading or at least may not accurately reflect what a claimant would experience. OIG was doing a study on calendar year 2006. Social Security reported that in 2006, the average processing time at the initial level was 88 days, 483 days at the hearing level and 203 days at the Appeals Council. OIG's audit found that it actually took 131 days at the inital level, 532 days at the hearing level and 242 days at the Appeals Council. OIG's description of how they did this study could be better, but it appears that the difference is that OIG included the time it took for the agency to get a new claim or appeal to the desk of the person who was supposed to work on it and also included the time it took for favorable and unfavorable decisions to be processed after they were made, including the time it took to compute and pay benefits when favorable decisions were made. It looks like OIG did not include the time it took claimants to file appeals, so the actual experience of a claimant would be even worse.

NOSSCR Comments On Proposed Scheduling Rules

The National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) has posted its comments on the proposed regulations that would allow the Social Security Administration to remove any control that an individual Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has on scheduling hearings. NOSSCR's comments express concern that the proposal would diminish ALJ indepedence and that it is a distraction from the vastly larger problem of lack of adequate staffing at Social Security.

File your own comment online. The deadline for comments is January 9, 2009.

Judge Judy Gives A Lecture