India Eager For Social Security Treaty

From The Times of India:

India on Friday said it is keen to have a social security pact with the United States, on the lines New Delhi has with the European countries, to address issues like double payment by companies of both the countries.

"We are interested in a social security dialogue. We have discussed with the US side on the conclusion of what is called a totalisation of agreement by our IT companies," India's new envoy to the US Meera Shankar said at a reception hosted in her honour by the US-India Business Council. ...

"From the US side, interests have been expressed in commencing negotiations on a bilateral treaty and we hope to do that as soon as the new government is in place," she added.

Few native born Americans care about a Social Security treaty between the U.S. and India but this blog gets a lot of hits whenever I mention the subject. This seems to be of considerable importance in India. I suspect the importance to Indians may extend past the financial dimension. Getting a Social Security treaty with the United States may be one of the many signs to Indians that urban India, at least, is moving out of Third World status.

Social Security Hiring The Disabled

Social Security disability claimants who have been denied often ask "If Social Security thinks I can work, will they give me a job?" Now there is someone at Social Security that the claimant can contact As noted earlier, Social Security intends to make a concentrated effort to hire the disabled. Here is a list of the people who will be coordinating the hiring:

Selective Placement Coordinators

Atlanta Region	Alabama , Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee	Stephanie.White
		Stephanie.A.White@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		61 Forsyth St SW
		Suite 22T64
		Atlanta, GA 30303
Boston Region	Connecticut , Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont	Denise Cole
		Denise.Cole@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		JFK Building , Room 2175
		Boston, MA 02203
Chicago Region	Illinois , Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin	Kojuan Almond
		Kojuan.Almond@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		600 W. Madison 3 rd Floor
		Chicago, IL 60661
Dallas Region	Arkansas , Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas	Linda Walters
		Linda.Walters@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		Center for Human Resources
		1301 Young Street, Suite 130
		Dallas, TX 75202
Denver Region	Colorado , Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming	Nanci Tuggle
		Nanci.Tuggle@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		1961 Stout Street, Suite 844
		Denver, CO 80294
Kansas City Region	Iowa , Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska	Jennifer Minor
		Jennifer.Minor@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		601 E. 12 th Street , Room 501 Kansas City, MO 64106
New York Region	New Jersey , New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands	Jaclyn Lurker
		Jaclyn.Lurker@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		Center for Human Resources, SPO-NY 26 Federal Plaza, Room 4020
		New York, NY 10278
Philadelphia Region	Delaware , Maryland (except Headquarters), Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, District of Columbia	Nancy Torres
		Nancy.Torres@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		300 Spring Garden Street - 7 th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19123
San Francisco Region	Arizona , California, Hawaii, Nevada, Guam, Trust Territory of Pacific Islands, American Samoa	Lynn Gonzalez
		SF.MOS.HRC.Staffing.Classification.Tm@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		Center for Human Resources
		1221 Nevin Ave. , 2 nd Floor Richmond, CA 94801
Seattle Region	Alaska , Idaho, Oregon, Washington	Darla Anderson Darla.Anderson@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration Benefits and Employment Services Team, Suite 2900, M/S 292B
		701 Fifth Avenue
		Seattle, WA 98104-7075
Office of Central Operations	Woodlawn, MD	Yesenia Roman
		Yesenia.Roman@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		Office of Central Operations
		1500 Woodlawn Drive
		Baltimore, MD 21241
Office of Disability Adjudication and Review	Nationwide	Lolita McLean Priestly
		Lolita.Priestly.McLean@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		Office of Disability Adjudication and Review
		5107 Leesburg Pike
		Falls Church, VA 22041
Headquarters	Woodlawn, MD	Jim Anderson DCHR.OCREO.Selective.Placement.HQ@ssa.gov
		Social Security Administration
		6401 Security Boulevard
		2601-47 Annex Building
		Baltimore, MD 21235

Waiting In Texas

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Linda King says diabetes and heart problems forced her to quit her office job and apply for disability benefits in January 2007. ...

Two years and five months later, she still waits.

King, who was initially turned down for benefits, is among more than 750,000 Americans trapped in a backlog of disputed Social Security disability claims. Applicants who seek an appeal hearing sometimes wait years for one.

AFGE Not Buying That Social Security Is A Good Place To Work

From a press release sent out by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the labor union which represents most Social Security employees:

"While we applaud the noble endeavor of the Partnership for Public Service to recognize excellency in federal government agencies, we can't ignore the unfiltered facts that come to us from our members at SSA -- that the policies put in place by SSA Commissioner Astrue continue to press unnecessary hardships on employees and degrade one of the nation's most responsive and best-run public agencies into a troubled organization that no longer serves the best interests of retired and disabled Americans and their families." ...

"Since its inception, Social Security employees have delivered quality service to America's retired and disabled. It is tragic that their ability to perform this service has been hindered by faulty leadership," concluded [John] Gage [the head of the union].

CE Study

From a notice from Social Security posted on FedBisOpps.Gov:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a requirement for contractor services that provide SSA with independent analysis and documentation regarding the quality of current consultative exams (CEs) used in the determination of disability. Additionally, the contractor would assess if CEs are being requested in compliance with SSA regulations; determine the methodology of a functional data collection system; establish a baseline for CE quality; and determine those initiatives that will improve the quality of future CEs.

Ninth On The List

Alyssa Rosenberg reports on FedBlog that the Partnership for Public Service annual rankings of best large federal agencies to work for is out. Here is the list:

1. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
2. Government Accountability Office
3. National Aeronatics and Space Administration
4. Intelligence Community
5. Department of State
6. Environmental Protection Agency
7. Department of Justice
8. General Services Adminsitration
9. Social Security Administration
10. Department of Commerce
11. Securities and Exchange Commission
12. Department of Veterans Affairs
13. Department of the Army
14. Department of the Navy
15. Department of the Air Force
16. Defense Department (Tie)
17. Department of the Treasury
18. Department of Labor
19. Department of Energy
20. Office of Personnel Management.

Interesting who finished in last place.

Shutting Down A Scam

From Emergency Message EM 09039, issued on May 15:

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has advised SSA of an order against the Bank of Agriculture and Commerce in Stockton, CA to “cease and desist” their alleged unsafe and unsound bank practices involving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit payments.

The FDIC’s investigation uncovered that the Bank of Agriculture and Commerce maintained a relationship with a third party, Petz Enterprises, Inc. (PEI), to solicit SSA/SSI beneficiaries for direct deposit of their payments and to deposit the benefits into a master account in the name of PEI. PEI, in turn, contracted out with check cashers, payday lenders, and retail merchants to enroll beneficiaries in their direct deposit program and disburse payments to the beneficiaries using questionable practices.

The investigation discovered instances where these check cashers; payday lenders and small retail merchants withheld the whole amount or a significant amount of the beneficiary’s benefit payment (e.g., transaction fees, cashing fees, short-term loans, and financing secured by upcoming benefit payments, repayment of loans, etc.) These practices left some beneficiaries in need of further short-term loans in order to meet their basic living expenses. ...

In response to the order to cease and desist, the Bank, FDIC, and SSA are working closely to inform the affected individuals of the need to make alternative payment arrangements by August 1, 2009 for receipt of future benefit payments.

When will Social Security shut down Allsup's similar arrangement?

Ticket To Work Remains A Sacred Cow

I did not have time to watch the House Social Security Subcommittee hearing today on the Ticket to Work program but judging by the prepared statements, none of the speakers was willing to be politically incorrect enough to call Ticket to Work what it is -- a well-intentioned but expensive failure. How much more money will be spent on this before Congress finally admits the obvious?