Koniag Gets $100 Million Contract

The Baltimore Business Journal reports that Koniag Services, Inc. received a five year $100 million information technology support contract with the Social Security Administration. Koniag is replacing CACI International. Koniag will also be setting up an emergency backup center for Social Security in North Carolina. Koniag's website says that it is an Alaska native-owned company.

Some Sensible Talk About Obama's Plans For Social Security Reform

There has been a good deal of hand-wringing on the left over the prospect of the entitlements summit that President Obama has talked about. The idea is that Peter Orzag, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is the mastermind of a planned raid that will dramatically cut Social Security benefits. Ezra Klein at The American Prospect gives what I think is a much more realistic projection of how this is likely to play out:

That, basically, has been Orszag's project: Talk a lot about the health care crisis and longer-term problems in the budget and get people to stop talking about an illusory crisis in a made-up program called socialsecurityandmedicareandmedicaid. Because what Orszag and [Nobel Pize winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul] Krugman both realize is that Social Security's unfunded liabilities only look like the sort of problem you need to "fix" if you're mixing it in with Medicare's unfunded liabilities. If there's an "entitlements problem" that requires an "entitlements commission" then that will cut Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. If there's no "entitlements problem" and instead a health reform problem and some small questions about a politically electric program, then what you get is health reform -- which is also a way to slow Medicaid and Medicare growth without resorting to cuts -- and an end to the fear-mongering on Social Security. Orszag is one of the good guys here.

NASI To Get A Contract

From a procurement notice posted by Social Security:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) intends to negotiate a sole source agreement with the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) for the purposes of providing services to organize and conduct a 1-day policy research and education seminar that would examine the interactions between workers compensation and SSAs disability programs. ... In order to systematically collect and analyze state data, NASI has organized and heads a Workers Compensation Steering committee comprised of the nations leading experts in workers compensation policy and practice. This unique steering committee provides expertise needed to shape the data collection and review process, as well as the expertise needed to inform NASIs policy related discussions and analyses in the areas of disability and workers compensation. As a result, NASI has the unique expertise to provide the most comprehensive national aggregates and state level estimates of workers compensation costs and benefits, as well as the mechanisms to readily provide the best high level research and analysis as a result of the data they have collected. The seminar is to be conducted in the September/October 2009 timeframe.

Social Security To Begin Using Health Information Newwork

Social Security began obtaining medical records electronically from a hospital in Boston a few months ago. Federal News Radio reports that Social Security will soon begin obtaining medical records electronically from a Richmond, VA regional health information exchange.

You have to wonder when Social Security will begin getting medical records electronically from what used to be called the Smart Corporation, but which is now apparently called HealthPort.

Funny Business With Social Security Ruling

Here are some excerpts from Social Security Ruling 96-8p as it appears on Social Security's website:

Ordinarily, RFC is the individual's maximum remaining ability to do sustained work activities in an ordinary work setting on a regular and continuing basis, and the RFC assessment must include a discussion of the individual's abilities on that basis. ...

It is incorrect to find that an individual has limitations or restrictions beyond those caused by his or her medical impairment(s) including any related symptoms, such as pain, due to factors such as age or height, or whether the individual had ever engaged in certain activities in his or her past relevant work (e.g., lifting heavy weights.)

So what? The italics are in the original and official copy as published in the Federal Register, but not the bold face type. Adding bolding after the fact is inappropriate. Social Security can modify this ruling if it wants, but it is not supposed to do so surreptitiously. Lawyers take a dim view of this sort of thing.

More Openness Required Under Recovery Act

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued instructions for all federal agencies receiving funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). These instructions require an extremely high degree of public accountability and transparency. Here are some items that I found interesting:

• Starting March 3rd, agencies must submit weekly reports providing a breakdown of funding, major actions taken to date, and major planned actions.
• No later than May 1st, agencies must provide their “Agency Recovery Plan” that describes both broad recovery goals and the agency’s coordinating efforts.
• Starting immediately, agencies must ensure all funds provided by the Recovery Act are clearly distinguishable from non-Recovery Act funds in all agency financial systems, business systems (i.e., grant and contract writing systems), and reporting systems.
• To facilitate transparency and reporting, agencies should establish a page on their existing website dedicated to the Recovery Act (i.e., www.agency.gov/recovery), which will link to Recovery.gov and will provide a single portal for all agency-specific information related to the Act.
• Within one week of issuing this guidance, agencies must establish a dedicated page on their website for recovery efforts.

I do not think that Social Security is all that secretive an agency, but it seldom makes the effort to tell the public what it is up to. At least for the ARRA funds, Social Security will have to make that effort. It will be more paperwork for some at Social Security, but there will be people paying attention to that paperwork.

Social Security does not have its "Recovery" page up yet, but these instructions were just issued.

Baltimore Sun Notices Social Security

The Baltimore Sun has finally noticed that there are some stories at the Baltimore area's largest employer. The newspaper has a article today dealing with Michael Astrue's desire to remain as Commissioner of Social Security for his entire term, which ends in January 2013, and the Social Security portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The article quotes Astrue as saying "I'm here. I'm enjoying it ... I'm looking forward to serving President Obama."

A big issue locally is where Social Security's new National Computer Center, partially funded by ARRA, will be located. Astrue says it is impractical to build it in or adjacent to Social Security's central office campus in Woodlawn, a suburb of Baltimore. The 1,000 employees who will be working at the new National Computer Center are concerned that the National Computer Center may be up to 40 miles away from Social Security's central offices where they now work-- and the Baltimore-Washington area has some of the nation's most congested traffic.

New Rules On Special Needs Trusts

David Lillesand, a Florida attorney, has prepared a detailed analysis of the recent changes to Social Security's Program Operations Manual Series (POMS) concerning Special Needs Trusts.

I am not a fan of Special Needs Trusts. I think that in almost every case there is a better way of handling a situation in which a person who is entitled to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) receives a relatively large sum of money from an estate or personal injury settlement. These other methods include paying off debts, making home repairs, buying a home, buying a car, buying clothing, buying appliances and furniture, taking a trip to visit family or friends you have not seen in years because you were too poor to travel, etc. David is well aware of these other means of dealing with this situation and I am aware that if the amount you receive is a million dollars the methods I am suggesting will not be enough. If you are involved in drafting Special Needs Trusts, you need to read David's materials.