GAO Study On Effects Of Raising Retirement Age On Disability Claims

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report with the title, Raising the Retirement Ages Would Have Implications for Older Workers and SSA Disability Rolls. Below are some excerpts from the report's somewhat preliminary findings and one chart, just in case any reader thinks the report is dealing with a minor problem that can be safely ignored (click on chart to view it full size):

• While general improvements in longevity, health, and workplace conditions over recent decades suggest that most workers would be capable of working to a later retirement age, many older workers would face health or physical challenges that could prevent them from working longer.
• [A]bout one-quarter of age 60-61 workers—those just prior to early retirement eligibility and most likely to be impacted by a change in retirement age—from 1998 to 2008 reported a work-limiting health condition, and about two-thirds of those who work report having a job that is physically demanding.
• Raising the EEA [Earliest Eligibility Age] or FRA [Full Retirement Age] could increase the number of applications to and beneficiaries of DI [Disability Insurance] and other assistance programs, as well as change retirement benefits.
• A few researchers have begun to study the effects of the prior increase in the FRA, and two studies conclude that the increase has led to more DI applications.
• Experts we interviewed indicated that modifications to the DI program and policy changes that provide alternative income support for low-income workers or employment support could help older workers who are unable to work, do not qualify for DI benefits, and are unable to receive enough support from existing programs.... Some proposals to support older workers include modifying the DI program, such as by allowing determinations of “partial disability” similar to how the Veterans Administration determines disability.
• Raising the EEA would likely have larger effects than a comparable rise in the FRA on retirement decisions, DI applications and awards, and on vulnerable older workers because it would remove the age-62 early retirement option, as opposed to lowering benefits for all early retirees.
  

A Microsoft Plot?

We are having problems at my firm in filing appeals online. We are told that our "Session has expired." This problem started on Tuesday. This problem is not affecting everyone. It seems to be a problem only for those who use Firefox as their web browser. Those who use Internet Explorer seem to be okay. This comes on top of suggestions that part of the recent problems that we and others have experienced in using Social Security's online access to client files has been related to using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer.

Yes, the workaround is obvious. No, I don't literally think there is a Microsoft plot. I think it is likely that some contractor at Social Security has made the bone-headed mistake of thinking that everyone uses Internet Explorer. For a government agency to insist that the public use only one web browser in dealing with the agency would be inappropriate.

Hearing Office Average Processing Time Report

From the newsletter of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR). Click on each thumbnail twice to view full size.

Landover Office Receives Award

From The Gazette of Gaithersburg, MD:

The Social Security Administration's Landover office received The Arc [Association for Retarded Citizens] of Prince George's County's "Award of Excellence for Governmental Affairs" Oct. 21 at the University of Maryland Golf Club.

AT& T Wins Contract

From a press release:

AT&T Government Solutions announced it has won a fair opportunity award to deploy the Citizens Access Routing Enterprise (CARE) through 2020 contact call center solution for the Social Security Administration (SSA). ... . The award will permit SSA to issue individual task orders to AT&T worth up to $286 million for an Internet Protocol (IP) – based interactive voice response automation and contact call center solution through SSA’s national toll-free number. ...

AT&T’s deployment of the CARE through 2020 contact call center solution will allow SSA the flexibility to meet increased demands and add new communication technologies and services, such as Web Callback, "Click to Talk", Web Collaboration, and Web Chat. In addition, CARE through 2020 will allow SSA to implement an enhanced reporting system that incorporates data from multiple sources and real-time network indicators, helping the agency identify and improve citizen interaction.

My Comments On Proposed Psychiatric Listing Changes

Below are my comments on the proposed changes to Social Security's psychiatric Listings. Today is the final day to post your comments. To make a comment:

SSA strongly recommends submission of comments via the eRulemaking portal at www.regulations.gov. On that site, follow these directions:

• Click on "submit a comment"
• In the space for "Enter keyword of ID," type in: SSA-2007-0101. Then click on "Search."
• One result should appear - the SSA mental disorders NPRM. On the right side, click on "Submit a Comment."
• Complete the form. It allows you to type in a comment (2000 characters maximum) or attach a document. To attach a document, first you "browse" and then must click on "attach."

Charles T. Hall Comments On Proposed Psychiatric Listing Changes

In general, I associate myself with the comments made by NOSSCR. In addition, I want to emphasize three points.

