Business As Usual?

Social Security has made a lot of announcements lately on FedBizOpps.Gov seeking space or services for meetings. Here is a list:

• Front Line Conference
• Front Line Conference
• Conference Support Services and Space
• Front Line Conference
• Regional Award Ceremony and Management Conference
• Workers Compensation Seminar
• Training for SSA Disability Hearing Officers
• Hotel Services - Meeting Space/ Food/ AV Rental
• Conference Room Space
• Conference Space and Support Services for SSA Leadership Conference
  

Many of these meetings may be essential by anyone's definition. However, I have no doubt that the improvement in Social Security's budget situation has a lot to do with the length of this list.

Meetings like these are quite useful for purposes of training and morale. Under normal circumstances, I support them.

You know that a "but" is coming.

If one works at Social Security's central or regional offices, it may be easy to temporarily forget that Social Security is an agency in crisis. Social Security cannot answer its telephones or process its workloads. There are backlogs both visible and hidden all over the agency. The budget situation has improved since Barack Obama became President, but the crisis will not be over until Social Security hires something like 10,000 to 20,000 more employees. We are a long way from that.

Can an agency in crisis afford these meetings? Does scheduling these meetings suggest that some at Social Security think that we are back to business as usual? Some of this money being spent on meetings might be better spent on travel for Social Security brass to get out in the field more.

We will finally know that the crisis is over when Social Security field offices no longer have "private" telephone numbers not given out to claimants. Those "private" numbers are essential now because it is almost impossible to get through to these field offices if you use the phone number in the telephone book. Without the "private" numbers, a school nurse calling to report that the child of a field office employee is sick could never get through. Without the "private" numbers, Social Security management could never get through to the field offices. Discontinue the "private" numbers and I have no problem with these meetings.

Spending The Extra Money

From Social Security's May 1 report to the Office of Management and Budget on how it has used its extra funding under President Obama's economic stimulus package (ARRA) so far:

• Agreed on a monthly reporting cycle with the House Ways and Means Subcommittee starting June 15, 2009.
• Hired 100 employees in the Office of Disability and Adjudication Review - Atlanta (34), Chicago (11), Dallas (10), Denver (3), Kansas City (3), New York (1), Philadelphia (10), San Francisco (24), Seattle (4); Continuing to hire Operations, ODAR and State DDS employees, including 35 Administrative Law Judges.
• Hired 1,510 employees in the Office of Operations - Atlanta (395), Boston (24), Chicago (186), Dallas (165), Denver (29), Kansas City (39), New York (105), Office of Central Operations (154), Philadelphia (145), San Francisco (230), Seattle (38).
• Hired 236 employees in the State Disability Determination Services - Atlanta (118), Boston (5), Chicago (13), Dallas (17), Kansas City (5), New York (2), Philadelphia (31), San Francisco (28), Seattle (17)

Get Out The Pitchforks!

Steny Hoyer's plan to "reform" Social Security is drawing strong opposition at Firedoglake. Worth a read.

Finally

Tomorrow's Federal Register will contain a notice that the Social Security Administration is officially withdrawing the proposal to increase by two years each of the age categories in its regulations on disability. This was proposed while Jo Anne Barnhart was Commissioner of Social Security and drew widespread opposition. It would have had a dramatic effect upon Social Security disability claimants. The rumor was that Barnhart was forced into the proposal by the Office of Management and Budget and did not support it. While it made no progress towards becoming a final rule, it was not withdrawn and could have been adopted at any point. After the election, I had a small concern that it would be adopted as a spiteful act in the final days of the Bush Administration. Similar things happened at other agencies. I am relieved to see this finally and officially killed off.

Update: Here is the link to the notice as published in the Federal Register.

Hearing Processing Time Report

Compare the average processing time as it has changed over time:

• 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
• July 31, 2008 -- 530 days
  
• September 3, 2008 -- 532 days
• November 5, 2008 -- 476 days
  
• December 3, 2008 -- 480 days
• March 8, 2009 -- 499 days
• April 1, 2009 -- 490 days
  

Union Contract To Expire In August

The contract between Social Security and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a labor union that represents most Social Security employees, expires in August 2009. Apparently, contract negotiations are to resume shortly. Given the ill will that exists between the union and Social Security management, these negotiations may be rocky.

Yeah, Right Department

From the Washington Post:

Key lawmakers from both parties have held tentative talks about overhauling the Social Security system, and Congress could turn its attention to the federal retirement program as soon as this fall if a bipartisan consensus emerges, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said yesterday. ...

According to an advance copy of the speech [that Hoyer will deliver today], Hoyer will suggest that Congress could approve "more revenues," "restrain the growth of benefits, particularly for higher-income workers," "and/or we can raise the retirement age, recognizing that our life expectancy is higher today."

Update: Here is a link to Hoyer's speech. Hoyer not only conflates Social Security with Medicare and Medicaid, but also with health care generally. I think that the only way to resolve whatever issues there may be with any of these is to make sure to completely delink them. Social Security, especially, should be delinked since its funding problems are trivial when compared to Medicare, Medicaid or health care. I get the strong impression that Hoyer has little idea what he is talking about. How did he become the House Majority Leader?

Details Emerge On Budget Plan

From today's Wall Street Journal:

The [Obama] budget [for Fiscal Year 2010], scheduled for release Thursday, will include funds for what the White House is calling a "program integrity" initiative, enough to fund 1,100 field officers in the Social Security Administration ...

Budget office officials say every dollar spent by the Social Security Administration to review disability claims will save $11 in erroneous payments. The administration hopes to secure $485 million more in the fiscal year that begins in October -- $4.3 billion over five years -- to plow through the backlog of disability reviews, which determine continued payments for disability insurance and supplemental security income, programs for the poorest of the poor. Recipients continue to receive payments while their eligibility is under review.

We will have to see the details, but only 1,100 additional employees? That is not even enough for a credible program integrity initiative.