5th Anniversary

Social Security News is now five years old. I have made well over 4,000 posts. I have no idea how much time I have put in on it. I know that I have gotten a good deal of satisfaction out of it. I hope that my readers have found this blog useful.

Happy Thanksgiving

And to continue in a classic mode, read Art Buchwald's classic explanation of Le jour de Merci Donnant.

Something To Be Thankful For

I was able to use Social Security's online process for accessing the files that Social Security has on my clients files today -- using Firefox -- without difficulty. I have heard from some others who have had the same favorable experience this week. I hope that the problems of the past few weeks have been permanently resolved.

NJ Reduces State Supplementation Of SSI

First, let me give some history. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program was introduced in the 1970s. It replaced earlier state programs of aid to indigent people who were of old age or disabled. At the time it was introduced, a number of states were paying higher benefit rates than the new SSI program. States were allowed to supplement the SSI benefits to bring them up to their previous level. Many states still supplement SSI benefits for their residents. The states transfer the money to Social Security which gives SSI recipients one check or direct deposit that includes both the basic SSI rate and the state supplementation. However, states are not obliged to continue the state supplementation.

Social Security has put out an emergency message saying that the state of New Jersey is reducing its state supplementation beginning in January 2011. California has already done this. I will be surprised if other states do not follow suit.

Acronym City: OIG On FIT And DWSI

From a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):

FIT [Findings Integrated Template] was released to all hearing offices in January 2006. FIT was designed to address quality issues in ALJ [Administrative Law Judge] decisions, notably legal error or poorly articulated rationale. With FIT, a DW [Decision Writer] does not have to cut and paste from old decisions to prepare the most common types of decisions. FIT provides more than 2,000 templates in 14 categories that cover the majority of decisional outcomes. Each template provides an analytical framework designed to ensure the relevant issues are addressed in a decision.

SSA implemented the DW Productivity Improvement initiative, which was subsequently renamed DWSI [Decision Writer Statistical Index], in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 to improve the timeliness of the draft decisions the ALJs receive from DWs and to assess DW productivity. ...

To determine the effectiveness of the FIT and DWSI initiatives, we reviewed decision-writing statistics and surveyed 171 DWs, 131 ALJs, and all 13 administrative appeals judges (AAJ) from the AC. We also interviewed Headquarters-based employees of SSA’s OGC [Social Security's Office of General Counsel].

RESULTS OF REVIEW

While the average number of decisions drafted by DWs each day had increased slightly since FIT and DWSI were introduced, we were unable to determine whether the recommended decision-writing timeframes established by DWSI were met. ODAR did not measure decision-writing times in its Case Processing and Management System (CPMS)—ODAR’s management information system. In terms of quality, FIT helped provide uniformity and consistency in written decisions, and the percentage of remanded cases from the AC was lower after FIT and DWSI were introduced. Still, staff reported FIT did not cover all possible decision-writing scenarios, and some improvements were possible.

Memo From Chief ALJ On Dismissals

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

Exactly

From Federal News Radio:

Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) is about as mild-mannered a member of the upper chamber as one will find. He rarely raises his voice. His questions are of substance, not for show.

But at one his last hearings, Voinovich -- who retires in December -- took the opportunity to make a plea to federal managers.

"It just drives me crazy that more departments don't really stand up and start raising you know what when we don't give you resources you need to get the job done particularly in management," Voinovich said....

"For years we've complained about the social security disability [backlog] and when I met with [Michael] Astrue, [the commissioner of the Social Security Administration] Congress just slashed their budget without any consideration as to whether or not they can get the job done," Voinovich said. "And then when things didn't get done Congress beat them up and if you go back and look at it and say the reason why they couldn't do it is you didn't give them the resources and now you are complaining."

Democrats are certainly guilty of the same behavior but Republicans have raised it to the level of promoting anarchism: Underfund agencies, complain about their poor performance and use their poor performance as justification for cutting agency budgets further because government is horrendously wasteful and should mostly be abolished.

That's Odd

For more than three months the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been reviewing Social Security's proposal:

...[T]o establish a 12-month time limit for the withdrawal of an old age benefits application. We also propose to permit only one withdrawal per lifetime. These proposed changes would limit the voluntary suspension of benefits only to those benefits disbursed in future months.

OMB has gone beyond its own guidelines on the timeframes for these reviews and has had to officially extend the time for review. I did not think there was anything complicated or controversial about this. It is aimed at shutting down attempts to game Social Security by filing claims for old age benefits, receiving benefits for a term of years and then withdrawing the claim and paying back the benefits to get a higher benefit later.