Barking Up The Wrong Tree

I don't know whether to post this or just avert my eyes from someone making making a fuss about something he does not understand. From a press release issued by Senator Grassley (R-Iowa):

Senator Chuck Grassley said his survey of private insurers has found that some are needlessly contributing to the Social Security disability backlog, and he urged the Social Security Administration to recommit itself to preventing disability benefit application fraud and to work with the Inspector General to penalize and prosecute those filing false disability claims. ...

Grassley’s said his conclusions about the way private plans are burdening the public program are based on his review of responses from nine major insurance companies to an inquiry he made late last year about private insurers’ policies and practices concerning disability insurance claims.

Every insurer surveyed by Grassley said it “encouraged, requested, required, expected, asked or suggested” that long-term disability claimants apply for Social Security disability payments once a claim is approved. One private insurer requires that individuals apply. All nine of the insurers’ policies reduce claimants’ disability benefits by the assumed amount of Social Security disability insurance benefits unless it granted an exception. Four private insurers provided information to Grassley about approval rates for Social Security disability claims. Of those four, three had approval rates generally below all disability claims processed by the Social Security Administration.

My experience is that the Social Security disability claims of Long Term Disability (LTD) recipients have very good prospects of success. on Social Security disability claims. Why shouldn't LTD carriers encourage their beneficiaries to apply for Social Security disability benefits? The LTD carriers have more at stake than the claimant. Almost all of these claimants will eventually apply anyway. The sooner, the better for them, since they have a stake in the Social Security disability claim also, because of the Cost of Living Adjustment that applies to Social Security disability benefits but not LTD -- and for other reasons not worth detailing here. I have no idea where Grassley is getting his information about LTD recipients having a lower chance of success. I am nearly certain that he misunderstood something.

It is easy to think that there is something scandalous about the offset in LTD plans for Social Security disability benefits. However, without that offset, the costs of LTD would be far too high and no one would have LTD. Far better to have LTD with an offset for Social Security disability benefits than no LTD at all. Most people just misunderstand what LTD is about, probably because the insurance companies do not go out of their way to explain it. Mostly, LTD insures against the delays and uncertainties in the Social Security disability programs. When you think about it that way, things start to make sense. Also, when you think about it that way, you start to wonder whether the real problem is with the delays and uncertainties at Social Security.

Remember, I do not even like the LTD carriers. They jerk too many of my clients around, not by making them apply for Social Security disability benefits, but by cutting off their LTD benefits inappropriately. I only defend the LTD carriers on this issue because it is a bum rap and a distraction from the real problem at Social Security, which is primarily a lack of staff.

Mom On Ice

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

An upstate New York man has been accused of stashing his 98-year-old mother's dead body in a freezer in their home so he could keep cashing her Social Security checks.

State police say they discovered Herta Auslander's body in a freezer chest in October after receiving a tip she had died more than a year earlier. An autopsy concluded she died of natural causes.

Astrue On Obama's Body Language And Social Security Solvency

I missed this piece from March 9 in the St. Louis Beacon (emphasis added):

Are you concerned that Social Security will go broke before you reach retirement age?

Michael Astrue, the commissioner of the Social Security Administration, certainly isn't.

Not only that, but Astrue (right) -- who was appointed to the post by President George W. Bush -- believes the issue of insolvency will be addressed before the end of President Barack Obama's first term in office. ...

Astrue said the Obama administration has shown strong interest in tackling the issue of solvency, but he doesn't expect movement until the current debate over health care reform is resolved. ...

In one of his more unusual observations, Astrue said that he sees evidence of Obama's commitment in his body language.

"He has a hand gesture that he makes when he talks about Social Security being a solvable issue," Astrue said. ...

"It is an extraordinary time. ... There are huge amounts of money going out with very little consideration and thought for oversight, and things are being cobbled together after the fact. But, generally, there is an attitude of trying to get some things done in a new and different way."

2008 Annual Statistical Supplement Released

Social Security has released its Annual Statistical Supplement for 2008. This contains every imaginable statistic on Social Security other than basic data on operations at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, which for some perverse reason is never presented. Here is one table of interest:

Number of work years, fiscal years 1995–2007

Year	Full-time permanent staff	Total work years
1995	62,504	67,063
1996	62,133	66,726
1997	61,224	69,378
1998	59,943	67,210
1999	59,752	66,459
2000	60,434	65,521
2001	61,490	65,562
2002	61,914	65,742
2003	63,569	65,343
2004	63,186	66,154 c
2005	63,696	68,026 d
2006	61,692	66,878
2007	60,206	63,939

Claimants Getting Shortchanged?

