Left Out Of Health Care Reform

From The Oregonian:

Sue Sherman of Southwest Portland lived a peaceful, healthy life until she was dealt an ugly card last year: a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. ...

She joined nearly 2 million disabled Americans -- at least 15,000 in Oregon -- who fall into a twilight with the first monthly Social Security disability payment, for they then must wait two years to become eligible for Medicare. ...

This year, nearly 8 million Americans are receiving Social Security disability income. About a quarter, 1.8 million, are in the 24-month waiting period. ...

[T]he Congressional Budget Office, which estimates the cost of legislation to the taxpayer, calculated that eliminating the wait would cost an average of $10 billion a year over 10 years. ...

A private 2003 study found that nearly 25 percent of the disabled in the waiting period go the two years without any insurance.

It Happens

From KARE-TV in Minneapolis:

For more than 2 decades, Alyssa Green of Minneapolis has lived her own, independent life. But when she applied for a student loan for college a few years ago, she learned a troubling fact. Another Alyssa Green, with the same birth date, had the exact same social security number. This Alyssa Green lives in Albany, New York....

"Unfortunately mistakes do happen but it is also the social security administration that can correct that for her," Elizabeth Wertime of the Social Security Administration told Albany reporter Beth Wurtmann.

Stats By State

Social Security has released a set of statistics about its programs broken down by state.

New Hearing Office In Florida

The Bradenton Herald reports that Social Security is opening a new hearing office today in St. Petersburg, FL. There is already a hearing office in Tampa.

Colvin Nomination Remains Stalled

Carolyn Colvin was nominated to become Deputy Commissioner of Social Security on October 1, 2010. There has been no action in the Senate of the nomination. Undoubtedly, some Senator has placed a secret hold on the nomination. Why? Has she offended someone? Could it be payback for Democrats not confirming Andrew Biggs when he was nominated by George W. Bush? Could it be that Republicans think that one of their own, Michael Astrue, will have a stronger hand as head of Social Security without a Democrat as his deputy? Who knows? I do know that the confirmation delays in the Senate are out of hand. It is past time for the President to give Ms. Colvin a recess appointment.

I Still Don't Understand

From the Metrowest Daily News:

The potential loss of more than $600 million in federal aid once deemed a sure thing has had Massachusetts Democrats scrambling to rebuild the state budget behind closed doors, warning publicly of layoffs and steep program cuts if the funds fall through. ...

According to Patrick administration officials, the federal government owes Massachusetts $160 million in Social Security payments that Massachusetts had erroneously made for the last 35 years. The federal government has acknowledged the error, prompting state officials to include the $160 million in spending plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1. ...

At issue is the way the Social Security Administration handles disability claims.

[State] Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby told the News Service at the time that the federal agency often declines applications for disability payouts on an applicant's first attempt. However, if an applicant appeals the rejection, the state then covers health care costs for that person until the matter is resolved. If the applicant is ultimately approved, the SSA is supposed to reimburse the state for that interim coverage.

Bigby said 30 other states are expected to be in line for Social Security reimbursements.

I posted an item from the Boston Herald about this last November. I still do not understand what their theory is or why they were so confident that Social Security was going to write them a huge check. It seems to me that it would be Health and Human Services rather than Social Security writing the check since it appears to be Medicaid money they want reimbursed. I doubt that the matter is simple. If it was I am sure this would have been caught decades ago.

NOSSCR Comments On OIDAP

The National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) has submitted comments on Social Security plans for a new occupational information system. NOSSCR has many urgent concerns but probably the most urgent is that Social Security wants to go it alone rather than working with the Department of Labor. In my opinion these are the key sentences from NOSSCR's comments:

For SSA [Social Security Administration], this decision raises significant concerns: It is an enormous project that falls outside SSA’s area of expertise; it will take years to complete; and it will be extremely expensive at a time of limited resources. In addition, the involvement of the DOL [Department of Labor] would address the perception that SSA wants to create its own OIS [Occupational Information System] so that it can control the outcome of disability determinations.

Why is it so important to Social Security to do this on its own unless it does want to control the outcome of disability determinations? The staff of the Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel (OIDAP) seems unable to answer this or any other question without resorting to obfuscating jargon. This makes me suspicious.

The deadline for submitting comments on the OIDAP proposal is June 30. Comments may be submitted online. I hope that others will be able to submit comments online without problems. I found it impossible to do so. The system demanded that I enter a "Category" for my comments but it was flatly impossible for me to do so. Comments may also be submitted by fax to (410) 597-0825 or by mail to the Office of Program Development and Research, Occupational Information Development Project, Social Security Administration, 3-E-26 Operations Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401. As tedious as this may seem, it is vitally important. This is the most important policy matter addressed by Social Security in more than 30 years.

Social Security Loses Big Time In Arbitration

From the AFL-CIO Now Blog:

Saying the Social Security Administration (SSA) flagrantly violated its contract with AFGE [American Federation of Government Employees, a member of the AFL-CIO] and “trampled upon the rights” of a 14-year worker, an independent arbitrator has ordered the agency to pay her back wages with interest along with $100,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.

Magnolia Littles, a member of AFGE Local 3291 in Little Rock, Ark., was suspended for 90 days after a benefits payment she had approved turned out to be fraudulent. Patti McGowan, an attorney with AFGE, said the arbitrator found there was no substantial evidence that Littles—who has a spotless record at SSA—was negligent in her duties. The arbitrator found that SSA violated her rights by, among other things, not informing Littles she had a right to have a union representative present at her disciplinary meeting.

The agency also discriminated against her because of her race, the arbitrator said. Of the four employees who processed the fraudulent benefit payment, two African Americans, including Littles, received suspensions. A Latina was fired outright, but the lone white employee in the group was not disciplined at all.