Social Security Had It All Planned For The Occupational Information Panel

Social Security's Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel has been meeting since February working on the issue of what Social Security should do about the obsolete Dictionary of Occupational Titles, a key component in determining disability at Social Security.

The minutes of the first meeting of the Panel held in February have been released. They demonstrate that Social Security already had a good idea of what it wanted. Indeed, you have to wonder whether the Panel was set up merely to validate what Social Security already planned to do.

Here are some excerpts (emphasis added):

Richard Balkus, Associate Commissioner, Office of Program Development and Research, Social Security Administration

Associate Commissioner Balkus described updating occupational data as a long-recognized need for our Social Security Disability Insurance program and our Supplemental Security Income Program and the goal of developing the parameters for the content model for the Occupational Information System. He reiterated the expectation that by the end of September, the Panel would provide direction in terms of how we approach the development of a classification system for a new occupational information system designed specifically for use in SSA’s disability programs. ...

Associate Commissioner Richard Balkus informed the Panel that SSA will undertake a research project of a national sample using electronic folders to examine cases decided at the initial and hearings levels. SSA will capture the DOT title and identify how that job was identified by the applicant. SSA will also evaluate the RFC [Residual Functional Capacity] and MRFC [Mental RFC] process used in the decision. ...

Sylvia Karman, Panel Member and Project Director, Occupational Information Development Project, Office of Program Development, Social Security Administration

Sylvia Karman discussed short term and long term plans for replacing the DOT. The short term efforts consist of two projects--one for a contract that involves a private sector DOT formatted occupational software and a second contract for an independent evaluation of the software product to determine if it can be used in SSA’s disability program. The long-term project involves developing an integrated Occupational Information System. "System," really means a classification. This will include an ongoing process to update occupational information and keep SSA’s policy current. SSA will use an integrated approach which means it will not rely on just one approach in data collection or one approach in terms of measurement. SSA will use outreach with the Occupation Information System Development (OISD) workgroup; private sector professional associations that are stakeholders; and the OIDAP FACA panel. Plans for the long-term include development of a content model and the initial classification of job demands. SSA will also test the data collection instruments used in the new system. SSA will also conduct a study to evaluate occupations that SSA claimants are currently performing. SSA will then formulate policy to incorporate the new system into SSA’s processes. ...

After much discussion, the Panel identified six broad categories for the content model that could apply to the work and person side: Physical; Cognitive; Behavioral; Environmental/Contextual/Work Site; Perceptual/Sensory; and, Skills.

Social Security is only giving the Panel seven months? Social Security had already planned two major projects for replacing the DOT before the Panel ever started meeting? What impact can this Panel have on what Social Security does? This is not how I thought Advisory Committees worked, but maybe I was just naive.

Half A Million Using Treasury Direct

From what is labeled as a Department of the Treasury press release, but which sounds like it comes from Comerica Bank:

One year after introducing a low-cost prepaid debit card option for Social Security check recipients, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS) reports that more than half a million Americans have signed up for the Direct Express® Debit MasterCard®. According to a new survey of cardholders, 95 percent say they are satisfied with the card and 86 percent say they would recommend it to family members or friends who receive a federal benefit payment. ...

Treasury's financial agent - Dallas-based Comerica Bank - issues this nationally available card exclusively for payment of federal Social Security benefits. Americans currently receiving Social Security or SSI checks may sign up for the card by calling toll-free 1-877-212-9991, visiting www.USDirectExpress.com or talking to their local Social Security office.

AFGE Wins On Transit Subsidies

A press release from the American Federation of Government Employees, the labor union that represents most Social Security employees:

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has achieved an impressive victory in the fight for Social Security employees’ rights to increased transit subsidies. AFGE Local 3615 filed a grievance against the SSA for failing to follow Presidential Executive Order 13150, in which qualified Social Security employees be provided with an increased transit subsidy to cover commuting costs.

Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue had once claimed that there was no money available to subsidize an increase in transit benefits. Yet in the past month he has faced intense public scrutiny after sending SSA executive officials to an extravagant three-day “Management Tango” at the Arizona Biltmore. The controversy surrounding SSA employee transit benefits was another misstep he couldn’t afford.

