AFGE On Air

From an American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) press release:

A myriad of problems facing the Social Security Administration (SSA), including underfunding and eroding leadership, will be addressed this week on AFGE's "Inside Government" radio show. The show will air on Friday, June 12 at 10 a.m. EDT nationwide on Federal News Radio at www.federalnewsradio.com and 1500 AM in the Washington, D.C., area.

Two leaders from AFGE's National Council of SSA Field Operations Locals, President Witold Skwierczynski and Legislative Chair Dana Duggins, will break down the agency's issues. Skwierczynski will start by detailing efforts to remove Commissioner Michael Astrue, including a vote of "no confidence" by the union and a scathing report by the Government Accountability Office. Duggins then will expand upon a gag order instructing employees to stop assisting claimants as they had in the past.

Proposed Rules On Military Pay And SSI

From today's Federal Register:

We propose to revise our rules to clarify that, for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) purposes, we do not consider any combat-related military pay as income when we determine whether spouses and children of members of the uniformed services are eligible for SSI.

One In Seven To Face Cuts In Benefits

From a press release issued by The Senior Citizens League:

Close to seven million seniors -- one in every seven -- will receive a smaller Social Security check next year... Millions of other seniors who do not have their Medicare premiums automatically deducted from their checks will also have fewer Social Security dollars leftover next year.

These seniors will be affected because their Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is forecast to be zero next year, while their Medicare Part B (doctors' visits, tests, and outpatient hospital care), Part C (Medicare Advantage) and/or Part D (prescription drugs) premiums are forecast to rise.

Affected seniors generally fall into one of two groups, if not both:

1. MEDICARE PART B: HOLD HARMLESS PROVISION: Approximately three million seniors will endure cuts because they are not protected by a "hold harmless" provision that prevents the vast majority of beneficiaries from receiving smaller Social Security checks in years when Medicare Part B premiums exceed the COLA. Two groups of seniors will not receive hold harmless protection in 2010:
   1. MEANS TESTING: 2,121,500 beneficiaries who pay higher premiums due to Part B "means testing." Individuals with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) above $85,000 and couples over $170,000 are affected.
   2. NEW ENROLLEES: 848,000 new enrollees will pay the 2010 premium rate, forecast by Medicare's Trustees to be $104.20 per month, instead of the current rate of $96.40 per month that tens of millions of seniors will continue to pay next year due to hold harmless.
2. MEDICARE PARTS C & D: More than 3.8 million other seniors will see smaller Social Security checks next year due solely to likely increases in Medicare Parts C and D, for which no hold harmless provision exists. Note: Millions of other seniors will also be affected, as our estimate includes just those who will have automatic reductions to their Social Security checks. Additional millions of seniors who pay plans directly will also have fewer Social Security dollars leftover next year.

SSI Stats By County

Social Security has released the 2008 edition of its report on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients by state and county. The disparities between rich and poor counties in my state, North Carolina, are stunning. One of 18 residents of Robeson County, NC is on SSI. Only one of 87 residents of Wake County, NC is on SSI.

Representing Claimants In New York From Idaho

Gabe Hermann reports in his New York Social Security Disability Lawyer blog that the Westchester Department of Social Services has contracted with an organization based in Idaho to represent Social Security disability claimants in his area. Apparently, this is being done to help get people off General Assistance (GA) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The Idaho outfit is trying to get Mr. Hermann's clients to fire him.

I think this is outrageous for at least a couple of reasons.

Getting Ready For A Party

Social Security turns 75 on August 14, 2010. Social Security is already soliciting suggestions on how to celebrate the occasion.

Fee Payment Info

The Social Security Administration has posted updated information on fees paid to attorneys and others for representing Social Security claimants.

