The Social Security Administration (SSA) is conducting a market survey to determine the availability and technical capability of qualified businesses with experience developing mobile applications for the iPhone and other mobile phone platforms. SSA is seeking contractor support with developing a mobile iPhone application that permits the public to access select periodic statistical records of SSA consistent with the Office of Management and Budget's direction for transparency and open government.
May 15, 2010
Social Security Seeking iPhone App
From a contracting notice posted by Social Security:
May 14, 2010
New Mental Listings Coming
Social Security and other federal agencies must obtain the approval of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is part of the White House, before publishing any proposal to amend its regulations. In the waning days of the Bush Administration, Social Security had obtained OMB approval for new Listings on mental disorders. The Listings are not the only way that people are approved for Social Security disability benefits but a very important one, especially for mental illness. The mental Listings changes approved during the Bush Administration were never published in the Federal Register. Now, a new version of the mental impairment Listings have been sent to OMB by Social Security. Probably, these are different than what the Bush White House approved but we will not know what they say until they appear in the Federal Register.
I Hate To Post This, But ...
The birthers, who claim that President Obama was born outside the U.S. , don't give up despite the existence of definitive proof that they are dead wrong. They are now claiming that there is some irregularity concerning the Social Security number assigned to Barack Obama. I have no idea what this would prove even if it were true. And did you hear that Google is trying to suppress this story?
May 13, 2010
From The NOSSCR Conference
The order of events at the conferences of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) is long established. Thursday morning is the plenary session with the most important speakers, most of them from Social Security, followed by Nancy Shor, NOSSCR's Executive Director. This plenary session was huge. The attendance at this conference is the highest in NOSSCR history, about 1,130.
Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue was scheduled to speak but backed out. In his stead was Many Ann Sloan, Social Security's Regional Counsel for the Atlanta Region, and Glenn Sklar, the head of Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR). There was virtually nothing that I heard from either of them that was noteworthy. Sloan said that her office had recently added 80 new attorneys. To put it mildly, Social Security has a lot of work for its attorneys! Sklar said that ODAR plans to hire 226 Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) this year. Sklar was kind enough to take questions. One question concerned what is sometimes referred to as the "rocket docket." The term "rocket docket" is used in different ways at different offices. The "rocket docket" referred to by the questioner is a practice of scheduling unrepresented claimants for very brief hearings soon after their request for hearing on the assumption that most will not show up or will say they want more time to hire an attorney. The cases of those who do not show up can be dismissed fairly quickly, making the office's statistics look better. I was surprised to hear Sklar say he had not previously heard of this sort of rocket docket. It is fairly common.
There were two speakers from Social Security's Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel (OIDAP). I will not bother trying to summarize what they had to say. I heard nothing new; it was mostly mind-numbing jargon that would give the average listener little idea of what is going on with OIDAP although, to be fair, it is difficult to summarize what OIDAP is up to even if you want to. I am not so sure these speakers wanted to help anyone understand what they are up to.
Among other things, Nancy Shor mentioned the huge backlogs developing at Social Security's initial and reconsideration levels of review. She wondered what will happen when all those cases finally get to ODAR. I wonder whether there would have been much improvement in backlogs at the ODAR level but for the increased backlogs earlier in the process. This was not the intention but it has been the effect. Shor mentioned that the the reconsideration step would be returning to the so-called prototype states, where recon had been dispensed with. This has been known for some time now but there was an audible gasp in the room when Shor said this. The news must not have gotten around. Shor expressed considerable concern over the centralized printing already going on at ODAR and the proposed centralized scheduling of ALJ hearings that may be coming. I do not understand why Social Security thinks that centralizing everything is a good idea. My experience is that Social Security's disseminated work processes work far better than its centralized work processes.
Nancy Shor is on OIDAP. She did not speak about OIDAP but turned the mike over to Tom Sutton, a NOSSCR member who has been following OIDAP's work closely, to speak to this, basically to give NOSSCR's institutional response to what is going on at OIDAP. Sutton made it clear that NOSSCR is extremely disturbed by the implications of what OIDAP is doing. Sutton referred to OIDAP as having a "radical approach." He indicated that NOSSCR's board of directors agrees with the recent report of the National Academy of Science that urged that Social Security not adopt its own independent occupational information system but work with the Department of Labor (DOL) to find ways to make changes in the DOL's O*NET occupational information system so that it could be used by Social Security. Sutton referred to Social Security's effort to create its own occupational information system as the "fox guarding the hen house." Sutton expressed a belief that there is major "mission creep" at OIDAP with a complete rewriting of all of Social Security's disability determination process in the making.
While Sutton's words may have seemed harsh to the speakers from OIDAP, they seemed measured to me. As a group, NOSSCR is greatly alarmed by the long term implications of OIDAP. If Social Security continues on its current path with OIDAP, I see open warfare ahead.
I do not know the intentions of whoever it was who recommended that Nancy Shor be on OIDAP but if the desire was to co-opt NOSSCR, it did not work. NOSSCR is greatly alarmed by OIDAP. Putting Nancy Shor on OIDAP and talking in jargon will not change that.
Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue was scheduled to speak but backed out. In his stead was Many Ann Sloan, Social Security's Regional Counsel for the Atlanta Region, and Glenn Sklar, the head of Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR). There was virtually nothing that I heard from either of them that was noteworthy. Sloan said that her office had recently added 80 new attorneys. To put it mildly, Social Security has a lot of work for its attorneys! Sklar said that ODAR plans to hire 226 Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) this year. Sklar was kind enough to take questions. One question concerned what is sometimes referred to as the "rocket docket." The term "rocket docket" is used in different ways at different offices. The "rocket docket" referred to by the questioner is a practice of scheduling unrepresented claimants for very brief hearings soon after their request for hearing on the assumption that most will not show up or will say they want more time to hire an attorney. The cases of those who do not show up can be dismissed fairly quickly, making the office's statistics look better. I was surprised to hear Sklar say he had not previously heard of this sort of rocket docket. It is fairly common.
There were two speakers from Social Security's Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel (OIDAP). I will not bother trying to summarize what they had to say. I heard nothing new; it was mostly mind-numbing jargon that would give the average listener little idea of what is going on with OIDAP although, to be fair, it is difficult to summarize what OIDAP is up to even if you want to. I am not so sure these speakers wanted to help anyone understand what they are up to.
Among other things, Nancy Shor mentioned the huge backlogs developing at Social Security's initial and reconsideration levels of review. She wondered what will happen when all those cases finally get to ODAR. I wonder whether there would have been much improvement in backlogs at the ODAR level but for the increased backlogs earlier in the process. This was not the intention but it has been the effect. Shor mentioned that the the reconsideration step would be returning to the so-called prototype states, where recon had been dispensed with. This has been known for some time now but there was an audible gasp in the room when Shor said this. The news must not have gotten around. Shor expressed considerable concern over the centralized printing already going on at ODAR and the proposed centralized scheduling of ALJ hearings that may be coming. I do not understand why Social Security thinks that centralizing everything is a good idea. My experience is that Social Security's disseminated work processes work far better than its centralized work processes.
Nancy Shor is on OIDAP. She did not speak about OIDAP but turned the mike over to Tom Sutton, a NOSSCR member who has been following OIDAP's work closely, to speak to this, basically to give NOSSCR's institutional response to what is going on at OIDAP. Sutton made it clear that NOSSCR is extremely disturbed by the implications of what OIDAP is doing. Sutton referred to OIDAP as having a "radical approach." He indicated that NOSSCR's board of directors agrees with the recent report of the National Academy of Science that urged that Social Security not adopt its own independent occupational information system but work with the Department of Labor (DOL) to find ways to make changes in the DOL's O*NET occupational information system so that it could be used by Social Security. Sutton referred to Social Security's effort to create its own occupational information system as the "fox guarding the hen house." Sutton expressed a belief that there is major "mission creep" at OIDAP with a complete rewriting of all of Social Security's disability determination process in the making.
While Sutton's words may have seemed harsh to the speakers from OIDAP, they seemed measured to me. As a group, NOSSCR is greatly alarmed by the long term implications of OIDAP. If Social Security continues on its current path with OIDAP, I see open warfare ahead.
I do not know the intentions of whoever it was who recommended that Nancy Shor be on OIDAP but if the desire was to co-opt NOSSCR, it did not work. NOSSCR is greatly alarmed by OIDAP. Putting Nancy Shor on OIDAP and talking in jargon will not change that.
May 12, 2010
Staying In The Workforce
From Science Daily:
The decline in the generosity of Social Security benefits for workers who recently reached their 60s has been the leading cause of the trend toward delayed retirement of older men, a new national study suggests.Between the periods of 1988-1992 and 2001-2005, there was a 4.7 percentage point increase in the number of men aged 55 to 69 in the workforce.
The new study found that between 25 and 50 percent of that increase can be explained by declining Social Security benefits, said David Blau, co-author of the study and professor of economics at Ohio State University. ...
The study identified two Social Security changes in particular that have led older men to work longer: the increase in the full retirement age beyond age 65, and the financial incentives offered to older workers to delay retirement even beyond the full retirement age.
May 11, 2010
OIG On EAA
Social Security's recent relations with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union that represents most of its employees have been frosty, to say the least. One of the major flashpoints in this relationship has been the union-run Employees' Activity Association (EAA) at Social Security's central offices. At the request of Senator Charles Grassley Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently investigated, to some extent, this relationship. I will not try to summarize the report since I do not understand the issues. I have a feeling that there will be some comments on this matter, however.
NADE Isues Newsletter
The National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE), a voluntary group composed of personnel who make initial and reconsideration determinations on Social Security disability claims, has issued its Spring 2010 newsletter.
NADE's response to the recent Federal Register item requesting comments on Social Security's drug abuse and alcoholism policies is in the newsletter. NADE seems satisfied with the current policies. They only want clarification although they do not seem to have much idea about how things could be clarified. NADE opposes considering tobacco use as a drug addiction.
NADE's response to the recent Federal Register item requesting comments on Social Security's drug abuse and alcoholism policies is in the newsletter. NADE seems satisfied with the current policies. They only want clarification although they do not seem to have much idea about how things could be clarified. NADE opposes considering tobacco use as a drug addiction.
May 10, 2010
Generic AP Story On Backlogs
From the Associated Press:
Nearly 2 million people are waiting to find out if they qualify for Social Security disability benefits. It will be a long wait for most, even if they eventually win their cases.The Social Security system is so overwhelmed by applications for disability benefits that many people are waiting more than two years for their first payment. In Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and other states, the wait can be even longer.
Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue says the delays are unacceptable, particularly for people who have paid payroll taxes for years to support the system and now are unable to work because of debilitating medical problems. Astrue has had some success in reducing a case backlog that has plagued the system for years. But a spike in new applications, linked to the economic recession, threatens to swamp the system again.
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