“AFGE is pleased to see Asture made one right decision by choosing to grant SSA employees the transit subsidy they deserve,” said AFGE National President John Gage. “However, his perpetual disregard for SSA employees while he has been commissioner continues to be inexcusable.”

AFGE along with AFL-CIO and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) stand together for Commissioner Astrue’s removal from the SSA office. “Commissioner Astrue has worn out his welcome at the Social Security Administration. It is time he make another good decision and step down from office,” concluded Gage.

PTSD Predictor?

From VA Watchdog. org:

The wellness company Allostatix has struggled to find a foothold selling Corporate America on the idea that its blood test can act as an early warning system for employee health problems.

Now, it’s hoping to make a deal with the military to show that the same test can predict which soldiers will struggle most with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Allostatix has been working with the Department of Defense to get the go-ahead to try to predict PTSD, which would begin with a study of active-duty soldiers and units of the Kentucky Army National Guard. The company recently raised $200,000, in part to be ready if the military approves the project, according to company executives and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ...

The 4-year-old company, located just off the Xavier University campus in Cincinnati, is built around a blood test that measures allostatic load: the concept that the body’s stress response can accelerate disease and affect organs, including the heart. Allostatix’s test measures the damage and predicts (as far as five years out with 85 percent accuracy, according to the company) where a person’s health is heading.

I Had Noticed ...

I had noticed that President Obama's portrait replaced former President Bush's picture in Social Security offices shortly after the inauguration, but while former Vice President Chaney's picture was removed, it was not replaced. It turns out that it is not just Social Security that is missing Joe Biden's picture -- his picture is MIA at all federal agencies. But take heart Joe Biden fans, relief is coming. The Biden pictures are in the hands of the General Services Administration (GSA) and will be distributed to federal offices shortly.

Those familiar with the bureaucracy realize that the real question here is not why the Biden picture is getting out late. No, the real question is how the perpetually tardy GSA got the Obama picture out promptly. Could it have been the transition office that distributed those Obama pictures rather than GSA? Inquiring minds want to know.

Sad And Confusing Story

From WHO-TV in Des Moines:

A 42-year-old Newton woman is almost out of medical supplies needed for dialysis. The Social Security benefits she has relied on for two years to pay for the supplies have been canceled. ...

Garner has had problems with her kidneys since she was a child. Two years ago the situation worsened.

"A doctor told me within five years I'd have be going on dialysis; five years turned into one month later and they put a catheter in," says Garner.

Diagnosed with the end stages of kidney failure, Dawn was forced to give up her position as a certified nurse's assistant. ...

She spends eleven hours each day on a home dialysis machine. The only way to pay for it is by drawing disability benefits through Social Security. This past month she learned the benefits were canceled. ...

According to the Social Security Office in Marshalltown, Dawn's husband received an inheritance when his father passed away in 2007; therefore Dawn was over paid more than $10,000 in benefits.

Dawns says the couple has been separated for over a year and the divorce will be final on September 12th.

This makes no sense to me either. I hope it can be sorted out soon.

Disability Claims Surging

The Associated Press reports that Social Security is expecting a wave of disability claims in coming months. The agency now expects 3.3 million new disability claims in the next year, an estimate that went up from 3 million in just the last five months. The number of people awaiting an initial determination on a disability claim has gone up from 556,000 to 736,000 over the last eight months.

Update: A Scripps story on the same topic says that Social Security is expecting 40% more disability claims this year than last.

Big Contract For Verizon

From a press release:

Verizon Business has won a new $140 million task order to continue work for the Social Security Administration under the company’s existing contract with the government agency.

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), that is based in Ashburn, will provide Internet protocol (IP) and data services to the administration through 2017 under terms of the new order, if all options to continue the work are exercised.

Work will include updating the portion of the administration’s network it uses to connect with external business partners to a new IP platform based on multi-protocol label switching technology. Verizon Business already completed a similar update for the Social Security Administration’s internal network.