Further Reductions In Field Office Hours

     From the Federal Times:

Social Security Administration field offices are again trimming the hours they are open to the public due to tight budgets, a top administrator told employees in a Wednesday email.

Starting Nov. 19, all 1,233 offices will close to customers 30 minutes earlier, Mary Glenn-Croft, deputy SSA commissioner for operations, said in the email. As of Jan. 2, the offices will close to the public at noon on Wednesdays, she said.

This is the second time the agency has been forced to trim office hours because of budget considerations. SSA trimmed public office hours at its offices by 30 minutes in August 2011. ...

SSA spokeswoman Kia Green said the shift is “part of normal operations” under the six-month continuing resolution signed last week by President Obama. That stop-gap spending bill leaves SSA operating with “significantly” less money than either the agency or the Obama administration requested, Green said.

What Does Interfund Borrowing Do To The Retirement And Survivor's Trust Fund?

     The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released a report on Social Security's finances. It's old news but I did see an answer to a question that I've had. Under current law the Disability Trust Fund will run out of money in 2016. The solution to this problem is simple and inevitable. Congress will allow borrowing between the Retirement and Survivor's Trust Fund and the Disability Trust Fund. It's been done before. It would only be temporary since the problem is temporary. Once the baby boom population ages a bit further, the problem goes away. There may or may not be changes in disability benefits to accompany interfund borrowing but interfund borrowing is going to happen. My question has been what does interfund borrowing do to the date that the Retirement and Survivor's Trust Fund runs out of money. The answer is that it changes that projected date from 2038 to 2034.

Core Identity Discrepancy

     This is an e-mail I received this morning from an employee at my law firm:

I just got off the phone with _______ of the Raleigh DO [District Office].  Ms. _____ called because she had just been assigned this claimant’s case, and he has a core identity discrepancy that falls within a new nationwide SSA policy that went into effect this week.

The new nationwide policy says that core identity discrepancies have to be resolved by the claimant within 45 days of notification, or SSA must deny the claim, even if the claimant is medically approved in the meantime. 

Ms. Harris said she has attempted to contact Mr. ____ on 3 occasions to advise that the date of birth he has reported is different from what his SSA record shows.  Ms. Harris has mailed him a letter detailing what must be done and enclosing an application for Social Security card to be completed.  Within 45 days from today, Mr. ____ must return to her the fully completed form that she mailed him, and produce an unexpired driver license and certified copy of his birth certificate to correct the discrepancy.  Should he fail to meet the deadline, she says his claim will be dismissed.

      Certainly, this man needs to respond but Social Security disability claimants are often difficult to hunt down. Many are homeless. This claimant isn't homeless but he's quite confused. As we know, there are many errors in Social Security's databases and there are many people who lack photo I.D. This policy could cause a lot of problems. Is fraudulent misrepresentation of identity really a problem for Social Security? If there is a problem, will this new policy really do anything to solve the problem?

This Is The Best You Can Come Up With?

This is from the website promoting the Ticket to Work program:

Today we are featuring Terry Anderson, a single mother who celebrated one of the most important anniversaries of her life. She has been cancer-free for four years! As an active person who believes that employment is important to her health and well-being, Terry was anxious to return to work when she began to feel better.

She was also concerned about being “51 in a 20-something workforce.” It had been years since she had to apply and interview for a position. Naturally, she felt out of practice and nervous. Terry sought help from Iowa Workforce Development Center, one of many One-Stop career centers known for the array of employment support services they offer clients in a single location. Through the Ticket program, Iowa Works helped Terry coordinate career preparation and a job hunt. “They offered workshops on interview skills”, she says. “I had my resume refurbished. I learned fresh job-hunting strategies and new computer skills! At first, I was too proud to ask for help. I’m glad that I did.”

     Good for Ms. Anderson but is this the best example that Ticket to Work can come up with?  I don't know what residuals Ms. Anderson has from her cancer but this blurb mentions none. If  her residuals, like those of most cancer survivors, are only of the "different outlook on life" type she should have been cut off Social Security disability benefits at least three years ago. I'm glad she's in remission and I'm glad she got some help in redoing her resume and brushing up on her interview skills but, honestly, it's quite unlikely that the help she got from Ticket to Work was crucial to her return to work. If this is the best proof that can be mustered to show the value of Ticket to Work, it's pretty clear that Ticket to Work doesn't come close to paying for itself.

Can Anyone Translate This?

     From a press release:

Thunderhead.com, a pioneer of SaaS [Software as a Service] solutions for customer experience management, today announced that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has selected the Thunderhead NOW solution to provide integrated correspondence for its Disability Case Processing System (DCPS).
Thunderhead.com provides a centrally managed solution for document language and template authoring, incorporating the ability to create, edit, collaborate and publish approved document content. Thunderhead NOW enables organizations like the SSA to reduce IT resources and programmatic maintenance costs, increase communication management capabilities, lower costs by using delivery means other than paper-based communications and improve customer service by offering additional communications options.

Plan To Avoid "Fiscal Cliff" Includes Social Security Cuts

     From the New York Times (emphasis added):

Senate leaders are closing in on a path for dealing with the “fiscal cliff” facing the country in January, opting to try to use a postelection session of Congress to reach agreement on a comprehensive deficit reduction deal rather than a short-term solution.
Senate Democrats and Republicans remain far apart on the details, and House Republicans continue to resist any discussion of tax increases. But lawmakers and aides say that a bipartisan group of senators is coalescing around an ambitious three-step process to avert a series of automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts.
First, senators would come to an agreement on a deficit reduction target — likely to be around $4 trillion over 10 years — to be reached through revenue raised by an overhaul of the tax code, savings from changes to social programs like Medicare and Social Security, and cuts to federal programs. Once the framework is approved, lawmakers would vote on expedited instructions to relevant Congressional committees to draft the details over six months to a year....

Finally, they would vote to put off the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, and tax increases scheduled to hit all at once in January — but with some deficit reduction down payment to signal how serious Congress is.

Mr. Obama has said he would not allow Congress to simply pass a new law to override the $1 trillion in automatic cuts agreed to in the Budget Control Act of 2011, but senators said they believed the White House would go along with a deal that locks in as much as four times those savings in exchange for canceling the automatic cuts.,,,

House Republicans, favored to retain control regardless of the presidential and Senate results, have not been part of the Senate talks so far and could be difficult to sway to back a package with significant new revenue even if it wins bipartisan Senate support. 

      I cannot see how this could possibly work if Republicans continue to oppose any tax increases and no one from the House of Representatives is involved.

FICA Tax Cut Likely To End

     The New York Times reports that the temporary cuts in the F.I.C.A. tax that supports Social Security are unlikely to be renewed when they expire at the end of this year. Neither party wants to champion renewing this temporary tax cut.

Somebody Wants To Make Sure You Can Still Get A Social Security Check

     You can't be sure exactly who's behind this (paper manufacturing interests? postal interests?) but someone has formed Consumers for Paper Options to promote the availability of paper checks, forms and statements with Social Security checks being their top issue at the moment.