Rockaways Office Reopens

     From the New York Daily News:

The Rockaway Social Security office, another casualty of Superstorm Sandy, re-opened Monday.

Staffers from the location had been temporarily working out of Assemblywoman Michelle Titus' office while the facility at 113-06 Rockaway Beach Blvd. was repaired.

"The return of the Social Security office to the Rockaways represents the federal government's ongoing commitment to our communities," said Carolyn Colvin, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

Meet The New Judge, Same As The Old Judge

     Let's say a claimant has a hearing before Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) X and is denied. The claimant decides not to appeal the decision but to file a new claim. That new claim is denied at the initial and reconsideration levels. The claimant then requests a new hearing. Are there some hearing offices that automatically assign the claimant's case to ALJ X again instead of assigning the case in rotation to whichever ALJ's name comes up? Is this in accordance with Social Security policy? Does it comply with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act that requires that cases be assigned in rotation? I'm not talking about remands here but new requests for hearing.

      I thought that a new request for hearing was supposed to be assigned in rotation just like any request for hearing but I am hearing rumors that some hearing offices may take a different approach. Is this actually happening? If so, are these hearing offices supposed to be doing this?

You Can Scare People But They Still Want Their Social Security

     From a poll conducted for the National Academy of Social Insurance:

Percent who agree strongly or somewhat:
Don't mind paying Social Security because it provides security and stability to millions -- 84%

It is critical that we preserve Social Security even if it means raising taxes -- Working Americans 82%, Wealthy Americans 87%

Percent who favor increasing Social Security's Cost of Living Adjust (COLA) beyond what it is now -- 64% Percent who oppose -- 10%

Percent who are very/somewhat confident in the future of Social Security -- 43% Percent who are not very/not at all confident 57%

Percent who are very/somewhat confident they will receive all of the Social Security benefits they are supposed to receive -- 31% Percent who ore not very/not at all confident -- 69%

ALJ Positions Popular

     There's a report that there were more than 5,000 applications filed when the government recently took applications for positions as Social Security Administrative Law Judges (ALJs).

Return To Benefits After Disability Termination

     From a study published in the Social Security Buletin:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) periodically reviews the disabilities of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients and Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries to determine if their impairments still meet the requirements for program eligibility. For individuals whose eligibility was ceased after a full medical review from 2003 to 2008, we track subsequent program participation for up to 8 years. We use survival analyses to estimate the time until first return to SSI and DI and explore the differences in returns by various personal and programmatic characteristics such as age, disability type, time on program, and SSA expectations regarding medical improvement. Overall, we estimate that about 30 percent of SSI-only recipients whose eligibility ceases because of medical improvement return to the SSI program within 8 years. For DI-only worker beneficiaries whose eligibility ceases, we estimate that 20 percent will return to the DI program within 8 years.

     The study's authors note that SSA has been able to do relatively few full continuing disability reviews (CDRs) and has targeted those most likely to have substantial medical improvement. If more CDRs were done, the additional people terminated would be even more likely to return to disability benefits.

Most Popular Baby Names

     Social Security has released its list of most popular baby names for 2012:

Boys:

Jacob Mason Ethan Noah William Liam Jayden Michael Alexander Aiden

Girls:

Sophia Emma Isabella Olivia Ava Emily Abigail Mia Madison Elizabeth

"There Must Have Been A Thousand People Just Sitting There Waiting"

     From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Robin Blount walked up to what used to be a Social Security Administration field office in North Philadelphia this week and was shocked and angry.  ...

A sign inside the gates read: "The Social Security Administration field office previously operating at this location IS NOW CLOSED."

People were advised to visit the Social Security office in Center City at 15th Street and JFK Boulevard, 2 Penn Center, for service.

"I just went down there," Blount, 52, cried out in frustration. "It was so crowded downtown - there must have been a thousand people just sitting there waiting.

Unauthorized Immigrants Help Social Security

     From a report issued by Social Security's Office of Chief Actuary, issued in response to a request from Senator Marco Rubio:

Beyond the taxes paid and benefits received by unauthorized workers, the larger effect on the long-term actuarial status of the OASDI [Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance] Trust Funds derives from the children born in the U.S. to these immigrants. These children are natural born citizens and add to the growth in the overall U.S. population. This contribution to future generations of workers is the largest part of the effect on the actuarial status both for legal and other immigrants. ...

While unauthorized immigrants worked and contributed as much as $13 billion in payroll taxes to the OASDI  program in 2010, only about $1 billion in benefit payments during 2010 are attributable to unauthorized work. Thus, we estimate that earnings by unauthorized immigrants result in a net positive effect on Social Security financial status generally, and that this effect contributed roughly $12 billion to the cash flow of the program for 2010. We estimate that future years will experience a continuation of this positive impact on the trust funds.... 

Individuals who enter the country as unauthorized immigrants and remain in that status for life are relatively unlikely to receive benefits from the OASDI program. Those who work in the underground economy have no basis for expecting to be entitled for benefits. Those who have worked and paid payroll taxes without a matched SSN [Social Security Number] will have had their earnings placed in the suspense file and will have only a relatively remote possibility of obtaining credit for these earnings for the purpose of becoming entitled to a benefit. The relatively small and declining number of unauthorized immigrants who have an SSN with earnings credited in their name, may receive benefits in the uture. However, to receive benefits they must meet the following three conditions: (1) work long enough to acquire insured status under the program; (2) receive legal work authorization at some time; and (3) receive legal resident status for the time of their benefit entitlement or, if not, are willing to leave the U.S. to receive a benefit.