Francis Talbot

I regret to report that Francis Talbot, Jr., who had been an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at the Charleston, SC hearing office, has passed away. He was 64.

What States Have The Highest Incidence Of Disability

From the Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2009
Disabled beneficiaries aged 18–64 in current-payment status as a percentage of state population aged 18–64, December 2009

It's So Easy To Get The Overpayment Waived, Why Bother Declaring It

From the Des Moines Register:

Steve Caseley couldn't believe what showed up in the mail last week. Was it some kind of joke?

No, the letter to Lisa Moser arrived on official Social Security Administration stationery. Moser - who has Down syndrome and lives with Caseley and his wife, who is Moser's sister, in West Des Moines - owed the government $4,425.40.

"Due to incorrect computation for the period of November 1987 through June 2010," the letter said, Moser received $183,227.55 in disability insurance benefits when she should have received $178,802.15. ...

Privacy laws prohibit Social Security officials from discussing specific situations, but communications director John Garlinger did speak in general terms.

Could the source of the problem be the wages Moser earned from Panera and Wendy's? It's possible.

"Part of the definition of disabled means you can't work," Garlinger said. "If we say someone has been overpaid because they were earning too much money, they need to gather up their income tax records and bring them in. We'll go through that. It's not impossible we missed something. It's not impossible, for whatever reason, not all the income was reported."

That link in the article --it goes to a PDF of the overpayment notice, with the Social Security number plainly visible. Real smart, Des Moines Register.

Refugees To Lose Benefits

From the New York Times:

The Social Security Administration is about to terminate cash assistance for thousands of indigent refugees who are severely disabled or over the age of 64.

“You will lose your Supplemental Security Income on Oct. 1,” the agency says in letters being mailed to more than 3,800 refugees.

All fled persecution or torture. Many are too old or infirm to work and are not yet eligible to become United States citizens.

Federal law sets a seven-year limit on payments to refugees. ...

The extra eligibility period is now ending, and Congress has not taken action to extend it.

New Hearing Office In Wisconsin

A new hearing office is to open in Madison, WI with six Administrative Law Judges (ALJS). The newspaper article about this seems confused. It suggests that there will be two hearing offices in Madison.

Social Security Disability Awards

From the Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2009
Social Security disability awards, 1980–2009

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.