I just noticed this in Social Security's Program Operations Manual Series (POMS) §SI 00206,200.A.1 (emphasis added):

It is longstanding SSI policy to deduct the expenses of obtaining income from that income before counting it in the SSI eligibility and payment computations. See SI 00830.100. In all title II and title XVI offset cases these expenses include any attorney or nonattorney representative fees that apply to the title II benefits, even if part of the fee is determined based on title XVI past-due benefits. These expenses may also include out-of-pocket expenses that are not part of the fee but are paid by or billed to the claimant.

I know how to notify Social Security of the out of pocket expenses paid by my clients under the fee petition process, but how am I supposed to notify them of the costs under the fee agreement process, which is used about 98% of the time? It looks to me as if Social Security never developed a process for this and that claimants are getting shortchanged as a result. I cannot be the first person to notice this. What is the history on this?

Spend The Money On Computers And Combatting Fraud

Take a look at the opening statement given by the Ranking Republican member of the Social Security Subcommittee, Sam Johnson, at the hearing this week. I will paraphrase: I give lip service to customer service at Social Security, but what is really important to me is making sure that any extra operating funds given to the Social Security Administration be spent on contractors and on combatting fraud, which I am sure is rampant at Social Security.

Not Soon Enough

From the WSPA "Problem Solver:"

Debbie Satterfield turns the pages of her daughter Jennifer’s life… a 32-year-old who’s life was cut short earlier this month after battling cervical cancer.

We introduced you to Jennifer [Satterfield] last year…her mother by her side as she fought for years to get disability benefits from the Social Security Administration. At the time, SSA said the “condition(s) is not severe enough to be considered disabling.“ ...

With our help that battle ended. ...

Now, more than seven months later SSA has only sent a portion of that money.

“It’s not fair,“ said Debbie. “Why should people die waiting for money that’s due them?“

During a phone interview from Atlanta, SSA’s Patti Patterson told us because Jennifer was receiving two types of benefits…disability (SSDI) and supplemental security income (SSI)...by law SSA had up to a year and a half to send her back pay for part of her benefits....

Debbie says the wait simply isn’t fair…especially since her daughter waited years to get approved.

“It angers me a lot because now she is dead and she can’t enjoy that money that was due her,“ said Debbie.

Update: It appears that Social Security made a mistake here. The statute says that SSI back benefits are not supposed to be paid in installments if the claimant is expected to die within less than twelve months. (Of course, the Social Security field office may not have realized that she was terminal.) Unfortunately, since the claimant is dead, there is nothing to do about this. However, a very smart reader also pointed out that it looks like something can still be done to get these children more of those back benefits. The windfall offset was computed based upon SSI back benefits being paid. Most of those SSI back benefits were never paid due to this woman's death. The windfall offset should be recomputed and more money paid.

Biden And Astrue Press Release

A press release from Social Security:

Vice President Joe Biden and Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced today that the federal government will send out $250 economic recovery payments to people who receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits beginning in early May 2009 and continuing throughout the month. No action is required to get the payment, which will be sent separately from the person’s regular monthly payment.

"The Social Security Administration and Commissioner Astrue have been working closely with other federal agencies to get these payments out the door in record time and into the hands of folks who need it most," said Vice President Biden. "These are checks that will make a big difference in the lives of older Americans and people with disabilities - many of whom have been hit especially hard by the economic crisis that has swept across the country."

“We have been working diligently to issue the $250 one-time recovery payments as soon as possible,” Commissioner Astrue said. “The legislation requires extensive coordination with other federal agencies and I’m pleased we are on track to issue these recovery payments earlier than the statute requires. Soon more than $13 billion will be in the hands of more than 50 million Americans.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides for a one-time payment of $250 to adult Social Security beneficiaries, and to SSI recipients, except those receiving Medicaid in care facilities. To receive the payment the individual must be eligible for Social Security or SSI during the months of November 2008, December 2008 or January 2009.

The legislation also provides for a one-time payment to Veterans Affairs (VA) and Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) beneficiaries. The VA and RRB will be responsible for paying individuals under their respective programs. However, if someone receives Social Security and SSI, VA or RRB benefits, he or she will receive only one $250 payment. People getting Social Security or SSI should not contact the agency unless a payment is not received by June 4, 2009.