What Exactly Is The AARP? An Answer In Four Parts

I.

From the New York Times:

AARP, the powerful lobby for older Americans that has been seen as one of the leading opponents of Social Security benefit cuts, said on Friday that it was open to modest reductions in benefits for future recipients.... 

“Our goal is to limit any changes in benefits,” John Rother, AARP’s policy chief, said in a telephone interview, “but we also want to see the system made solvent.” 

Mr. Rother said the group’s stance on possible cuts, which was first reported in The Wall Street Journal in Friday’s editions, should be seen less as a major change in position than as a reflection of the political and financial realities facing the Social Security system and the country as a whole. 

“You have to look at all the tradeoffs,” Mr. Rother said, “and what we’re trying to do is engage the American public in that debate.”... 

But other advocacy groups that are pushing to preserve Social Security benefits accused AARP of effectively abandoning its core constituency.  ... 

As word of AARP’s position set off debate in Washington on Friday, the group’s chief executive, Barry Rand, issued a formal statement saying that the group’s position had not changed in any substantive way and refuting what he described as “misleading” media reports.

II.

From Politics Plus:

Many years ago, I joined AARP. Even though I had opted out of receiving special offers from their partners, a virtual rainforest flooded my mailbox, with offers for everything from Depends to senior vacation retreats. I am on the “do not call list”. Nevertheless I was harassed half to insanity with telephone solicitors that said they can call me, because they had a “business relationship” with me as “AARP partners”. I complained long and loud to AARP, but they were insensitive to my needs. It seemed apparent to me that AARP was far more interested in marketing to me than representing or informing me. AARP betrayed me by supporting the Bush Part D plan without demanding that US made drugs, imported from Canada, be allowed. I tore up my membership card and mailed them the pieces. Now they have betrayed senior citizens again.

III.

Two days ago -- two days ago! -- AARP put out a press release promising "a new television ad campaign to urge Congress not to make any deal to pay the nation's bills that would result in harmful cuts to critical Medicare and Social Security benefits..." (emphasis added). This is to be a national multi-million dollar ad buy. Notice that key word "harmful" in AARP's press release. This ad buy appears to be an effort to convince the world that the AARP isn't selling out its membership. The ads will, in effect, be an effort to sell Social Security cuts since AARP is telling the world that it would never accept anything harmful.

By the way, AARP is also planning nation-wide town hall meetings to convince its members to accept Social Security cuts -- as long as AARP declares those cuts not to be harmful. 

These AARP town-hall meetings could get interesting. I hope they get media coverage.

 

IV.

Does anyone like or respect or trust the AARP? Not that I know of. The right wing finds it just about as obnoxious as the left.

Consider The Sources

From Fox News (just typing that name makes me feel dirty):

The AARP pushed back Friday on a report claiming the nation's most powerful seniors lobby was dropping its opposition to benefits cuts -- but at the same time acknowledged "benefit adjustments" would be necessary to make the system solvent. 

The flurry of reports and statements left unclear whether AARP was opening up to new concessions in the debate over Social Security, as several lawmakers place reform proposals on the table. 

The Wall Street Journal first reported Friday that the AARP, which opposed President George W. Bush's push to partially privatize Social Security, has decided to accept cuts -- though it would reportedly push for tax hikes to close most of the long-term Social Security shortfall.

At The End Of Her Rope

 From The Herald in Rock Hill, SC:

The only way Ora Williams can keep her front door closed is with a rope. A rope, just like the one this woman who just turned 62 says she is almost at the end of.

After a lifetime of work in factories, Williams says she is now physically unable to work - although the government says she can work, doing something, and has denied her application for disability payments.

That's why Williams is dead broke. A year ago this week was her last day on the job. She has spent all she had saved in her life to survive.

And some politicians want an even longer wait for disability payments for people such as Williams, along with a push to change Medicare eligibility that Williams knows is her only chance at medical care when she turns 65. ...

