ABC Story On Social Security Conference In Phoenix

You know it's bad when the title of the piece is Social Security Execs Boogie Down at Lavish Phoenix Conference.

I have been to a lot of conferences but I have never been to one where a motivational dance troupe performed.

Update: From FederalTimes.com:

...[L]eading members of two House and Ways Committee panels are accusing the agency leadership of being tone-deaf in holding the retreat at such a posh resort at a time of high unemployment and record government deficits.

“At a time when millions of Americans are out of work and having to do more with less, and when the SSA has received significant new funding to address near record backlogs after longstanding funding requests made before our subcommittees, it is essential that great care be taken to use administrative funding wisely, in a way that brings the most value to the American people SSA serves,” the members wrote in a July 10 letter to SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue.

Reps. John Tanner, D-Tenn., and Sam Johnson, R-Texas, who are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Social Security subcommittee; and John Linder, R-Ga., who is the top Republican on the income security and family support subcommittee, wrote the letter.

The lawmakers asked Astrue to provide by July 17:

• Details of costs for travel, rooms, meals, speakers, entertainment, conference room rental and equipment charges.

• The number of official hours SSA employees used traveling and attending the conference, as well as the number of employees who attended and their job titles.

• The process used to select the retreat location, including “whether government contracting rules were followed and whether the hotel housing the conference was the lowest bidder.”

House Health Care Bill Does Not Eliminate Medicare Waiting Period

The Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives has released its version of a bill to improve health care in the United States. It is a very long bill and I could have missed something, but I do not think there is anything in it to eliminate the 24 month waiting period for Medicare after one becomes entitled to disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. Actually, the waiting period is more like 29 or 30 months since it is on top of the five month waiting period after becoming disabled before entitlement to cash benefits begins -- and the five months must be full calendar months. Stop work on July 2 and you cannot count July as a waiting period month.

ALJ In Training Blog

Social Security has some recently hired Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) in training somewhere in the D.C. area. One of them is keeping a blog. The latest: Sonia Sotomayor might be staying at the same hotel as the newly minted ALJs. But would she be staying at a Residence Inn?

SSAB Report On PEBES

The Social Security Advisory Board (SSAD) has issued a draft report on what it refers to as "The Social Security Statement," a document that Social Security refers to as the Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement (PEBES). This is the yearly report sent to almost everyone who had earnings in a year showing their earnings history and giving information on projected benefit payments under Social Security.

People spend little time reading their PEBES. I doubt that any improvement in PEBES will help.

House Appropriations Markup Scheduled

The Labor-HHS Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, which includes funding for Social Security, has been scheduled for markup by the entire House Appropriations Committee on July 17 at 9:00. I have still not seen the bill as it cleared subcommittee last week. However, the Chairman's "mark" which was the starting point for subcommittee work, had the same amount for Social Security as President Obama proposed.

Startling Numbers On DDS Backlogs

Courtesy of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) here are some numbers on backlogs at the Disability Determination Services (DDS) which make decisions at the initial and reconsideration levels on Social Security disability claims. The increases in receipts and backlogs are startling. I cannot understand the dramatic differences in new receipts between the states. Certainly, differences in unemployment rates do not explain what is going on.

Hearing Backlog Report

Courtesy of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) here is the most recent report on average processing times at Social Security's hearing offices. Click on each image to see it full size.

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 24, 2009 -- 505 days
• June 3, 2009 -- 505 days
  

Update: There is an error in the document provided by NOSSCR. The offices ranked 1-59 were not reproduced, but the offices ranked 60-188 were repeated. I am sorry, but I am dependent upon what NOSSCR supplies.

Further update: NOSSCR was kind enough to supply me with the correct first page. I have posted it above.

Attorney Advisor Program Extended

From today's Federal Register:

We are extending for two years our rule authorizing attorney advisors to conduct certain prehearing procedures and to issue fully favorable decisions. The current rule is scheduled to expire on August 10, 2009. In this final rule, we are extending the sunset date to August 10, 2011. We are making no other substantive changes.