NCSSMA Issues Newsletter - SSA Legislative Proposals

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA) has issued its August 2009 issue of its newsletter, Frontline. Here is an excerpt from an interview with Angela Arnett, Social Security's Acting Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, which more or less makes her head of lobbying for Social Security:

Could you share some of the legislative changes that SSA has proposed recently and tell us where we are in the process? How likely is it that these changes will be passed and how long do you think it will take?

We recently sent a package of proposals to OMB [Office of Management and Budget, which is part of the White House] for approval. I would reiterate that SSA does not officially have any legislative proposals until OMB approves them. Following are the most significant proposals in that package.

• Simplify computation of the workers' compensation DI offset
• Eliminate the SSI dedicated account
• Clarify the policy relating to nonpayment of fugitive felon/parole violators
• Allow State DDS reconsideration of disability cessations made by the Commissioner
• Eliminate annual payee accountings for parents and spouses
• Provide protective filing for wounded warriors
• Prohibit retroactive payments to individuals in prison

Ft. Wayne Jounal Gazette Editorial

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is running an editorial about the long delays in adjudicating Social Security disability cases. They think their government should be doing better.

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Increased User Fee Opposed

From HousingWire.com:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) plans to raise its fees for verifying mortgage borrowers’ identities, a move that is facing Congressional opposition.

The fee for mortgage and financial institutions to authenticate borrower Social Security numbers is set to increase from $0.56 to $5.00 per verification on October 1. But Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) is said to be leading a Congressional challenge to the increase, according to a statement from Rapid Reporting, a Fort Worth, Texas-based national provider of third-party income, identity and employment verification services.

Waiting In Michigan

From the Detroit News:

A nationwide surge in Social Security disability claims has hit Michigan disproportionately hard. ...

It takes an average of 676 days to get a claim processed at Metro Detroit's Oak Park office -- the third longest wait time among the country's 142 hearings offices. Only the Madison, Wis., and Indianapolis offices are slower at 688 and 719 days, respectively.

Processing takes 659 days in Detroit, which ranks fifth slowest in the country. The average wait time nationwide is 487 days.

To try to shorten the waiting time, the government is opening offices and hiring judges.

"The average claimant now waits two years, somewhat longer to get a hearing," said Evan Zagoria, a disability attorney with Bingham Farms-based Provizer & Phillips PC. "Our clients lose their homes, they're evicted from apartments, they lose their cars. ...

More than 32,700 Michigan residents had claims pending as of Aug. 21, an increase of 46.7 percent over the same period last year, and higher than the nationwide increase of 33.7 percent, according to the Social Security Administration.

Moving Backward

The Associated Press is running an article on the surge in new Social Security disability claims. Social Security Commissioner Mitchael Astrue is quoted as saying "We're going to be moving backwards this year, the question is how much ... The trend line isn't good." Astrue is also quoted as complaining that "some judges are not holding their weight."

How Plausible Does This Sound To You?

Some people with serious circulatory problems are told by their physicians to spend most of their time with their legs elevated about heart level. An attorney I know reports that recently he heard a vocational expert testify at his client's hearing that a person with such a limitation could perform the work of a cashier.

Does that sound plausible to you? Does it make you wonder if there is something fundamentally wrong with the vocational expert process at Social Security when such testimony is given with a straight face and then received by an Administrative Law Judge without apparent skepticism?

Waiting In Wisconsin -- And A Failure Of Leadership

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

A Wisconsin State Journal investigation found the thousands of claimants in the state have some of the longest waits in the nation. The investigation uncovered claimants who have lost a home and savings, saw a marriage deteriorate and even attempted suicide as they waited on a system that approved their claims only after years of suffering....

Even Social Security commissioner Michael Astrue calls the waits "inexcusable," saying efforts to address them are being complicated by the national economic downturn and the disabling medical problems of baby boomers that are making more people turn to the program.

And there is a companion piece giving stories of those forced to wait. And yet another companion piece about this:

State officials are holding fast to their plans to furlough workers who decide disability benefits claims, even though has some of the longest waits in the nation for decisions on such claims....

"This is a failure of leadership," Social Security commissioner Michael Astrue said of the furloughs byWisconsin and several other states.

And the La Crosse Tribune adds even more.