Watch Out Houston!

From a presolicitation notice posted by the Social Security Administration on FedBizOpps.gov:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) , Region VI Dallas Region, intends to solicit for Fraud Investigation Services for the Dallas Region VI Cooperative Disability Investigations Unit (CDI) located in Houston, TX. The requirement is for the investigation of suspected fraud activities against the Social Security Administration's Title II and Title XVI Disability Programs (including Title XIX Medicaid) in the Houston, TX metropolitan area. The contractor shall provide the necessary personnel, materials, services, equipment and perform all tasks necessary for or incidental to providing the required services. The contractor must be able to provide the following: (1) State wide arrest authority as defined by the statutes and regulations of the State of Texas; (2) Access to reports which are restricted to law enforcement officials; (3) A license to carry a concealed weapon (must be armed); (4) Training in arrest techniques and (5) A valid certification by a Class A Law Enforcement Department (6) Ability to testify in court.

I Predict No Response Before The Election And A "Hell No" After The Election

From Political Brief:

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wrote to his counterpart today asking for GOP support on helping social security recipients who will not receive cost-of-living adjustments next year.

In a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Reid urges the Republican to support Democratic legislation that would provide one-time $250 checks to seniors in 2011. ...

Reid’s letter was co-signed by 18 other Senate Democrats ...

OIDAP Asks For Comments

Social Security's Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel (OIDAP) has posted a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments on its plan for Social Security to develop its own new occupational information system.

Raising Retirement Age Unpopular In France

From the Associated Press:

Masked youths clashed with police and set fires in cities across France on Tuesday as protests against a proposed hike in the retirement age took an increasingly radical turn. Hundreds of flights were canceled, long lines formed at gas stations and train service in many regions was cut in half. ...

The protesters are trying to prevent the French parliament from approving a bill that would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 ...

Study On CEs

The Social Security Administration recently released a 2008 study of consultative medical examinations (CEs) performed by Comprehensive Occupational Medical Services (COMS), a contractor. Not all, but many, disability claimants are sent to these exams conducted at Social Security's expense. I have no idea why Social Security took so long to release this. Here are a few findings from the study:

• The mean Quality Rating (QR) of the CE’s reviewed was 2.97 within a range of 1-5: “1” represents an unsatisfactory and unredeemable CE Report and “5” a superbly documented, consistent, and logical report. This finding implies that the majority of CE Reports reviewed were sufficient to provide the DDS with enough clinical information to make an informed claim decision, but were deficient in the amount of clinical detail provided. The common deficiencies noted included: an inadequate history of present illness(es), failure to note medications or medication dosages, an absent or incomplete review of systems, omissions of important details of the physical findings, most commonly involving the musculoskeletal or neurological body systems, and an absent or qualitative medical source statement (MSS).
• Medical evidence of record (MER) was often not forwarded to CE providers. On the other hand, when MER was forwarded, it was unusual to find in CE Reports an adequate description of what items of MER were reviewed by the CE provider. COMS did not find any current policy or regulatory guidance requiring the inclusion of such information in CE Reports.
• The mean QR for CE’s associated with allowance decisions was statistically higher than for denials.
• COMS found that about 25% of X-Rays purchased by DDS’s as part of the CE process were probably unnecessary. Also, most purchased X-Rays, even when apparently indicated based on other CE findings or MER, do not demonstrate important pathological findings for SSA purposes.
• A consistent theme expressed by the DDS’s is that it is difficult at current fee levels to recruit and (retain) CE providers, especially specialists.

This Is Odd

From a notice posted by Social Security on FedBizOpps:

Region X of the Social Security wishes to identify vendors who may provide Verbatim Hearing Recordings (VHR) at various locations. The government contemplates the pursuit of up to three Indefinite Quantity Indefinite Delivery type contracts. One contract would provide all VHR needs in the States of Washington and Idaho, one contract would provide all VHR needs in the State of Oregon, and one contact would provide all VHR needs in the State of Alaska. The period of performance would be one year, with four one-year option periods.

There are a couple of things that I find surprising about this notice. First, my understanding is that Social Security has been contracting with individuals who perform this service rather than trying to contract out the service for an entire state. Second, on April 27 of this year Social Security Commissioner Astrue told the House Ways and Means Committee that "We are in-sourcing verbatim hearing reporting to further improve ALJ productivity."

Can someone tell me what is going on? This is not such a small thing to the hundreds of people who work as hearing reporters.

Processing Time Report

Below are a couple of reports from Social Security on processing times and workloads at Social Security hearing offices. Click on each page twice to view full size. These come from the newsletter of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR). That newsletter is not available online.

Compare the processing time as it has changed over time:

• January 25, 2007 -- 508 days
• February 29, 2008 -- 511 days
• March 8, 2009 -- 499 days
• April 24, 2009 -- 505 days
• June 3, 2009 -- 505 days
• September 29, 2009 -- 472 days
• July 5, 2010 -- 415 days
• July 30, 2010 -- 410
• September 5, 2010 -- 398 days
  

Obama Supports $250 Payments

From the Chicago Tribune:

President Obama will press Congress to send a one-time payment of $250 to senior citizens to help them get through another year without an increase in their Social Security benefits, White House officials said Friday. ...

But the plan faces opposition in the Senate, which defeated a similar measure last year, and among Republicans concerned about long-term funding of the Social Security system.