I Thought This Might Be Coming

From a press release:

Today, Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) introduced H.R. 5987, The Seniors Protection Act of 2010. The bill would assist 57 million American seniors, retired and disabled veterans, and disabled individuals with a one-time $250 payment that they deserve in the event that no inflation adjustment is announced this Fall.

“Seniors did not cause the near meltdown of the economy that occurred in the last days of the prior Administration, yet too many are still feeling the brunt of its fallout,” said Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Earl Pomeroy (D-ND). “Today we help seniors across the country who face the likely possibility that on October 15th Social Security will announce for the first time ever—as a result of a long-standing statutory formula—that there will not be a cost-of-living-adjustment in Social Security benefits in back-to-back years.”...

Chairman Pomeroy pledged: “This bill is responsible to seniors and to taxpayers. The authors are committed to fiscal responsibility and will ensure that the Seniors Protection Act of 2010 shall not cause an increase in the federal deficit. When the bill comes to the House floor it will include the necessary offsets to comply with the PAYGO law.”

Medicare's 45th Anniversary

Today is Medicare's 45th anniversary. When Medicare first started, the Social Security Administration was in charge of the program. The picture is of Social Security Commissioner Robert Ball holding a press conference to announce Social Security's plans for implementing Medicare.

Coalition Forms To Protect Social Security

There was a press conference yesterday to announce the formation of Strengthen Social Security, a coalition of 60 groups united around the following principles:

1. Social Security did not cause the federal deficit; its benefits should not be cut to reduce the deficit.
2. Social Security should not be privatized in whole or in part.
3. Social Security should not be means-tested.
4. Congress should act in the coming few years to close Social Security’s funding gap by requiring those who are most able to afford it to pay somewhat more.
5. Social Security’s retirement age, already scheduled to increase from 65 to 67, should not be raised further.
6. Social Security’s benefits should not be reduced, including by changes to the COLA or the benefit formula.
7. Social Security’s benefits should be increased for those who are most disadvantaged.

Good News, Bad News

According to a Gallup survey, there is good news and bad news when it comes to public attitudes about Social Security. First the bad news: "Seventy-seven percent of Americans say they believe the retirement, disability and survivors' benefits program 'is in a state of crisis' or 'has major problems.'" I think the public has been unduly alarmed. Things are not that bad, not even close. Now the good news:

Of six possible ways of addressing Social Security's long-term funding challenges, most Americans favor two, both of which would affect only wealthy Americans.

Sixty-seven percent think "higher-income workers" should pay Social Security taxes on all their wages, with 60 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of independents and 79 percent of Democrats agreeing with the idea, the poll found.

Sixty-three percent want to limit benefits for wealthy retirees, with 55 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of independents and 71 percent of Democrats agreeing.

A minority favor increasing taxes, reducing most people's benefits or increasing the age at which most people are eligible to receive full retirement benefits.

So, would someone explain to me why it is that most commentators seem to think it is inevitable that Social Security benefits are going to be cut in some way such as by increasing full retirement age.

Social Security Delays Fill Homeless Shelters

From WSOC-TV in Charlotte:

Kathy White said it's been more than a year since she had a place to live.

"They do a lot for us here," White said, referring to the Center of Hope women's shelter. “But I'd much rather have my own place and be on my own.”

White said a long wait for disability benefits is what is keeping her from a place of her own. She said she’s been waiting for two years.

"They end up homeless because they end up losing their job," Deronda Metz, the shelter's director, said. "They come to the shelter and then they begin that process."

Metz said that contributes to overcrowding issues at the shelter, forcing some women to sleep on cots and the floor.

At the men's shelter on North Tryon Street, officials said 20 percent of the men are waiting on benefits.

The Bottom Line On Social Security Disability Claims

From the Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2009
Final outcome of disabled-worker applications, 1999–2008

Retirement Of Larry Jones

From The Oklahoman (I urge you to read to the end):

There's something poetic about the swan song of Larry Jones, public affairs specialist with the Social Security Administration in Oklahoma City. Jones began working for Social Security just before its 50th anniversary celebration. He's retiring on Aug. 31 — only weeks after the agency turns 75 years old. ...

[H]e recently sat down with The Oklahoman to share some of [his experiences] ...

Q: What were some of your funniest experiences?

A: We always ask women about their past marriages because they're frequently eligible for benefits on a former or deceased spouse's work history. One woman had been married 13 times, but didn't qualify on any ex's record, because none had been married to her 10 years or died while she was married to them.

On another claim application, an older gentleman's glass eye fell out, bounced across the desk and landed right beside me. Without missing a beat, he walked over to it, picked it up, wiped it off and popped it back in. ...

Q: What's the biggest misconception about Social Security?

A: That it will go away. You'd have to have bankruptcy on a national level for that to happen. As long as there are people paying taxes, there will be a retirement system.

Q: The local Social Security office formerly was housed in the Murrah Building. Were you there on the day of the bombing?

A: No, I was at home in Yukon. Fortuitously, that Wednesday was my biweekly flex day, having worked compressed work days the other 13. A coworker, who was also off, called to tell me to turn on the TV and I saw the sheared off front of our building. I thought all my friends were dead. Sixteen died; some 50 survived.

Though I wasn't physically there, I was a very real part of it. We, I and the survivors, were like zombies for a year. People told me I was saved for a reason. But wild things went through my head like, "If I'd been there, and known, I could have gotten people out."

My wife and kids came home early that afternoon, and they were all hugging me. It was a very surreal experience.

Fraud In Oklahoma

From the Tulsa World:

In the Tulsa-based Northern District of Oklahoma, there have been 16 indictments handed up since 2006 that have alleged Social Security fraud such as using money meant for dead beneficiaries, disability fraud, claim-related false statements and even aggravated identity theft involving Social Security number misuse.

It's far from just a local problem. The agency's Office of Investigations conducts thousands of criminal probes every year. ...

Jonathan L. Lasher is Assistant Inspector General for the External Relations in the Office of the Inspector General [OIG]. He said investigations into suspected fraud start in a variety of ways, including from tips from the public and from OIG auditors who often come across potential crimes in their reviews of Social Security operations. ...

The agency reported to Congress earlier this year that from Oct. 1, 2009, through March 31, more than $15.5 million was recovered and that almost $144 million was saved as a result of investigations that led to improperly received benefits being shut off. ...

Lasher said the number of fraud allegations the Social Security Administration receives is relatively consistent from year to year.

But Lasher said he believes investigators' "vigilance has made it consistently more difficult to obtain and retain benefits to which an individual is not entitled."