Continuing Resolution Passed

In case you were worried -- and there was no reason to worry -- Congress has passed and the President will sign a continuing funding resolution to keep the federal government operating in the new fiscal year, which begins on October 1. Congress still needs to pass an appropriation for Social Security.

Cert Granted For EAJA Case

The Supreme Court has granted a writ of certiorari in the case of Astrue v. Ratliff. This means that the Supreme Court will hear the case. The issue is "Whether an 'award of fees and other expenses' under the Equal Access to Justice Act, is payable to the 'prevailing party' rather than to the prevailing party’s attorney, and therefore is subject to an offset for a pre-existing debt owed by the prevailing party to the United States."

Further News From Samoa

A broadcast e-mail from the Commissioner of Social Security:

To All SSA and DDS Employees

Subject: American Samoa Update 2

I just received the good news that all five of our employees in American Samoa are safe.

Unfortunately, their office is a total loss. Our colleagues will have many challenges in the coming weeks, but I know they will rise to the occasion and you can be sure we will be there to support them.

Michael J. Astrue
Commissioner

Hearing Backlog Improves

A press release from Social Security:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that for the first time since 1999, the agency has ended the year with fewer disability hearings pending than in the prior year. Social Security ended fiscal year (FY) 2009 with 722,822 hearings pending compared to 760,813 hearings pending at the start of the year, a reduction of more than 37,000 cases. Over the same period, the average processing time for these cases improved from 514 days in FY 2008 to 491 in FY 2009.

“Our backlog reduction plan is working, and progress is accelerating,” Commissioner Astrue said. “Even in the face of a significant increase in our workloads as a result of the worst recession since the Great Depression, we have reduced the hearings backlog for nine consecutive months. Thanks to the efforts of thousands of hardworking Social Security employees and the additional funding we received from President Obama and the Congress, we have exceeded our backlog reduction goal for this year.”

To achieve its backlog reduction goals, the agency has embarked on the largest expansion in decades of its capacity to hear disability appeals. This year, the agency hired 147 new Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and 850 support staff and plans to hire 226 additional ALJs plus support staff in FY 2010. To provide flexibility to assist the most backlogged hearing offices, the agency opened three new National Hearing Centers (NHCs) in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Baltimore, Maryland; and Chicago, Illinois. The agency also has aggressive plans to open 14 new hearing offices and 4 satellite offices by the end of next year with the first of those new offices opening in Anchorage, Alaska in the next few months.

In addition to reducing the number of cases awaiting a hearing decision, the agency again targeted the oldest and most difficult cases for processing. Beginning in FY 2007 with 65,000 cases that were 1,000 days old or older, the agency has continually attacked its “aged” cases. This year, the agency targeted 166,838 cases that were 850 days or older and virtually eliminated this entire universe of cases. The goal in FY 2010 has been reset again to eliminate cases over 825 days old.

Social Security’s ALJs also continue to increase their productivity. The agency averaged 570 dispositions (2.28 per day) per available ALJ in FY 2009, an upward trend that has continued for the last three years.

I salute all those at Social Security who worked hard to achieve this. I wish I did not have to add that this improvement has largely come about because cases are piling up at the initial and reconsideration levels. Without those increased backlogs at earlier levels, I imagine that there would be no improvement.

And by the way, the scale on that chart makes it really misleading.

Financial Literacy Research Consortium

A press release from Social Security:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced the establishment of a new Financial Literacy Research Consortium (FLRC), made up of research centers at Boston College, the RAND Corporation, and the University of Wisconsin. The FLRC, supported through five-year cooperative agreements, will develop innovative materials and programs to help Americans plan for a secure retirement.

“We have a responsibility to help the public understand the role of Social Security benefits and the need for them to save as they plan for their future,” said Commissioner Astrue. “Consequently, we have launched a research initiative to better inform the public about retirement saving options.”

The FLRC will tailor materials for Americans at different stages of their working lives - new workers, mid-career professionals, near-retirees, and those who have already left the workforce - to address the different challenges these individuals face. The FLRC also will help traditionally underserved populations better understand the path toward a secure retirement.

“The consortium constitutes an impressive collection of expertise and resources with a deep understanding of issues related to financial literacy,” Commissioner Astrue said. “We look forward to building a strong partnership with the FLRC as well as with other federal agencies with similar missions. In these challenging economic times, this partnership will help Americans to solidify their financial future.”

Samoan Disaster

A broadcast e-mail from the Commissioner of Social Security:

A Message To All SSA And DDS Employees

Subject: American Samoa

Yesterday’s tsunami in the South Pacific severely damaged our field office in Pago Pago, American Samoa. As you can imagine, it is extremely difficult to communicate with anyone on the island, and we have very little information.

So far, we have been able to confirm that one of our four employees on the island is safe. We are optimistic about the condition of the other three, and we are doing everything we can to reach them as well.

Please keep our American Samoan employees, and all the people they serve, in your thoughts and prayers. I will update you as soon as I can.

Michael J. Astrue

Commissioner

And a second broadcast e-mail:

A Message To All SSA And DDS Employees

Subject: American Samoa Update

As promised, I have an update on the situation in American Samoa. We very recently added a fifth employee to the office, and we have confirmed that a second employee is safe, so we are still waiting for good news from the other three employees.

Michael J. Astrue

Commissioner

Call For Action Gets The Job Done

From WXYZ in Detroit:

A woman who spent months in a big battle for social security benefits decided she needed to "Call for Action," and Bill Spencer got right on the case. ...

Under Social Security rules she should have been entitled to collect disability benefits of $704.00 a month for herself and another $400.00 a month for her dead husband.

It took years for Betty to be approved for benefits related to her social security claim, but the back benefits related to her husband’s account were never paid out.

That’s when Betty “Called for Action”… we jumped all over this case and for 4 weeks straight we fought to get her that money.

Finally, four weeks later Betty received a check for $11,170.00.

Results Of Last Week's Unscientific Poll

For those who represent Social Security claimants, how happy are you with your work?

Extremely happy (14)	33%
Very happy (14)	33%
Somewhat happy (8)	19%
A little unhappy (1)	2%
Very unhappy (3)	7%
Extremely unhappy (2)	5%

Total Votes: 42