Press Release On Compassionate Allowance Hearing

A Social Security press release:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today hosted the agency’s fifth public hearing on Compassionate Allowances. Commissioner Astrue was joined by Philip Wang, M.D., Dr. P.H., National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, and Social Security executives. They heard testimony from some of the nation's leading experts on schizophrenia about possible methods of identifying and implementing Compassionate Allowances for young adults with schizophrenia.

"Schizophrenia is a devastating disease that affects more than two million Americans, primarily individuals in their teens and twenties," said Commissioner Astrue. "The onset of schizophrenia has life-changing consequences, which can include unemployment and homelessness." This hearing will help us to potentially identify the most severe cases and consider bringing them under our Compassionate Allowances umbrella."

In October 2008, Social Security launched Compassionate Allowances to expedite the processing of disability claims for applicants with medical conditions so severe that their conditions by definition meet Social Security's standards. To learn more and to view a web cast of today's hearing, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

"Our Compassionate Allowances and Quick Disability Determination processes are making a real difference by ensuring that Americans with devastating disabilities quickly receive the benefits they need," Commissioner Astrue said. "This fiscal year, we expect to fast-track about 150,000 cases and we plan to add more diseases and impairments to these expedited processes in the coming months."

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Witness List For Tomorrow's Hearing

Below is the tentative witness list for tomorrow's hearing at the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee:

Panel:
	Tentative The Honorable Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
	Panel:
	The Honorable Barbara B. Kennelly, Acting Chair, Social Security Advisory Board
	Beth Bates, Claimants’ Representative, on behalf of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, Jackson, Tennessee
	The Honorable Patrick O’Carroll, Inspector General, Social Security Administration
	Ann P. Robert, Vice President, National Council of Disability Determination Directors, Springfield, Illinois
	The Honorable Larry A. Auerbach, Administrative Law Judge, on behalf of the Federal Bar Association, Atlanta, Georgia

Profile Of Social Security Employee

The Las Cruces [NM] Sun-News has a profile of Ray Vigil, a 37 year veteran Social Security employee. There are many other long term Social Security employees who deserve recognition for their service to the public.

Caseload Analysis Report

Courtesy of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) newsletter. Click on it to see it full size.

DDS Performance

Courtesy of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) newsletter. Click on it to see it full size.

GOP Concerns On Computer Center

From NextGov:

Key Republican aides met with the Social Security Administration's internal investigator on Thursday to discuss lingering concerns that the agency's aging data center will not be able to manage an increasing workload as millions more baby boomers retire.

Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, and Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee's ranking member, sent a letter in February requesting that the SSA inspector general assess the agency's overall future information technology plans. In June, the inspector general found that the agency must accelerate construction of a new data center and develop contingency plans in the event its backup datacenter cannot support the agency's increasing workload if the new data center is not completed by 2015, the year SSA estimates the center will be operational. ...

On Thursday, Grassley's staff met with the inspector general about the latest report, discussed the new data center and asked the agency to keep the senator apprised of the situation, a spokeswoman said. Baucus had no response to the report.

Am I being too cynical when I wonder if Republicans are mostly concerned that money be spent not on personnel, who would mostly be union members and Democrats, but on buildings and equipment constructed or supplied by contractors who would mostly be Republicans? I have no doubt that the national computing center needs to be replaced but why is this such an incredibly urgent priority for Republicans since we now have a backup computing center in Durham, NC? And by the way, the Inspector General who recommended accelerating construction of the national computing center is a Republican appointee.

Republicans had majorities in Congress for twelve years. During this time they crippled the Social Security Administration with grossly inadequate appropriations. Neither Republicans in Congress nor the Republican appointed inspector general at Social Security said a word about the need for a new national computing center until Barack Obama became President. Current Republican concerns about Social Security's ability to operate in the future ring hollow to me.

Michael Astrue, Esquire

From Esquire magazine (number 16), quoting Michael Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security:

Our system can now scan each of the millions of disability applications we receive for key words to find cases that should be granted without question because of a medical situation. This saves money. Also, a word about insolvency: What that means is that in 2037, the current estimate for "insolvency," we could pay only about 75 percent of benefits. So it's not like there's a cliff. And my bet is that in fact it'll be pretty close to 100 percent.