Congressman Speaks To ALJ Class

     From a press release:

Addressing a new group of judges being sworn in today to determine the outcomes of Social Security Disability cases, Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) used his life story to emphasize the importance of their task. His remarks were part of a keynote address delivered to nineteen new Administrative Law Judges and ten new Administrative Appeals Judges for the Social Security Administration (SSA) who will play a key role in reducing the disability backlog. During his speech before administering the oath of office, Langevin recalled the incident when a gun accidentally discharged and fired a bullet that severed his spinal cord, leaving him a quadriplegic at age 16. ...

Langevin has supported efforts to reduce the backlog of cases, the number of which increased when the economic downturn hit. For Fiscal Year 2012, which began in October, the average processing time for a case is down 80 days from FY 2010 and 168 days from FY 2008. In addition, according to SSA, the Administration is issuing more hearing decisions, an increase of 45% between FYs 2007 and 2011, and expects that to increase to 55% through FY 2012. ...

I'm Having Trouble Getting Worked Up Over This

    Janet Novack at Forbes is outraged that Social Security has taken 14 months to act on comments made when the agency made it impossible to retroactively withdraw a retirement claim in order to get a higher monthly benefit. Some people who had made plans to withdraw their claims have been unable to do so and she thinks that is unfair.

I Wonder If He Found Any Fraud There

From WSHM in Springfield, MA:

Looking into potential fraud within the $10 billion Children's Supplemental Security Income program. Monday, Congressman [Richard] Neal [D-MA-2] alongside Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue toured Springfield's Social Security office and discussed the issue.

Unrelenting Austerity

     The President's proposed budget for the Social Security Administration for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, which begins on October 1, 2012, is out. It calls for a near complete freeze in Social Security's administrative budget, with total outlays of $11.723 billion compared to $11.678 billion for the current FY (2012) and $11.888 billion for FY 2011.

     By law, the White House has to submit to Congress the Commissioner of Social Security's own budget request for the agency. I have not yet been able to find that number. Can anyone point me to it?
     Update: Found it.  The Commissioner is asking for $12.622 billion which I would call modest but which the White House and Congress would call out of the question.
    Further update: Social Security's own summary of the President's budget shows $444 million more than what the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) summary shows. The difference is attributable to a "program integrity base adjustment" and a "user fee" adjustment. I cannot say why there is this difference between the two versions of the President's budget. At best, one of these versions is misleading. Understanding the federal budget is difficult enough without this sort of thing.

New Visual Listings Proposed

     Social Security has published proposed new visual impairment listings in the Federal Register for public comment. These are an important element in disability determination although they are not the only way a person for be found disabled. Social Security must consider comments made on the proposal before publishing final regulations. 

     I do not immediately notice any significant change in the proposed listings.

Don't Take Those Jobs For Granted, Baltimore

     From the Baltimore Sun:

Despite budget cuts and anti-government rhetoric in Congress, Maryland officials say the two huge federal agencies based in Woodlawn — which have long helped buoy the region's economy — may be better positioned than others to ride out the political turbulence expected over the next several years.

An aging baby boomer generation should insulate the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from looming cuts, economists say. And there will be even more work at the Medicare-Medicaid office, known as CMS, if the nation's new health care law takes effect.

The fate of the two agencies, which have been based in Baltimore County for decades, will have a significant impact on the entire regional economy. Social Security has more than 10,000 workers in the county, making it the fifth-largest employer in the region — bigger than Northrop Grumman or Walmart, for example — state figures show. ...

Though there is not a great deal of development immediately surrounding the campus today, economists say the two agencies have a major impact on the region's economy.

"Many Baltimoreans don't even realize that our region has been very fortunate throughout the downturn," said Anirban Basu, chairman and chief executive officer of the Sage Policy Group. "It's something we take for granted."

     I don't live there but it is obvious to me that those in the Baltimore region take having Social Security's headquarters in their midst for granted and the Baltimore Sun is itself a huge reason. It's your largest employer, for goodness sake! If you ignored Johns Hopkins the way you ignore Social Security, people would think you were nuts. This is important. Being ignored by local media can only give Social Security headquarters employees the impression that what they do is unimportant. That cannot be good for employee morale.

Statistical Supplement Released

     Social Security has released its Annual Statistical Supplement for 2011, chock full of all the stats about Social Security that you could desire, other than stats on Social Security operations, which, as always, are almost completely absent. I have never understood that.

Major ERE Upgrade

     Social Security had made no secret of its intention to add a report feature to its Electronic Records Express (ERE) system that allows attorneys and other representing Social Security claimants to review their clients' records online. With no fanfare, Social Security added this feature today.  Previously, one could only look at one case record at a time. Now, an attorney can look at a list of all of his or her cases and see their case statuses listed. It's not ideal (the ability to click on a listed case and go to that case record would be nice) but it's a big step forward.

    I like the concept of underpromising and overdelivering. It's a nice change from what we saw when ERE was being planned and first implemented.