Fee Payments
Month/Year	Volume	Amount
Jan-09	28,423	$101,128,880.69
Feb-09	31,352	$112,791,207.17
Mar-09	29,199	$104,155,187.96
Apr-09	30,963	$110,133,425.19
May-09	36,603	$126,725,262.45

"Truth, Justice and the American People" -- I'm Not Being Sarcastic -- Read To The End

From: |||ODAR ODC

Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 3:00 PM

Subject: Deputy Commissioner Broadcast for June

Deputy Commissioner Broadcast
Date: June 5, 2009

Subject: Disability Hearings Backlog Continues to Go Down

Incredible job, everyone. This is the fifth consecutive month that our pending has declined. Each of you is to be commended for your commitment to work down the disability hearings backlog. Your hard work and dedication are improving the lives of many Americans who are in dire need.

State of the Disability Backlog

Again in May, we exceeded our disposition target and continued to reduce the pending. We are now at 750,601 cases – a drop in the disability backlog of 5,506 cases. Our pending is currently at 10,212 cases below the fiscal year (FY) 2009 opening pending, and we are 3,999 cases below our end of the fiscal year goal.

Processing Time

Our processing time remained at 505 days in May. The fiscal year to date processing time is 494 days – 22 days below the revised fiscal year target of 516 days.

Moving Off the Low Performing Hearing Office List

Congratulations to the Seattle and Oklahoma City hearing offices for their increased productivity and hard work.

Hiring Update

By the end of the FY 2009, I expect that we will have hired an additional 959 new staff – over and above the hiring we do for attrition.

Earlier this year, we hired 140 new staff.

For the 710 new hires that we are presently working on, we have commitments from 88% of those we have made offers to and approximately 70% are already working in offices nationwide. All the Regions are stepping up to the plate to make the June 30 deadline.

Recently, the Commissioner gave us permission to hire an additional 109 new staff – 36 in the Regions and the remainder in Falls Church.

We have made 151 offers to new ALJs and hope to soon hire an additional 6. In October, we hope to hire an additional 25-50 new ALJs. Also, of great importance to our efforts to work down the disability backlog, is our ability to hire 208 new ALJs in FY 2010. We are working with OPM to get the ALJ register refreshed as soon as possible.

New ODAR Offices

We expect the offices to be completed and ready for occupancy by September 2010. Headquarters and the Regions are working well together to make this happen.

Hearing Offices

Akron,OH Madison,WI Tallahassee, FL

Auburn,WA Mt. Pleasant, MI Toledo, OH

Covington,GA Phoenix,AZ Topeka, KS

Fayetteville,NC St. Petersburg, FL Valparaiso, IN

Livonia, MI

Satellite Offices Office Expansions

Anchorage,AK Las Vegas, NV

Boise, ID Rochester, NY (satellite office)

Fort Myers, FL Sioux Falls, SD (satellite office)

Harlingen, TX

We are still working with the Regions to find space for all the centralized units.

Senate Finance Committee Hearing

The Senate Finance Committee hearing, originally scheduled for May 19, was postponed.

National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR)

In mid-May, I spoke to NOSSCR at their conference in Washington, DC, and shared with them a list of best practices for claimants’ representatives compiled from people in the Regions. They are posted at http://odar.ba.ssa.gov/odarweb/ocalj/Best_Practices.htm.

Disability Determination Services (DDS) Forum

The SSA/DDS Forum convened in Detroit last month was the first such national meeting to focus on the DDS/ODAR relationship. I have asked Robbie Watts, my Senior Advisor, to find ways to improve the relationship between ODAR and the DDSs.

Good Discussions with Unions

I have now personally met with representatives from each of the unions and our discussions have been very constructive.

Also, I have shared ODAR’s current Service Delivery Plan with them and intend to post the document to the Intranet in the near future, so all can see.

CD Burning Initiative

We are working with the Office of Systems to identify alternatives to the current CD burning process, which has caused many of our systems performance issues. We expect to implement the CD burning initiative in the 2^nd quarter of FY 2010. I had hoped that we would have been able to move faster on this initiative.

I am committed to providing the information and resources necessary for you to carry out our mission. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. We should be very proud of our efforts to date. However, there still remains much to be accomplished.

David V. Foster

Deputy Commissioner

"Truth, Justice and the American People"