Happy 74th Birthday, Social Security!

Make It Readable

From a recent issuance of Social Security's Program Operations Manual Series (POMS) concerning standards for notices issued by Social Security:

Know your audience. Write to your average reader. Do not write to the experts, lawyers, or advocates unless they are your intended audience.

It is important to use short sentences as often as possible. The longer and more complex a sentence, the harder it is for readers to understand.

When writing notices:

• Write at the sixth to eighth-grade reading level.

• Use an average sentence length of no more than 15–20 words.

• Use no more than seven lines per paragraph.

• Use short, common words whenever possible.

The article tells Social Security employees to use Microsoft Word software to score notices on readibility.

There is another POMS issuance on the font and font size to use in notices, as well as the type of paper to print the notices on.

Rwanda Ahead Of U.S. In Online Access To Social Security Records

From allAfrica.com:

Pensioners with the Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR) can now access their social security accounts by use of mobile phones and the Internet.

The developments introduced recently are aimed at facilitating SSFR's members in knowing their social security contributions. James Nsabimana, the Director of Contributors Education and Customer Relation Department said that this is an easy way of checking one's social security status.

27% Jump In Disability Claims This Year

This is the day for interesting statistics to jump out at me from mundane articles. Information Week has an article on Social Security's plans for accessing electronic medical records. The article contains no news until you get to the fifth paragraph where unnamed Social Security officials are reported to have said that the agency expects a 27% increase in the number of disability claims filed this fiscal year. We are nearing the end of the fiscal year so this projection will probably turn out to be fairly accurate. Previously, the agency had been projecting a 40% increase in disability claims for this fiscal year, so this may be an improvement. However, the article talks of 3.3 million claims this year, which is the same number that Social Security had been talking about earlier. I do not know why this is reported as a 27% increase at one time and a 40% increase at another time.

I Don't Think I Had Heard This Before

Near the end of a mundane article in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette about a Social Security public affairs specialist is a number I find surprising. The public affairs specialist is quoted as saying that 34% of those filing for Social Security retirement benefits now do so online.

An Example Of The AP's Capture By The Right Wing

From the Associated Press:

As Congress agonizes over health care, an even more daunting and dangerous challenge is bearing down: how to shore up Social Security to keep it from burying the nation ever deeper in debt.

What to do about mushrooming government payments as millions of baby boomers retire? How about a giant federal Ponzi scheme? That might work for a while.

But wait. That's pretty much the current system. ...

Although calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme — think of the huge frauds that sent billionaires Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford to prison — may be a bit of a stretch, there is one clear similarity.

As in a Ponzi scheme, the concept works fine at first. So long as there are more new "investors" pumping money into the system to pay off the earlier ones, everyone is happy. But at some point not enough new money is coming in and the scheme collapses.

Social Security In Middle Of Electronic Medical Records Shootout

From Nextgov.com:

Certification requirements for $24 million in Recovery Act contracts aimed at automating the Social Security Administration's medical disability program could slow technological innovation, according to Microsoft officials and health information technology specialists.

A solicitation for proposals that the agency issued on Friday -- intended to cut the time it has to wait for medical records to determine disability status -- is open only to providers whose technologies are certified or plan to be certified in 2010, Social Security officials said.

Currently, the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology "is the only recognized certification program; however, other programs are planned for the near future," SSA spokesman Mark Lassiter said.

Critics of the nonprofit CCHIT contend its leaders are closely aligned with legacy IT vendors who helped found the organization in 2004. They argue the group's certification program focuses on old-fashioned two-way document exchange rather than also embracing the so-called continuity of care record (CCR) standard. The CCR aggregates data from multiple sources, such as records of past doctor visits, prior lab results and hospital administrative documents.

Under the Recovery Act, a new health IT standards committee must deliver recommendations on standards and certification criteria to David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health IT.

Aneesh Chopra, the Obama administration's chief technology officer, who sits on the standards committee, said, "I would certainly acknowledge that today's marketplace for exchange is likely a balance between those who exchange between CCR and those who exchange" the format endorsed by CCHIT

Attorney Malpractice Alleged In Social Security Case

From the Madison-St. Clair Record:

A woman is blaming her former lawyer for the dismissal of her social security disability claim.

Marylynn Dixon filed a complaint Aug. 3 in Madison County Circuit Court against Evan J. Beatty.

Dixon claims she hired Beatty on July 28, 2003, to represent her in a social security disability claim.

But the claim was dismissed for want of prosecution, and now Dixon says she has lost her opportunity to redeem any social security disability benefits.

She blames Beatty for failing to take any action after the claim was filed, for failing to take action after the claim was dismissed and for failing to inform her of the claim's dismissal.

Dixon is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000, plus costs and other relief the court deems just.

Lance R. Mallon of Mallon Law Firm in Wood River will be representing her.