National Hearing Center In St. Louis

From a press release:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today opened in St. Louis, Missouri the agency’s fifth National Hearing Center (NHC). The St. Louis NHC is the largest in the nation and is co-located with two other new Social Security facilities -- the National Case Assistance Center (NCAC) and the Midwest Training Center. Together these three facilities will bring over 200 new federal jobs to St. Louis. The project, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was completed in just ten months and is the fastest the General Services Administration has ever delivered a project of this size, quality, and type.

“The St. Louis NHC will help us reduce the backlog of disability cases in those areas of the country where citizens with disabilities are currently waiting far too long for a hearing decision,” Commissioner Astrue said. “For the City of St. Louis and the State of Missouri, these facilities will bring new permanent federal jobs.”

The St. Louis NHC will be staffed by 100 people -- 18 Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and 82 support staff. The NHC uses state-of-the-art electronic video technology to hold disability hearings remotely throughout the country to reduce backlogs. St. Louis initially will hear disability cases for Cleveland, Ohio and Minneapolis, Minnesota – cities with two of the most backlogged hearing offices in the nation. Social Security has additional NHCs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Baltimore, Maryland, Falls Church, Virginia, and Chicago, Illinois.

The NCAC and Midwest Training Center will employ 102 people. The NCAC will provide decision-writing assistance to backlogged hearing offices throughout the U.S. The Midwest Training Center will enable the agency to train Midwest and western employees closer to home – saving taxpayers money by reducing the travel costs associated with employee training.

“The new Social Security facilities in St. Louis are prime examples of Recovery Act dollars at work,” said Commissioner Astrue. “I applaud the General Services Administration and the Social Security staff who worked tirelessly to open these new facilities in record time. The result will be better service for disabled Americans and increased job opportunities for residents of the St. Louis area.”

$250 Payment Bill Gathering Co-Sponsors

The bill that Earl Pomeroy, the Chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee, just introduced, which would give Social Security recipients a special $250 payment in the likely event that there is no cost of living adjustment to Social Security this year, has already garnered the following 84 co-sponsors:

• Rep Arcuri, Michael A. [NY-24] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Becerra, Xavier [CA-31] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Boren, Dan [OK-2] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Brady, Robert A. [PA-1] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Bright, Bobby [AL-2] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Castor, Kathy [FL-11] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-11] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Costello, Jerry F. [IL-12] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Critz, Mark S. [PA-12] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Dahlkemper, Kathleen A. [PA-3] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7] - 7/30/2010
• Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [OR-4] - 7/30/2010
• Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. [CT-3] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Deutch, Theodore E. [FL-19] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Driehaus, Steve [OH-1] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Edwards, Donna F. [MD-4] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Fudge, Marcia L. [OH-11] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Garamendi, John [CA-10] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Giffords, Gabrielle [AZ-8] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Gordon, Bart [TN-6] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Grayson, Alan [FL-8] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Hall, John J. [NY-19] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Hare, Phil [IL-17] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-23] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Kagen, Steve [WI-8] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Kaptur, Marcy [OH-9] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Kilpatrick, Carolyn C. [MI-13] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Kirkpatrick, Ann [AZ-1] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Kissell, Larry [NC-8] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Klein, Ron [FL-22] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Kosmas, Suzanne M. [FL-24] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Langevin, James R. [RI-2] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Larson, John B. [CT-1] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Levin, Sander M. [MI-12] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Lewis, John [GA-5] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Loebsack, David [IA-2] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Lynch, Stephen F. [MA-9] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Matsui, Doris O. [CA-5] - 7/30/2010
• Rep McIntyre, Mike [NC-7] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Meek, Kendrick B. [FL-17] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Moore, Gwen [WI-4] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Neal, Richard E. [MA-2] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Oberstar, James L. [MN-8] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Ortiz, Solomon P. [TX-27] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Perriello, Thomas S.P. [VA-5] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Peters, Gary C. [MI-9] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Rahall, Nick J., II [WV-3] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Richardson, Laura [CA-37] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Rodriguez, Ciro D. [TX-23] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Sablan, Gregorio Kilili Camacho [MP] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Schauer, Mark H. [MI-7] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Schwartz, Allyson Y. [PA-13] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Scott, David [GA-13] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Shea-Porter, Carol [NH-1] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Sutton, Betty [OH-13] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Titus, Dina [NV-3] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Towns, Edolphus [NY-10] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Tsongas, Niki [MA-5] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Wilson, Charles A. [OH-6] - 7/30/2010
• Rep Yarmuth, John A. [KY-3] - 7/30/2010

Appropriations Bill Reported Out In Senate

The Senate Appropriations Committee has reported out the appropriations bill that covers Social Security. The amount approved in Committee is the same amount recommended by the President, $12.379 million. This now goes to the floor of the Senate.

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.