First, the substitution of the word "and" for the word "or" in the "B" criteria is a major change no matter what is said in the explanation of these changes. Let me give an example of the difference. Let us say that one needs to pass a test and the components of the test are:

1. Rub your stomach
2. Pat your head
3. Jump up and down.

If one is required to do only one of these three things, the test is simple to pass. However, if the test requires one to rub one's stomach, pat one's head and jump up and down all at the same time, the test becomes difficult. That is essentially what is proposed here. There is no basis for making this change to make things so much more difficult for claimants suffering from mental illness.

Second, in the proposed Listing 12.05 no distinction is made between the evidence required to establish onset before age twenty-two for individuals meeting the criteria depending upon whether they meet the criteria for A, B, C or D subdivisions. Logically, an individual with an IQ of fifty-nine or less would be expected to show more obvious signs of mental retardation in early life than would an individual with an IQ of sixty to seventy. Indeed, one would expect an individual with an IQ between sixty and seventy to show only subtle signs of their mental retardation in childhood. To have the same requirement for showing lack of normal intelligence in early years for individuals with such disparate IQs is to essentially make the requirement the same, that is, to require evidence of serious mental retardation in early life. This renders Listing 12.05.C meaningless.

Third, this Listing needs to deal with some of what is happening at Social Security already in terms of the requirements to demonstrate mental retardation before age 22 or, at least, some of the things that are being used as proof that an individual was not retarded before age twenty-two. Let me give a list of things that have been used and are being used as proof that an individual was not retarded before age twenty-two:

1. Learning to read and write
2. Graduating from high school
3. Getting married
4. Having a baby
5. Fathering a child
6. Raising a child
7. Living independently, even for brief periods of time
8. Working intermittently
9. Working steadily for a period of years
10. Maintaining a bank account
11. Paying bills
12. Having a boyfriend or girlfriend
13. Having a social life
14. Filing a claim for Social Security benefits without outside assistance
15. Doing household chores such as cooking and cleaning
16. Buying groceries
17. Being able to make change

All of these are consistent with an individual whose IQ is and always has been between sixty and seventy yet these have been used frequently to deny Social Security disability claims. I think that the Social Security Administration should deal with this by talking in the Listing about how each of these should be considered.

Commissioner On Phasing In DOT Replacement And Possible Automatic Approvals For 100% Disabled Vets

The National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE), an organization of personnel who make initial and reconsideration determinations on Social Security disability claims, has issued its Fall 2010 newsletter. Here is an excerpt from an article on Commissioner Michael Astrue's speech to a NADE conference in September:

Perhaps the one single issue facing the disability claims process that must be addressed is the need for SSA to replace the outdated Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). Even at the mention of the DOT, the Commissioner was greeted with laughter from the audience. These NADE members were well acquainted with the DOT and its increasing prominence as an antique book. ... SSA has taken some major heat for accepting responsibility to update this volume of work that previously was the responsibility of the Department of Labor. ... Although it is a multi—year project to complete the new OIS [Occupational Information System], the Agency does not plan to wait until the end to roll out the new OIS but plans to phase in portions of the new OIS. ...

There has been some expression of thought among Members of Congress that there should be increased sharing of information between the Veterans Administration and the Social Security Administration, even to the point that veterans qualifying for disability benefits under the VA should automatically become entitled to SSA disability benefits. Although the two agencies have very different definitions of disability, the Commissioner reported there had been some initial communication between the two agencies as to how they could achieve such a goal. SSA is looking into the possibility of granting disability benefits to veterans qualifying for 100% disability from the VA and additional talks on this subject would continue.

Electronic Access Problems

Only a few attorneys and representatives have online access to their clients' Social Security files. I am fortunate enough to be one of them. It has been very useful. Unfortunately, in the last week two serious problems have developed in the online access.

First, when trying to access client files, one must input a numerical code sent by text message. Yes, the text messaging is weird in and of itself but that is not the problem. The code must be entered in a box. When you click on that box to start entering data, nothing happens. The box does not open up. You can enter nothing. I have heard that there is a workaround of using the tab key to get the block open. At best, that is laborious. This also presents a problem for me in that I have found a way of receiving text messages by e-mail. I had been copying the numerical code and pasting it in the block. I have not been able to make that work so I must laboriously copy the code. Maybe Social Security likes to make it laborious.

The first problem is bad enough but the second is worse. You can no longer review an individual item from the electronic folder. When you click to view an item, you get a message saying "We Cannot Process Your Request At This Time." The only thing you can do is to download the entire record and that can take hours.

I delayed posting anything about this hoping that Social Security would get the problem solved quickly but they have so far been unable to do so. This is getting frustrating.