WIPA And PABSS Reauthorized

A press release from Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue:

“I want to thank Congress and President Obama for the recent passage of the WIPA and PABSS Reauthorization Act of 2009. The bill extends funding authorization for the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) and the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) programs through fiscal year 2010.

There are currently 103 WIPA programs across the U.S. working with Social Security disability beneficiaries on job placement, benefits planning, and career development. With this vital support, beneficiaries are better equipped to make informed choices about work. The PABSS program provides much-needed advocacy services that help beneficiaries navigate through an often-confusing web of Employment Networks, Social Security rules, legal issues, and employment issues. I anticipate a continuing need and increased demand for both WIPA and PABSS services, and the extension of funding allows the opportunity to further evaluate these important programs.”

The bill did not contain any other matter such as the extension of withholding of attorney fees in SSI cases

Did The Introduction Of Social Security Lower The Suicide Rate?

From the National Bureau of Economic Research:

A large increase in the incomes of the elderly stemming from pre-Social Security social programs and the phase-in of the Social Security system has coincided with suicide rates for that group dropping 56 percent since 1930.

A Continuing Irritant

Click on the attached page to see it full size. It is a fax that I received from an experienced, helpful employee at a Field Office. I have cropped out anything showing the name or Social Security number of the claimant or the name of the Social Security employee or the office at which this employee works.

The problem is that I submitted a fee agreement on my client's case, but Social Security fouled up and did not enter this fact in their computer system. It was almost certainly not the employee who wrote this note who made the mistake. The employee is telling me that she will do what she can to correct the problem but that the personnel at the payment center probably will refuse to correct the mistake. Even though I did what I was supposed to do, I will be forced to do the extra work of filing a fee petition because of a mistake that Social Security made. There is also a good chance that my fee will be lowered, possibly dramatically because of a mistake made at Social Security. At best, there will be months of delay, again because of a mistake made not by me, but by someone at Social Security.

It is clear from the note that this is a problem that this Social Security employee has seen many times before. It is certainly a problem that I have seen many times before.

This is a continuing irritant. I wish that Social Security would give better service than this. One would think that someone paying a user fee would get better service than this, but, then, one would think that a citizen would get better service than this from their government even without a user fee.

Waiting In Utah

Fox News 13 in Utah is running a piece on Social Sacecurity disability backlogs in Utah.

Charlie Binder Goes Multimedia

Charlie Binder of the Binder and Binder firm that is probably the largest entity representing Social Security claimants has a blog -- although it does not touch or hardly touches on Social Security issues -- and a program on Air America. Take a look at the Yesterday is Gone website to learn more about him.

Regs Approved By OMB

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the following proposed regulations for Social Security:

1. We are revising our rules to remove Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea (now Cambodia) from the list of countries to which social security benefits may not be sent under restrictions imposed by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury). Removing these restrictions allows social security benefits to accrue for aliens entitled to benefits for months in which they reside in either Vietnam or Cambodia, provided they are not subject to other nonpayment provisions. The revisions are necessary to reflect published Treasury regulations that have removed the restrictions on sending Federal payments to individuals living in these countries.
2. We plan to revise our rules regarding payment of representative fees to allow representatives, in certain cases, to charge and receive a fee for their services from certain third parties without requiring our approval. We also plan to eliminate the requirement that we approve fees for legal guardians or court-appointed representatives providing representational services in claims before us if a court has already authorized their fees. Lastly, we plan to define "legal guardians or court-appointed representatives."

You should expect to see these items in the Federal Register in the near future.

Elliptical Answers

Commissioner Astrue testified before the House Social Security Subcommittee back in March. He later provided some written responses to the Subcommittee which have now been posted online. There is much that I find of interest. Here are a couple of important questions and answers. Would you say that the Commissioner was completely forthcoming?

You stated in your testimony that by the end of the current year, the ALJ-to-staff ratio in SSA’s hearing offices will be 4.5 to 1. However, some have suggested that the ratio should be higher – as high as 5.25 to 1 – especially given the importance of working down the backlog quickly. Do you agree that hearing office productivity could be increased if the ALJ-to-staff ratio were higher than 4.5 to 1?

Because of the economic downturn, we are seeing an increase in the number of initial disability applications filed, which will ultimately lead to more requests for hearings. In addition to improving our business process and productivity, we will need more administrative law judges (ALJs) and staff to support them to process the projected increase in receipts.

However, it is not simply the number of staff in a hearing office that determines the most efficient hearing office composition, it is also the mix of employees in the particular office. We believe that, as long as we can provide the right combination of job functions, a ratio of 4.5 support staff – such as case pullers and decision writers – for each ALJ will allow us to continue reducing the backlog. Our goal for this year and into the next is to ensure that all offices have the most efficient mix of staff needed to support the ALJs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding will help us hire these critical additional support staff.

With the right mix of critical support staff and the addition of 148 new ALJs whom we are hiring this month, we anticipate seeing an accelerating decrease in the disability hearings backlog. The number of pending hearings has dropped five months in a row and is down for the year, and we should be able to continue to make progress even in the face of the current economic downturn.

Your timely support of the President's FY 2010 budget will enable us to hire ALJs and hearing office support staff earlier in the fiscal year, which will allow these new employees to complete training and become productive in processing workloads earlier in the fiscal year. ...

How many full-time equivalents (FTEs), in addition to current staffing levels, would be required in the Field Offices to address all their responsibilities? To reach these staffing levels how many more FTEs would the Field Offices require above the level of hiring that you are planning for FY 2009? How many hires above replacement level would the Field Offices receive if SSA is funded at the full FY 2010 President’s Budget request of $11.6 billion? Will you be able to place additional employees in every Field Office nationwide?

In FY 2009, we will hire over 6,000 new employees between March and the end of this fiscal year, replacing all staffing losses and adding critical new positions. We will assign the majority of these new employees to our front-line operations, where they will directly assist the American public. Although these new employees will help us improve the overall level of service, we will have a backlog of approximately 900 work years in post-entitlement work in FY 2009, i.e., actions we take after a claimant is awarded such as changes of address, stewardship reviews, etc.

If we are funded at the full FY 2010 President’s Budget, we will hire approximately 5,800 employees in FY 2010, replacing all staffing losses and filling 1,300 new positions, with the majority of the hires working in front-line positions. We will add 600 new workers in the DDSs and add about 700 new employees in the hearings offices. We will place these employees in the offices with the greatest need. Most field offices have received or will be adding additional staff, but not all will, due to changes in workloads, real estate constraints, and other issues.

There is more from the Commissioner in his answers to the Minority members and staff of the Subcommittee.

Proposed Endocrine Listings Changes Sent To OMB

Social Security and all other federal agencies must submit all proposed new regulations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is part of the White House, for approval before publication in the Federal Register. Social Security sent proposed changes to its endocrine system listings to OMB for approval on September 11. It would be nice if the listing for diabetes were made less harsh, but the trend at Social Security in recent years has been to make the listings longer and longer and harsher and harsher. The day may come when the listings run to hundreds of pages.

I still cannot believe that an amputation at the ankle due to diabetes is not enough to meet the listings. That is one of the changes made a few years ago. That is ridiculously harsh in my opinion. My guess is that there are few people even at Social Security who would argue all that much with my opinion on this point.