New 1695 Procedure

     I don't know that it will make a significant difference but Social Security is changing its procedures for processing the form 1695 which it receives from attorneys and others who represent Social Security claimants. The form 1695 includes the Social Security number of the person representing the claimant. What is supposed to happen in the future is that the form will end up in the claimant's file but the Social Security number will be blacked out. Previously, the form was supposed to be shredded after the information was entered in Social Security's database.

     Claimants are not supposed to see their attorney's Social Security number. Only those Social Security employees who need to see the attorney's Social Security number are supposed to see it.

     I know that it is strictly prohibited but what are the odds that no Social Security employee has gotten my Social Security number off a 1695 and looked up my earnings record just to satisfy their own curiosity? Can it really be prevented?

A $1 Trillion Difference?

From Investors Business Daily:

The outlook for Social Security's trust fund has deteriorated to an astonishing degree over the past year, new Congressional Budget Office [CBO] projections show.

The nonpartisan budget scorekeeper released the estimates Tuesday as part of broader economic and budget forecasts. CBO expects the trust fund to peak in 2018 and decline to $2.7 trillion in 2022 — a full $1 trillion less than Social Security's own actuaries predicted last year. ...

CBO was moderately more pessimistic than SSA a year ago, but has grown much more so, guided by incoming economic data.

      This kind of gap between the two projections makes no sense to me even when we're talking about a ten year period.

USA Today Says Something Is Wrong

     McPaper is running an editorial about Social Security's disability programs. As is generally the case with USA Today editorials, it's hard to say exactly what the point of the editorial is. I suppose that it says that there is something terribly wrong with the disability programs and something must be done to make it harder to get on Social Security disability benefits but it really does not identify what that something is.

     The editorial repeats the canard that attorneys delay Social Security disability claims. It's simple. I make money by closing files, not by keeping them open. Extra fees from keeping a file open longer are unlikely to make up for the extra costs of keeping the file open longer. Not only is delaying benefits to a client unethical; it makes no business sense. Are there attorneys who end up delaying their clients ultimate success? Sure, but it's not because they're trying to increases their fees. It's because they're incompetent. There are incompetents in any line of work.

     Chuck Martin, the President of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR), contributed an opposing piece.

     By the way, who buys USA Today? Does anyone actually subscribe to it? I never read it except when I'm staying at a hotel that gives it to me for free. It's just so bland.

Death Master File Hearing

     The written statements of the witnesses at today's House Social Security Subcommittee hearing on Social Security's Death Master File have been posted. Don't tell anyone that they posted them a few minutes early. They're embargoed until 9:00 a.m.

Changes At Appeals Council

Some changes have been made at the Appeals Council. Effective January 9 Branches 11-19 were disbanded. Pending cases and staff were transferred. See below for the new Appeals Council lineup.

Branch	Circuit Jurisdiction*	Branch Chief	Branch Telephone Number	Branch Fax Number
1	9th & 10th (00-16)	Ilselore Passalacqua	(703) 605-7150	(703) 605-7151
2	9th & 10th (17-33)	Merina Floyd	(703) 605-7180	(703) 605-7131
3	9th & 10th (34-49)	Judy Salveson	(703) 605-7210	(703) 605-7011
4	9th & 10th (50-66)	David Isaac	(703) 605-7240	(703) 605-7211
5	9th & 10th (67-83)	Tommie Smith	(703) 605-7270	(703) 605-7411
6	9th & 10th (84-99)	Marie Cousins	(703) 605-7300	(703) 605-7301
7	2nd & 3rd (00-24)	Deborah Johnson	(703) 605-7330	(703) 605-7331
8	2nd & 3rd (25-49)	Maxine Smith	(703) 605-7450	(703) 605-7451
9	2nd & 3rd (50-74)	Cecil Haithcock	(703) 605-7390	(703) 605-7391
10	2nd & 3rd (75-99)	Chris Johnson	(703) 605-7420	(703) 605-7421
23	5th & 7th (WI only) (00-19)	Dennis Ohlhaver	(410) 965-2703	(410) 597-0796
24	5th & 7th (WI only) (20-39)	Sandy Belin	(410) 965-2704	(410) 594-2181
25	5th & 7th (WI only) (40-59)	Dara Tunstall	(410) 966-4913	(410) 594-2182
26	5th & 7th (WI only) (60-79)	Brad Wilder	(410) 966-4914	(410) 597-0198
27	5th & 7th (WI only) (80-99)	Vacant	(410) 966-4931	(410) 597-0199
28	4th & 7th (IL & IN only) (00-19)	Donna Sasser	(410) 966-8759	(410) 965-8639
29	4th & 7th (IL & IN only) (20-39)	Vacant	(410) 966-8766	(410) 965-7909
30	4th & 7th (IL & IN only) (40-59)	Larry Singh	(410) 966-8783	(410) 965-7921
31	4th & 7th (IL & IN only) (60-79)	Patricia McManus	(410) 966-8810	(410) 966-3457
32	4th & 7th (IL & IN only) (80-99)	Pamela Baird	(410) 966-8823	(410) 966-3451
33	11th (00-24)	Denise Canada	(410) 966-8826	(410) 965-4488
34	11th (25-49)	Christina Garner	(410) 966-4500	(410) 965-9171
35	11th (50-74)	LaQuitta Moultrie	(410) 966-4710	(410) 965-4488
36	11th (75-99)	Darl Daniels	(410) 966-4717	(410) 966-3465
38	1st, 8th & DC (00-24)	LaVone Gray	(703) 306-5100	(703) 306-5111
39	1st, 8th & DC (25-49)	Edward Sommer III	(703) 306-5110	(703) 306-5101
40	1st, 8th & DC (50-74)	Jamie Platt	(703) 306-5120	(703) 306-5121
41	1st, 8th & DC (75-99)	Brenda Kimberlin	(703) 306-5130	(703) 306-5131
42	6th (00-19)	Glen Squire	(703) 306-5140	(703) 306-5201
43	6th (20-39)	Carlene Jones	(703) 306-5200	(703) 306-5211
44	6th (40-59)	Robin Noyes	(703) 306-5210	(703) 306-5221
45	6th (60-79)	Jimmy Hale	(703) 306-5220	(703) 306-5231
46	6th (80-99)	Kathy Hartt	(703) 306-5230	(703) 306-5241