Last year after an aneurysm behind her left eye caused her to be unable to keep her balance - and therefore work doing the only thing she has done for 22 years, making air filters - Williams had to leave the factory.

She also has "sugar diabetes" and high blood pressure.

"I can't walk far," she said. "I can't keep my balance to work." ...

A spokesman for the Social Security regional office in Atlanta, Frank Viera, said the government does not discuss specific cases so he could not say specifically why Williams was denied disability benefits. ...

Viera said Tuesday after he was contacted by The Herald about Williams' situation that a field worker would contact Williams about her claim status. The disability claim remains pending, but Williams was able to arrange her Social Security retirement benefits.

"I was told I will get a check," Williams said. "They calculated I will receive $891 each month. Great news."

Congressional Hearing On Social Security Finances

From the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee:

U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security announced today that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Social Security’s current revenue streams, proposed changes to those structures and the impact they would have on the program, beneficiaries, workers and the economy.  The hearing will take place on Thursday, June 23, 2011 in B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 1:30 p.m. ...

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 reduced the OASDI payroll tax paid by the worker by 2 percentage points in calendar year 2011.  The law also required the Secretary of the Treasury to make general revenue transfers to replace revenues temporarily diverted from the trust funds.   ...

The Social Security actuaries have estimated a number of revenue generating proposals, including those proposed by the President’s Fiscal Commission which would require all newly hired state and local workers to participate in Social Security and increase the amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes by increasing the taxable wage base.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) stated, “When Social Security first began, the payroll tax was only 2 percent – evenly split between employers and employees -- on the first $3,000 in wages.  Today the payroll tax is 12.4% on the first $106,800 in wages.  Yet despite the tax increases, Social Security is in trouble.  Clearly tax hikes have not been a panacea.  This hearing will provide an opportunity to learn more about Social Security revenues, options for change and their impacts.” 

A Message From The Chair

 An e-mail I received recently:

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

On June 13, the Social Security Administration (SSA) posted a position for a lead scientist for the Office of Vocational Resources Development to provide technical guidance for the development of the occupational information system to replace the Dictionary of Occupational Titles in SSA's disability programs.  The OIDAP strongly supports SSA's effort in recruiting for this position.  Please disseminate the link below for the position to all parties who may be interested in applying.

http://jobview.usajobs.gov/GetJob.aspx?JobID=100109783&JobTitle=Senior+Research+Psychologist&q=Senior+Research+Psychologist&where=&brd=3876&vw=b&FedEmp=N&FedPub=Y&x=38&y=5&AVSDM=2011-06-13+00%3a03%3a00

Mary Barros-Bailey, Ph.D

Chair

Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel

Shot Down

From TPM:

Two leading Republicans say they do not support President Obama's plan to broaden, deepen, and extend a payroll tax cut to stimulate the economy in the short-term.

In a briefing with reporters in the Capitol Tuesday, the House and Senate GOP conference chairs said they're through with short-term stimulus measures, even if they take the form of tax cuts. 

"Well they've tried this once, and it hasn't seemed to be working," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX).

His Senate counterpart, Lamar Alexander (R-TN) echoed this view.

Will Disability Claims Start Declining Next Year?

Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a report on Social Security's Strategy for Reducing The Initial Claims Backlog. Basically, the report says that the prospects for achieving the agency's goals are poor because the agency expects to be badly underfunded over the near two years at least. The poor prospects are despite the agency's projection that the number of disability claims filed is about to drop dramatically. Does that sound realistic?. See below for the agency's chart:

Congressional Panel Hearing About Overpayment Also Hears About Budget

From the prepared statements at today's hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee on overpayments at Social Security:

Carolyn Colvin, Deputy Commissioner of Social Security

... Our hard-working, dedicated employees have done their utmost to maintain the level of service that the American people expect and deserve. ...  Inevitably though, as our workloads rose and our appropriated funds were less than our budget requests, our service delivery suffered. Despite a long string of increases in productivity, we could not keep up. Throughout most of the past decade, the amount of program integrity work we could handle dropped dramatically, even though we know that work saves the taxpayer about ten dollars for each dollar spent. The time a claimant waited for a disability hearing rose to an average of 800-900 days in many cities, and some claimants waited as long as 1,400 days. Waiting times for in-person and telephone service increased, as did the public’s and Congress’ frustration with us. ...

