Cookies For Social Security

An interview with Social Security's Chief Information Officer (CIO) Frank Baitman conducted by Alex Howard of O'Reilly Radar (which has nothing to do with Bill O'Reilly).

Backlogs In Wisconsin

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The wait times are getting shorter for out-of-work Wisconsin residents seeking federal disability benefits, but appeals offices in the state still have some of the longest waits in the nation.

The delays in Wisconsin are so serious that the federal Social Security Administration is opening a full-service appeals office in Madison next month to try to speed up the process for not just the capitol city but eventually Milwaukee and the rest of the state.

The often impoverished and disabled applicants seeking to appeal their denial of benefits in federal hearings in Milwaukee and Madison face average waits of a year and a half - an improvement over last year but still several months longer than the already lengthy national average of 435 days. Federal Commissioner of Social Security Michael Astrue called the delays "not at all acceptable."

"This shouldn't just help the current territory of Madison. It really will on a delayed basis help the entire state," Astrue said of the expanding office. "It's not going to change (the delays) overnight but I would think within six months the change should be pretty significant and within a year it should pretty be dramatic." ...

Wisconsin also continues to be one of roughly a dozen states that are furloughing state workers who make the initial decision on whether people qualify for benefits - even though it doesn't save the state any money because the workers are federally paid....

Astrue renewed his criticism of a decision by Gov. Jim Doyle's administration to furlough the bureau's federally paid workers amid the state budget crisis, even though it doesn't save the state anything. Astrue said the furloughs increases wait times for disabled applicants for benefits and on Friday he unveiled federal legislation that would ban the practice by states like Wisconsin.

Officials in the Doyle administration have defended their action, saying they are furloughing all state workers because it would be unfair to exempt any group of employees. Stephanie Smiley, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health Services, said that despite the furloughs, Wisconsin has been bucking the national trend by whittling down its own backlog of people waiting for an initial decision on disability benefits.

One hint for any newspaper reporter who happens to be reading this: Ask Social Security officials how much help Social Security's Chicago Region, which includes Wisconsin, is receiving from the Dallas and Philadelphia Regions, which have the lowest backlogs.

“Focused On Social Security Because It Will Show They’re ’Serious'"

Netroots Nation, a conference of, shall we say, "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," is under way. The AFL-CIO Now Blog reports on one session:

One attendee of the Netroots Nation panel provocatively titled “Obama’s Social Security ‘Death Panel’” later told me he had gone into the panel dubious that there is any real threat to Social Security. “But I left mad,” he said, questioning how such an important part of America’s social fabric could be threatened. Yet as the panelists detailed, Social Security is most definitely under attack–and it’s an attack that could fundamentally alter how we understand the program. ...

Robert Borosage of Campaign for America’s Future contrasted the “frightened, timid and cautious leadership” of today with the “confident society” that, following World War II, responded to a much larger deficit (as percentage of GDP) by embarking on a series of spending programs that reshaped the economy and built the middle class.

Today, Borosage said, there is an emerging elite consensus that is “focused on Social Security because it will show they’re ’serious,’ even though it will have no effect on the deficit.” They portray Social Security as being in crisis, then claim that proposed cuts are “saving” the program. ...

Senate Subcommittee Schedules Markup Of Social Security Appropriation

The Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee which has jurisdiction over Social Security's appropriation has scheduled a markup session for Tuesday, July 27. The corresponding House Committee has already marked up the bill. These are the first steps forward on a legislative journey that may take more than six months.

Astrue Sides With Union

A press release from Social Security:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that the agency is submitting legislation to Congress that would prohibit states, without the Commissioner’s prior authorization, from reducing the number of state personnel who make disability determinations for Social Security or the hours they work below the amount the agency authorizes.

“It is long past time that states end these unconscionable furloughs and hiring freezes that needlessly harm citizens with disabilities,” Commissioner Astrue said. “States realize no fiscal savings whatsoever from these actions and this legislation would prevent needless delays in the disability determination process. I am grateful for the President’s support and urge Congress to move quickly to help us make this provision the law of the land.”

More than a dozen states have implemented furloughs and hiring freezes that affect the federally paid state workers who make disability determinations for Social Security. The state agencies that employ these workers in their disability determination service (DDS) components receive 100 percent of their funding from the Federal government. Accordingly, states do not save any money by imposing furloughs and hiring freezes on federally funded employees. Rather, they slow benefits to some of the most vulnerable citizens – for example, furloughs in California in fiscal year 2010 delayed payment of over $11 million in benefits to more than 40,000 citizens with disabilities. State-imposed furloughs and hiring freezes also reduce state income tax revenue and increase unemployment in the state.

“The members of Local 1000 have always believed that furloughing federally funded positions doesn’t make economic sense and that has been proven in California during these past 18 months that Governor Schwarzenegger has imposed furloughs on state employees,” Yvonne Walker, President of Service Employees International Union Local 1000 said. “I applaud Social Security for initiating legislation that would prevent further bad economic policy from going forward. This provision will not only help DDS workers, but the claimants who rely on the services our members provide.”

“We commend the Commissioner for his forceful and dedicated leadership in taking this bold action,” said Susan X. Smith, President of the National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE). “Our members are witness to the impact the current economic recession has had for disabled citizens and we are working hard to meet the dramatic increase in claims for benefits. These furloughs further compound the problems faced by disabled citizens by creating unnecessary delays in the processing of their claims. NADE urges quick action with regards to this legislative proposal.”

Hearing On Board of Trustees Nominations

The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing for July 29 on the following nominations to Social Security's Board of Trustees:

• Charles P. Blahous III, a Republican who has Republican ideas for Social Security "reform"
  
• Robert D. Reischauer, a Democrat who accepts that Social Security needs "reform"
  

OIG Report On Hearing Backlog Reduction

Senator Claire McCaskill asked Social Security"s Office of Inspector General (OIG) whether Social Security's 2007 "Plan to Eliminate the Hearings Backlog and Prevent its Recurrence" would achieve its goal. OIG took almost a year in getting back to Senator McCaskill with the answer, "We believe SSA will be able to achieve its FY 2013 pending hearings backlog goal if the Agency has reliably projected hearing level receipts, ALJ availability levels, ALJ productivity levels, and senior attorney adjudicator decisions through 2013." The answer begs the question of whether Social Security has accurately predicted future receipts as well as future productivity. However, the signs so far are encouraging.

Proposed Procedural Regs

From today's Federal Register:

We propose to revise the procedures for how claimants who request hearings before administrative law judges (ALJs) may seek further review of their fully favorable revised determinations based on prehearing case reviews or fully favorable attorney advisor decisions. We also propose to notify claimants who receive partially favorable determinations based on prehearing case reviews that an ALJ will still hold a hearing unless all parties to the hearing tell us in writing that we should dismiss the hearing requests.