*Circuit jurisdiction includes numerical breakdowns derived from the last 2 digits of the account number.
The Retirement and Survivors Insurance and SSI (RSI) Branch handles all non-disability cases. Their telephone number is (703) 605-7711 and the Fax number is (703) 605-7141. Roxie Nicoll is the Branch Chief.
The CCPRBs handle the civil action workload.

Branch	Circuit Jurisdiction	Branch Chief	Branch Telephone Number	Branch Fax Number
CCPRB – 1	7th & 9th Circuits	Robert Weigel	TBD	(703) 605-7441
CCPRB - 2	1st, 3rd, 4th & 10th Circuits	James Jones	TBD	(703) 605-7861
CCPRB - 3	DC, Foreign Claims, 6th & 11th Circuits	Patrick Herbst	TBD	(703) 605-7581
CCPRB - 4	2nd, 5th & 8th Circuits	Marian Jones	TBD	(703) 605-7621

Autism Spectrum May Be Narrowed In New DSM

From the New York Times:

Proposed changes in the definition of autism would sharply reduce the skyrocketing rate at which the disorder is diagnosed and might make it harder for many people who would no longer meet the criteria to get health, educational and social services, a new analysis suggests.

The definition is now being reassessed by an expert panel appointed by the American Psychiatric Association, which is completing work on the fifth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the first major revision in 17 years. The D.S.M., as the manual is known, is the standard reference for mental disorders, driving research, treatment and insurance decisions....

The proposed changes would probably exclude people with a diagnosis who were higher functioning. ...

The revisions are about 90 percent complete and will be final by December, according to Dr. David J. Kupfer, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and chairman of the task force making the revisions. ...

In the new analysis, Dr. Volkmar, along with Brian Reichow and James McPartland, both at Yale, used data from a large 1993 study that served as the basis for the current criteria. They focused on 372 children and adults who were among the highest functioning and found that overall, only 45 percent of them would qualify for the proposed autism spectrum diagnosis now under review.

Living In The Sticks Isn't Good For Your Health

From the Kansas City Star:

WARSAW, Mo. -- Around this rural county seat 100 miles southeast of Kansas City, 1 out of every 8 people of working age is home collecting disability checks from the Social Security Administration.

That compares to about 1 in 20 for the Kansas City area ...

[W]here are they most apt to collect [Social Security disability benefits] ? A recent tabulation of data nationwide reveals the highest concentrations of communities subsisting on disability benefits, per capita, to be in historically poor, rural settings.

They’re often places where two-lane highways wind around wooded hills, where mining or manual farm labor once put food on the table, and access to medical care has long been limited.

Poverty begets bad health and greater rates of disability, experts say, and disabilities often lead to deeper poverty.

Reamore ere: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/28/3397747/disability-rolls-have-a-rural.html#storylink=cy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/28/3397747/disability-rolls-have-a-rural.html#storylink=cp

Must File Appeals Online

     Effective on March 16, anyone representing a Social Security claimant is supposed to file reconsideration requests and requests for hearing online, according to a new directive to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow. The directive states that "We may investigate to determine if a representative purposefully violated this duty or is attempting to circumvent our rules. We may sanction a representative who does not follow these rules."

     I hope that Social Security is aware of the limitations of their own online systems. It is often impossible to file a reconsideration request or a request for hearing online. It is seldom clear what the problem is.