AFGE Members Ratify Contract With SSA

     The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union that represents most Social Security employees, has announced that its members have ratified the new contract that its leaders negotiated with the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Social Security Saved IBM

     Wired Enterprise has a fascinating piece on Social Security's crucial role in IBM's history. In short, the story is that IBM management thought that the Great Depression would be a short term event. They kept expanding staff and building inventory. This mistake might have caused IBM to go under but for the creation of Social Security. The new agency needed data processing machinery -- at that time card reading collators -- in a big way to keep track of F.I.C.A. contributions. IBM was the only company ready to do the job. The Social Security contract saved IBM. The 80 column punch cards developed by IBM for Social Security became an industry standard for 45 years. Those collators that were essential for Social Security and which allowed IBM to survive and eventually thrive were first shipped 75 years ago this month.

Philippines Ahead Of U.S. In Internet Access To Social Security Records

    The Republic of the Philippines appears to be ahead of the U.S. Social Security Administration in allowing internet access to Social Security records. Sign-on is easy. Security may not be up to U.S. standards but their system allows anyone with an account access to information about their contributions, work history and claim status.

A Minor Question

     I know that there is a ticker running across the top or bottom of the screens of computers on the Social Security newwork giving in-house information -- usually something like news that some data functionality is down or some field office is temporarily closed due to a water main break. Did news of today's Supreme Court action on Obamacare run across this ticker?

Obamacare Constitutional

     Those who predicted that the Supreme Court would hold the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare) constitutional have been proved correct. This dramatic expansion of health care coverage -- most of it coming in about two years -- will be of dramatic benefit to Social Security disability claimants.

     Update: Because of Chief Justice Roberts' opinion, it may be possible for states to opt out of providing the additional Medicaid coverage to millions of people provided for in the Affordable Care Act. Would they? My guess is that after sober reflection Republican governors and legislators will decide not to opt out since opting out would cause states to lose billions of dollars of health care funding. I think that doctors and hospitals will lobby hard for states to accept the additional Medicaid coverage. We'll see.
     Better medical care cuts both ways for the Social Security disability programs. People who receive adequate medical care are less likely to become disabled. Those who are disabled despite adequate medical care will have better proof of their disability.

Yesterday's Social Security Subcommittee Hearing

     The written statements of the witnesses at yesterday's hearing before the House Social Security Subcommittee are now available online. In some cases I summarize what I found interesting in the written testimony. In other cases, I just quote. In one case, I express disagreement and dismay.

Commissioner Astrue:

     Sets forth interesting historical information about Social Security's involvement in providing hearings for disability claimants and especially about "well-intentioned initiatives" to meet the demands for hearings. A footnote mentions that the Senate Appropriations Committee's bill to fund the agency for Fiscal Year 2013 would require the agency to submit a report by November 1, 2012 on withholding the identity of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) until the day of a hearing. However, there is almost no chance that a full year appropriations bill covering Social Security will be passed by November 1, 2012. 

     According to the Wall Street Journal, Astrue told the Subcommittee orally that without agreement in Congress to protect Social Security's operating budget from the sequestration required by the budget deal the agency will have to lay off 1,000 of its employees.

Panel 2:

Ethel Zelenske , Director of Government Affairs, National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives, on behalf of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Social Security Task Force

ALJ D. Randall Frye, President, Association of Administrative Law Judges:

For many reasons, Americans are living longer and healthier lives. The nature and scope of work performed by the American people is significantly different than 40 years ago. There are far fewer unskilled jobs in the market place and few jobs that require significant physical activity. As a result, application of the Agency’s Medical Vocational Guidelines (grid rules) oftentimes forces the ALJ to award benefits when jobs are available that claimants could perform. In our view, this approach to evaluating disability is out of date and should be eliminated. Rather than using these outdated guidelines, judges should rely on vocational testimony. At a minimum, the grid rules should be revised to reflect the increased life span of Americans

     This is self-contradictory as well as contrary to the experience of anyone involved in Social Security disability adjudication. If there are fewer unskilled jobs, wouldn't that be a reason to make it less difficult to get Social Security disability benefits instead of more difficult as Frye says? Few jobs that require significant physical activity? What about people who work in nursing homes, people who clean offices and hotels, salesclerks and cashiers, truckers, people who mow and blow, mechanics, people engaged in building trades, etc.? Don't these require significant physical activity? Aren't there more than a few of them? I sure see a lot of these people in my office. I would think that Frye would see a lot of them appearing before him.

Jeffrey Lubbers, Professor, American University Washington College of Law

Musty ideas. Still bringing up his plan for a "non-adversary Counselor." Still thinks former Commissioner Barnhart's Disability Service Improvement was a great idea. I don't know if there is anyone else on the planet who would agree with him on either point. Still wants to establish a Social Security Court. I suppose there are others who agree with him on this but not many.

Richard J. Pierce, Jr. , Professor, The George Washington University Law School

There are two major problems with the social security disability decision making process. First, the SSA disability program has become increasingly and unsustainably generous. ...


Second, there is a large disparity in the rates at which benefits are granted by the Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) who have the final say in the SSA decision making process in the vast majority of cases. ...


I recommend that Congress eliminate the role of ALJs in the disability decision making process. ...


I recommend that Congress limit the fees that can be earned by lawyers and other professional advocates for SSA disability advocates. The Supreme Court has upheld a fee limit of $10 for advocates for VA disability benefits, so Congress has broad discretion to limit the fees of advocates for SSA disability benefits.

Poll

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Don't Blame The Disabled

     From an op ed piece by Marc Whitehead in the Houston Chronicle:

Naysayers try to correlate the rising unemployment rate with the rising rate of disability claimants and come to the erroneous conclusion that people are using the SSDI system instead of looking for work. The reality is that many elderly workers have received special accommodations from their employers that allow them to work with their disabilities because they have been loyal, hardworking employees for decades. But when the economy turns down and these workers are laid off, they are not capable of working in a competitive job market. Americans with disabilities already face growing challenges in their efforts to gain disability benefits. Filing a claim can prove to be a daunting, complex bureaucratic struggle that can sometimes take months and even years to navigate....

It is not fair to attempt to balance our federal budget on the backs of the disabled. We all have a stake in seeing deserving people with disabilities get the benefits they need and have earned.