Social Security is soliciting comments from the public on possible new listings for language and speech disorders. There is no proposal posted an this time so we do not know what Social Security is thinking about.
Feb 6, 2012
Astrue Visits Florida Office
From the Bradenton Herald:
Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue today joined U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan [R-FL] in visiting the local Social Security office to discuss how best to make the program more efficient at a time of diminishing budgets.
Astrue praised Buchanan, R-Sarasota, for taking the time to learn how Social Security works, as a member of House Ways and Means Committee, which is charged with writing tax legislation and bills affecting Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs.
“It’s an enormous advantage,” The Social Security chief said, when members of House committees take the time to learn the process....
“And Washington gets very stuck in its ways, so having members come out and say, ‘Look, we can change, we can be more efficient and serve the public better by doing these things’ if you understand what we’re trying to do, and why, it’s enormously helpful to us, and I wish that we could get even more members come out visiting their home offices,” Astrue said.
Electronic Informal Remand Special Project 2012
Social Security has sent out instructions for something called the Electronic Informal Remand Special Project 2012. This is an effort to select particularly strong disability cases in which a request for hearing has been filed and divert them to a special review by someone other than an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to see if it is possible to pay them quickly. It sounds a lot like informal remand projects of the past. and present. It is not clear to me whether there is anything really new about this. This may be old wine in new bottles.
The major problems with this sort of thing has been lack of personnel to do the reviews and, recently, a reluctance to approve anything other than the most gold-plated cases. We will see how this new process works.
Slowdown In Payment Of Back Benefits In January
Social Security always has a problem in paying newly approved claimants in January because of the other workload pressure which go up dramatically at the beginning of each year. I had concerns about what would happen this year if no overtime was available. It turns out that some overtime was available but there was still a problem. Backlogs increased dramatically in October 2011 and January 2012. I hope someone at Social Security can tell me that overtime will be available in coming months to keep this backlog from growing but I don't expect that.
Fee Payments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Month/Year | Volume | Amount |
Jan-11 | 34,467 | $113,459,847.04 |
Feb-11 | 33,305 | $107,796,771.38 |
Mar-11 | 34,885 | $112,463,768.46 |
Apr-11 | 48,033 | $153,893,755.37 |
May-11 | 36,479 | $115,159012.77 |
June-11 | 33,568 | $104,782,743.07 |
July-11 | 40,451 | $123,981,011.36 |
Aug-11 | 35,575 | $109,778,785.74 |
Sept-11 | 36,159 | $109,990,042.36 |
Oct-11 | 27,269 | $79,526,149.33 |
Nov-11 | 32,677 | $100,272,851.46 |
Dec-11 | 38,447 | $116,455,779.95 |
Jan-12 | 29,926 | $89,749,312.99 |
That's a 23% decline between December and January. Here are some January numbers for a couple of earlier years for comparison:
Jan-10 32,226 $111,440,046.23
Jan-09 28,423 $101,128,880.69
NADE Newsletter On Down Syndrome And ALJ Investigations
The newsletter contains a copy of a letter that NADE sent to Social Security on the agency's recent proposal to change its listings on Down Syndrome. As I read the letter, it looks like Social Security is setting a trap, I hope unintentionally, for those with Down Syndrome. Unless they have genetic testing for Down Syndrome and unless that testing meets certain criteria which may be of dubious relevance, Social Security may simply ignore the Down Syndrome regardless of any other evidence. If my understanding of the letter is correct and if NADE has it right, this is something that must be addressed. I really do not want to have to start representing a lot of people with Down Syndrome. That would be ridiculous.
Another article describes a presentation by Social Security's Inspector General (IG) at a NADE event. The IG talked, at least briefly, about ongoing investigations of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) in Puerto Rico and West Virginia.
Feb 5, 2012
Life Insurance Companies Luck Out
MSN Money is reporting that the changes that Social Security has recently made in its Death Master File will be a bonanza for life insurers.
Feb 4, 2012
White House Conferences On Disability
From the UCP Washington Wire:
White House to Hold Series of Disability Conferences
The White House will be holding a series of regional, multi-agency disability conferences between March and July. The final list of cities and dates include:
Columbus, OH - March 14
Austin, TX - March 28
Los Angeles, CA - April 12
Denver, CO - April 25
Atlanta, GA - May 11
Boston, MA - May 23
Minneapolis, MN - June 6
Orlando, FL - June 15
Kansas City, MO - July 11
Social Security will certainly be involved to some extent. I hope that people begin to realize that while wheelchair access to buildings is important, it is only a minor aspect of the entire spectrum. of disability issues. Adjudicating claims for disability benefits on a timely basis is crucial.
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