SSI Is Not Enough To Live On

From a fact sheet prepared by the Technical Assistance Collaborative:

People with disabilities who receive SSI [Supplemental Security Income] payments continue to be the nation’s poorest citizens. In 2010, the annual income of a single individual receiving SSI payments was $8,436 – equal to only 18.7% of the national median income for a one-person household and over 20% below the 2010 federal poverty level of $10,830. Since the first Priced Out study was published in 1998, the value of SSI payments compared to median income has declined precipitously – from 24.4% of median income in 1998 to 18.7% in 2010 – while national average rents have risen over 50% during the same time period. 

In 2010, as a national average, a person receiving SSI needed to pay 112% of their monthly income to rent a modest one-bedroom unit. In the 12 years since the first Priced Out was published, the amount of monthly SSI income needed to rent a modest one-bedroom unit has increased an astonishing 62 percent. People with disabilities were also priced out of smaller studio/efficiency units, which averaged 99% of monthly SSI.

A Little Binder And Binder Info

I had posted earlier on the decision in the case of Binder v. Disability Group. That case was a trademark infringement action based upon the Defendant's use of the name "Binder and Binder" in Google search engine advertising. Binder and Binder won. That decision is now available online. The part of the decision concerning computation of damages sheds a small amount of light on Binder and Binder's operations. Here is an excerpt (footnotes and exhibit numbers omitted):

We conclude that Plaintiffs' are entitled to an award for lost profits. Plaintiffs earned an average revenue of $3,576.93 per case in California from December 1,2005 through November 30,2006.  Plaintiffs retained 18.78% of cases for which submission forms were entered on their site.

One footnote indicates that Binder and Binder's average fee per case in California was slightly lower than  its nationwide average of $3,606.69.

What is unclear to me is why the Court made no adjustment, as best I can tell, for the fact that Binder and Binder would not have won all the cases it might have lost due to the trademark infringement. It seems odd to me to assume a 100% success rate for cases taken on a contingent fee basis.  Surely, the Defendant's attorney argued this point. Since the Court ordered treble damages and awarded attorney fees, it would appear that the Court was not impressed with any of the Defendant's arguments.

Social Security Checks At Risk In Debt Limit Impasse

From USA Today:

Social Security payments to millions of retirees and people with disabilities could be threatened if President Obama and Congress can't agree to increase the government's debt limit by Aug. 2, a new analysis shows.

Although the Treasury Department likely could avoid delaying Social Security checks, the analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center points up the depth of the cuts that would be needed if the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling isn't raised.

It shows that in August, the government could not afford to meet 44% of its obligations. Since the $134 billion deficit for that month couldn't be covered with more borrowing, programs would have to be cut.

If Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, payments to defense contractors and interest payments on Treasury bonds were exempt, that would be all the government could afford for the month. No money for troops or veterans. No tax refunds. No food stamps or welfare. No federal salaries or benefits.

 If the threat seems abstract to you, consider this from Ezra Kline:

The best advice I’ve gotten for assessing the debt-ceiling negotiations was to “watch for the day when the White House goes public.” As long as the Obama administration was refusing to attack Republicans publicly, my source said, they believed they could cut a deal. And that held true. ...  But today they went public. The negotiations have failed.

New ALJ Training

Could anyone provide me with a list of the recent trainers of new Administrative Law Judges? I wonder who they are. Note the "Feedback" button to the right.

NADE Newsletter

The National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE), an organization of the personnel who make initial and reconsideration determinations on Social Security disability claims, has issued its Summer 2011 newsletter. Here are a few excerpt from NADE's summary of Commissioner Astrue's remarks at a NADE regional training conference in April:

The DDS accuracy rate has increased from 94% to 98% over the last decade. ...

SSA continues to try to make the work process easier, such as eliminating step 4 ...

Commissioner Astrue acknowledged the mounting concerns regarding the disability process and, in particular, fraud involving treating physicians, abuse of the childhood disability program, and issues involving Medical Improvement process for CDRs. [Continuing Disability Reviews] Due to the differences in rules at the DDS [Disability Determination Services, where NADE members work] level and those at the hearing level, it is often impossible to remove some beneficiaries from the rolls when they are reviewed for medical improvement. These are all issues to hopefully be addressed in the future of this program.

By the way, as a survivor of the 60s, I love their ad for their training conference coming up in Los Angeles. I think I had something like this on the wall of my dorm room 40 or so years ago.

Social Security's IT Changes Run Counter To General Trend

From Information Week Government:

While a number of federal agencies are moving toward more centralized lines of IT  [Information Technology] authority under the CIO [Chief Information Officer], the Social Security Administration appears to be headed in the other direction. Last Friday it broke up much of the CIO organization and scattered its authority across several offices. ...

 While Social Security CIO Frank Baitman and the CIO's organization will remain, they will do so with a significantly trimmed role, and without a series of key deputies who have moved to other organizations or have left the agency....

While Social Security has just moved much of the CIO's authority elsewhere, to the Office of Systems, numerous agencies are headed in the other direction. Several agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Interior, have consolidated CIO authority in recent years. 

Interesting

Binder and Binder, the largest entity representing Social Security claimants, is now owned, at least in part, by a private equity company, HIG, headquartered in Miami. They were acquired in a leveraged buyout last August.

The Koch Brothers Echo Chamber

I am told this video is blocked for those on Social Security's network. This is the first time I have heard of this happening. Are they blocking all videos or just this one?

By the way, notice that octopus image. Anybody know who that image was used for many decades ago?