ALJ Has Blog

Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Ed Pitts of St. Louis is posting on his St. Louis Sojourn blog about his work as an ALJ.

Skirting Disclosure Requirements

President Obama ordered that all agencies report each and every communication between any government agency and a lobbyist regarding expenditures under the economic stimulus bill. Despite this very explicit order, Social Security has reported no communications with any lobbyist regarding its very large expenditures under the economic stimulus bill. In fact, Pro Publica reports that almost no reports have been filed by any federal agency. How to explain this? Pro Publica reports that lobbyists are skirting the rules by assigning the lobbying to junior staffers and attorneys who are not registered lobbyists.

In my opinion, this ought to be stopped. President Obama should amend his order to require that reports be filed regardless of whether the contact is made by a registered lobbyist.

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.