Merry Christmas

Hiring More ALJs? Decline In Disability Claims?

     There is a report at the ALJ Discussion Forum that Social Security intends to hire 107 Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) in September 2012. The same person also reports that there has been a decline in the number of disability claims filed in the last three months, particularly in October. 

     I do not doubt that Social Security wants to hire more ALJs next year. I would be very surprised if they have the money to do so. This sounds like a plan that is likely to be out of the question because of Social Security's budget crunch.
     By the way, if you're ready to ascribe the reduction in the number of disability claims filed to the reduction in unemployment, take a look at the numbers for the unemployment rate this year:

• January 9.0 
• February 8.9 
• March 8.8 
• April 9.0 
• May 9.1 
• June 9.2 
• July 9.1 
• August 9.1
• September 9.1
• October 9.0
• November 8.6 

     The reduction in unemployment, unfortunately, is modest and almost all of the reduction happened in November, not October. If you still believe that the rate of unemployment determines changes in the number of disability claims filed, why didn't we hear about a big increase in the number of disability claims filed between March and June of this year?

Merry Christmas

Quiz Answer

Question: Who is the current Inspector General of the Social Security Administration?

Possible Answers:

• David Black
• Carolyn Colvin
• Stephen Goss
• Patrick O'Carroll

Correct Answer: Patrick O'Carroll

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Quiz

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

Republicans Balk At Extending FICA Reduction

That apparent agreement to extend the partial FICA tax holiday for two months is on hold now. Republicans in the House of Representatives have some demands they want to make. Democrats may be unwilling to accede to any of their demands. Stay tuned.

Disability And Unemployment Again

     From the Wall Street Journal:

Many poor Americans seek Social Security disability payments as a financial life preserver when their unemployment benefits begin expiring, preliminary research by two economists shows.

The findings, released by the Obama administration Thursday, are based on interviews with unemployed workers ...

Their research found that close to 10% of Americans between the ages of 50 and 65 who didn’t have access to at least $5,000 applied for Social Security disability benefits by the time their unemployment benefits were set to expire. The percent of this group seeking the benefits rose precipitously in the weeks leading up to the exhaustion of benefits, as it was below 1% with 50 weeks left in unemployment benefits.

Jobless Americans in this age range who had access to at least $5,000 were much less likely to seek SSDI benefits at any point while collecting unemployment benefits.

     Of course, many people who are disabled wait to apply for Social Security disability until they exhaust all other possible benefits. This is because the process of obtaining Social Security disability benefits is widely and accurately regarded as unpleasant and difficult. Most people do everything they can to avoid it. That is a huge problem for anyone like myself who helps Social Security disability claimants. They often wait until the wolf is at the door before applying and then hear me or someone like me tell them that they face a process that will take two years and that the result is uncertain. If you're relying upon a claim for Social Security disability as your "life preserver" you're in big trouble. When companies lay off people, they often select their least productive workers to lay off. The least productive workers are often those with serious health problems, especially mental illness. Theoretically, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may forbid this but the ADA is a dead letter, interpreted out of any meaningful existence by the Supreme Court. Even people who started out on unemployment benefits relatively healthy may get sick and then wait for their unemployment benefits to end before applying for Social Security disability benefits. Being laid off is not good for your health. It's stressful and your access to health care is diminished.
     The plain fact is that anyone can look at a chart displaying the disability incidence rate and the unemployment rate and see that common wisdom notwithstanding there is virtually no link between the two.