Backlogs Soar At Initial Level

Courtesy of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) here are stats on Disability Determination Service backlogs. Click on the thumbnail to see it full size.

The picture is ugly, even eye popping. The national backlog of cases at the initial level is up 37.7% over a year ago. Every state but two has increased backlogs.

As Social Security makes a very slow start on reducing the backlog of cases awaiting a hearing, another bigger backlog opens up at the initial level. Very discouraging.

Slow Progress At ODAR

I received this from a reader:

Deputy Commissioner's Broadcast

Date: September 8, 2009

Disability backlog goes down eight months in a row -- internal goal of exceeding budgeted pending by 20,000 cases already met

Even during the traditionally slow month of August you have again managed to reduce the disability backlog -- now eight remarkable months in a row. This past month, you exceeded the disposition target by 3,633 cases by processing 56,332 dispositions. Our pending is currently at 734,199 cases below the FY 2009 opening pending -- which means we have already exceeded our end of year goal by over 20,000 cases.

Reducing the most aged cases continues to be an ODAR success story -- just over 3,000 of the 850 day old cases remain to process by the end of the fiscal year
For those Americans who have waited the longest for a decision from us, you have processed nearly all of the cases that are 850 days old or more, leaving just 3,201 aged cases to process by the end of September (see chart on next page [which I did not receive]).

Productivity is even better than last year

Other than a slight dip in April, we are seeing more productivity in clearing cases this year than last. Most notable is that in August 2008 the disposition per day rate was 2.15, compared to 2.54 at the end of last month (August 2009) - an 18% increase in productivity.

Improved integration of disability process with Operations

On August 21, Operations sent out an Administrative Message (AM) stating, in essence, that the DDS standard for reconsiderations is the same as review by ALJs - a de novo review. This message also included reminders about developing and documenting vocational factors. By emphasizing de novo review as the standard for reconsideration, we hope more allowances will be made at this earlier level. This is to ensure that claimants receive the right decision as early as possible in our disability process. The full AM can be viewed at http://policynet.ba.ssa.gov/reference.nsf/links/08212009013330PM.

More ALJs and support staff are coming on board - OPM Director swears in new ALJs

On August 27, our second new class of 72 ALJs was sworn-in at the Congressional Auditorium of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director, John Berry, delivered the keynote address.

In addition to hiring 148 ALJs and 850 support staff by the end of June, we are well on our way to hiring at least 348 additional staff in the field and at ODAR headquarters by the end of the fiscal year.

Regional Reorganization

In order to provide better service to the American people by making better and faster decisions, the reorganization of ODAR headquarters will take effect in October. We are also reviewing the ODAR Regional Office structure. We expect to implement the regional office reorganization during FY 2010.

You are all doing a great job - and please know that you make an important difference in people's lives every day. We are on a good path for reducing the disability backlog by 2013. Due to the recession and because we continue to be in the disability prone years of the baby boomers, we know that FY 2010 and FY 2011 are going to be difficult years. However, please know that all of our hiring and space expansion activities this year have been in preparation for this coming bulge.

I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.

/s/
David V. Foster
Deputy Commissioner

Isn't The Solution Obvious?

From the Wall Street Journal:

The pay of employees who receive more than the Social Security wage base -- now $106,800 -- increased by 78%, or nearly $1 trillion, over the past decade, exceeding the 61% increase for other workers, according to the analysis. In the five years ending in 2007, earnings for American workers rose 24%, half the 48% gain for the top-paid. The result: The top-paid represent 33% of the total, up from 28% in 2002.

The growing portion of pay that exceeds the maximum amount subject to payroll taxes has contributed to the weakening of the Social Security trust fund. In May, the government said the Social Security fund would be exhausted in 2037, four years earlier than was predicted in 2008.

The data suggest that the payroll tax ceiling hasn't kept up with the growth in executive pay. ...

Social Security Administration actuaries estimate removing the earnings ceiling could eliminate the trust fund's deficit altogether for the next 75 years, or nearly eliminate it if credit toward benefits was provided for the additional taxable earnings.

New CIO At SSA

From Information Week:

The Social Security Administration [SSA] has hired Frank Baitman [pictured to the left -- a photo taken at the Obama inauguration and posted on Baitman's blog], a former business strategist with IBM (NYSE: IBM), as its new CIO [Chief Information Officer], filling a role that had been vacant since January.

Baitman, who joined the agency at the end of August, has years of business and IT experience, but none as a CIO. At the Social Security Administration, he's running an organization with a $1.3 billion IT budget

"Frank has extensive global and domestic experience in both large enterprises and small companies balancing strategic problem-solving with tactical execution," Social Security Administration commissioner Michael Astrue said in an announcement to staff. "His experience has also lent itself to developing customized insights focused on technological and industry trends, healthcare informatics, emerging markets, and social services."...

Baitman is expected to emphasize transparency and innovation in his new role, according to one source at the agency. On his Caffeinated Ideas blog, Baitman has advocated simplifying government procurement and written about the importance of public service.

What Are These People Talking About?

From a ridiculous gloom and doom press release from a right wing group:

Social Security will face a cash shortfall for the first time in decades next year, according to a little noticed report released late last month by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

As a result, seniors could face benefit cuts in as little as three years. Congress could instead raise taxes or authorize new borrowing to close the shortfall, but has never before addressed a Social Security deficit through long-term borrowing.

Since the Social Security trust funds as shown by the graph above have over $2.5 trillion in them, I think that retirees are going to be safe three years from now. Maybe the people issuing this press release were the same people yelling about how the President was going to indoctrinate school children with Socialism.

Binder and Binder Real Estate Moves

From CrainsNewYork.com (emphasis added):

In a rare show of prosperity in its beleaguered industry, architecture firm Perkins+Will is expanding its footprint at 215 Park Ave. South by more than a third by subleasing 16,500 square feet. ...

The firm is subleasing the entire sixth floor for four years from law firm Binder & Binder. A July [2009] move is planned; sources say the asking rent was in the high $30s a square foot. ...

Binder, meanwhile, will leave Manhattan by moving into 19,000 square feet at 33-00 Northern Blvd. in Long Island City, Queens [pictured above], in June. The asking rent for the deal, which runs for nearly 13 years, was about $25 a square foot, sources say. Mr.Strati says the law firm moved to take advantage of REAP, a city program that awards tax incentives to companies that relocate to upper Manhattan or the boroughs beyond.

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.