Patrick O'Carroll, Inspector General of Social Security

... For FY [fiscal year] 2009, SSA [Social Security Administration] reported improper payments totaling $8 billion, including underpayments and overpayments, the third-highest amount of improper payments in the year, behind the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) ($71.4 billion) and the Department of Labor ($17.5 billion). SSA’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program made $48.3 billion in total payments, including an estimated $4 billion in overpayments and an estimated $800 million in underpayments, resulting in a 10 percent improper payment rate; SSA projects it will reduce that rate to 9.2 percent in FY 2011 and to 8.7 percent by FY 2012. SSA’s Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI) program made $659.6 billion in total payments, including an estimated $2.5 billion in overpayments and an estimated $600 million in underpayments, for a 0.5 percent improper payment rate; SSA projects it will reduce that rate to 0.4 percent in FY 2011. Verification and local administration errors, such as a beneficiary’s unreported or undetected financial accounts and wages, cause the majority of SSA’s improper payments, according to the Agency. ...

In conclusion, the President has outlined an aggressive plan of action to reduce improper payments and improve payment accuracy throughout the Federal government. Thus far, agencies like SSA are working to improve their reporting of improper payments and identify overpayment and underpayment causes and solutions, even when budgets are limited and staff workloads are increasing.

Daniel Bertoni, Government Accountability Office

... [W]e also found a limitation in SSA’s Recovery of Overpayments, Accounting and Reporting (ROAR) system. Used to track overpayments and collections, ROAR does not reflect debt due SSA past year 2049 so the total balance due the program is unknown, and likely larger than the agency is reporting....

Ann Roberts, President-Elect of the National Council of Disability Determination Directors

The DDSs [Disability Determination Services] work in partnership with SSA to provide public service to individuals applying for disability benefits while also balancing stewardship commitments. ...The DDSs evaluate CDRs requiring medical review for SSA, ensuring that only those individuals who are eligible, continue to receive benefits. SSA estimates that every dollar spent on CDRs yields $10 in lifetime program savings. Unfortunately, budget constraints have forced a reduction in this integrity workload. The DDSs can also assist in curbing improper payments by identifying fraud in the disability application process. The detection and prevention of improper payments further enhances the integrity of the program. ...

DDS staffing is critical to the processing of all disability claims. Nationally, DDS examiner attrition fiscal year to date (FYTD) is 12.8%. SSA has imposed a hiring freeze on all DDSs due to funding limitations. The continued inability to hire in the DDSs will severely limit the ability to process initial and reconsideration cases and restrict any additional CDR work, resulting in significant backlogs nationally. ...

Eleven DDSs have an attrition rate for disability examiners over 20%.

Joseph Dirago, President, National Council of Social Security Management Associations

Despite SSA’s enormous workloads and challenges, SSA’s FY 2011 appropriation for administrative funding through the Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) account was below the FY 2010 enacted level and $275 million was rescinded from Carryover Information Technology (IT) funds. This funding level does not allow SSA to cover inflationary costs for fixed expenses, which has resulted in a hiring freeze, drastic reduction of overtime hours, and postponements of initiatives to improve efficiency – all of which will have major public service repercussions....

SSA already has an acute staff-to-workload imbalance and is over-extended in critical program areas as it struggles to keep up with rapidly increasing workloads and existing backlogs. Congress must give thoughtful consideration to future appropriations for SSA to ensure the preservation of this valued program. Properly funding SSA to process core workloads and invest in program integrity initiatives to improve payment accuracy will save taxpayer dollars and is fiscally prudent in reducing the federal budget and deficit.