Raise Corn And Raise Hell Iowans!

An editorial from the Des Moines Register:

According to a recent Des Moines Sunday Register investigation by reporter Clark Kauffman, Iowans wait an average of 541 days - about a month longer than the national average - to bring their cases before a Social Security judge for a hearing.

A massive backlog of unresolved disability claims at the Social Security Administration has contributed to Iowans being subjected to stress and difficulties. One disabled Iowan has been living in a storage garage while he waits for help. ...

A recent Government Accountability Office report determined 1.5 million disability claims nationwide "were awaiting a determination" in 2006. One of the main reasons: reduced staffing.

More staff working on disability claims are needed - including staff at "the hearing level" where the GAO says the greatest backlog of claims exists.

The Social Security office in West Des Moines handles most claims for Iowa. Individual judges are trying to move cases through the system by hearing 70 or 80 cases a month, as opposed to their usual 50 to 60 cases. The risk is applicants not getting fair and complete hearings.

And from another editorial in the same issue of the Des Moines Register:

Current law requires most people to wait two years - after they're eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance - to enroll in Medicare, the federal health insurance program.

Congress should eliminate the 24-month waiting period for disabled people needing Medicare coverage. Lawmakers are in the midst of crafting health-care reform legislation, and helping disabled Americans get insurance coverage makes sense.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, studies show as many as one-third of people deemed disabled by Social Security are uninsured, and these individuals have limited access to health services.

Eliminating the waiting period will cost money - an estimated $113 billion from 2010 to 2019, according to the CBO. Disabled people are obviously sick and will use more health services. But if they have access to health care, they may be able to return to work - and get off Social Security.

E-Verify Required For Federal Contractors

Federal contractors and subcontractors are required beginning today to use Social Security's E-Verify system to confirm a match between their employees names and Social Security numbers.

Cardpunch Operators At Social Security

Happy Labor Day!

A Soundtrack For Social Security

From Social Security's History website:

Jim Czechowicz's Public Policy Parodies and Tributes

Jim Czechowicz is a Public Affairs Specialist (PAS) with SSA's Chicago area Regional Office. Jim lives in Minneapolis and is one of two PASs assigned to the state of Minnesota.

In his off time Jim is an accomplished composer and musician. Over the years Jim has composed two albums of parodies and tribute songs on topics related to the work of the Social Security Administration and its employees. Jim typically performs his songs for other SSA employees or as part of his public education efforts. His Social Security-related songs are for entertainment purposes only and Jim makes no commercial use of this material.

With Jim's permission, we are including three of his Social Security-related songs. (All material © Jim Czechowicz.)

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Song 1: "Hope is the Anchor of Life" (mpg-4 format)

(This song is about the value of Social Security in American life. It takes its title from the motto of the old Department of Health, Education and Welfare, of which SSA was a part from 1953 to 1980.)

Song 2:"E-Dib Blues" (mpg-4 format)

(In an effort to speed the processing of disability cases, in January 2005 SSA launched an initiative to move to an all-electronic disability claims process, under the rubric of Electronic Disability (E-Dib). This is Jim's tribute to that innovation.)

Song 3:"Show Someone You Love" (mpg-4 format)

(In the Part D Medicare Prescription Drug program SSA has responsibility to assist claimants who might be eligible for a partial subsidy on their Part D premiums. This is known as the "extra help" procedure (see current policy/procedure here). This is a jingle Jim wrote in 2005 to promote this SSA service.

It's Different Over There

I look in from time to time at the Rightsnet board. This is a web board used by those who advocate for Social Security disability benefits in the United Kingdom. I see some similarities to the work I do, but every so often I see a thread that reminds me of the vast differences between the Social Security disability programs in the two countries. The thread on "use of bottle" is a good example of these differences.

Biden Picture Posted

I had posted earlier on the delay in posting pictures of Vice President Biden in Social Security offices, a problem that extended to all federal offices. This seemed odd since President Obama's picture went up shortly after the inuaguraton. I said at the time that the Biden pictures were reported to be on the way to federal offices.

I can now report that Joe Biden's picture has been posted in the Raleigh location of Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR).

New Edition Of My Book Published

The 2009 edition of my book, Social Security Disability Practice, is now available for sale.

Didn't Know About This

Social Security is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act to publish in the Federal Register information about any new or changed requirement that any person or entity supply information to Social Security. As you might imagine, these notices are normally quite boring. They mostly concern new editions of various forms. Here is a recently published notice that concerns something quite different, not alarming or concerning, but a bit surprising:

Blood Donor Locator Service (BDLS)--20 CFR 401.200--0960-0501.This regulation stipulates that when blood donor facilities identify blood donations as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-positive, the overseeing State agency must provide the names and Social Security Numbers of the affected donors to SSA's Blood Donor Locator Service. SSA uses this information to furnish the State agencies with the blood donors' address information to notify the blood donors. Respondents are State agencies acting on behalf of blood donor facilities.