Op Ed Says Social Security Disability Is A "Monster"

     From an op ed in the East Valley Tribune:

Social Security Disability Insurance is turning into a monster. It has experienced exponential growth, much like other big government entitlement programs. As a consequence, it threatens to run out of money by 2016. Worse, it weakens our economy and has become yet another dark cloud over our financial future. ...

Some of the growth can be explained by the aging of the working population and an increase in women with sufficient work history to become eligible. But the real culprit is the design of the program itself.

In 1984, Congress significantly broadened eligibility and included coverage for more subjective problems like back pain and mood disorders. The rolls begin to fill with sufferers from these hard-to-disprove maladies which now draw more payments than diseases like cancer, heart disease and provable musculoskeletal disorders. ...

SSDI is yet one more iteration of the same old story — a government social welfare program, founded on the best intentions, that in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats morphs into a wasteful blob. The administration of SSDI over the years has worked harder at getting workers into the program in than in getting them back to work. ...

As Ronald Reagan would say, there is a solution that is simple, but not easy. If we privatized SSDI, we could reduce costs sharply.

Private disability insurers, needless to say, don’t just shovel money out the door. They’re highly motivated first to determine if claimants are truly injured or just wish they were. They also put great emphasis on programs helping people return to work. As a result, they typically return about 20 percent of claimants to work each year, a rate 40 times that achieved by government.

Change Reopening Rules?

     From today's Federal Register:

We are requesting information from the public regarding whether and how we should change our rules of administrative finality. These rules govern when we can reopen and revise a determination or decision that has become final and is no longer subject to administrative or judicial review. ...

We are considering changing our rules of administrative finality for a variety of reasons:

1. We take our responsibility as effective stewards of the trust funds very seriously. Modifying our rules would enable us to take corrective action on more cases, and could decrease the amount of improper payments that we make. 
2. Our current rules are complex to administer. The fact that our rules under title II and title XVI contain different timeframes for reopening for good cause can result in confusion for our adjudicators and the public, particularly in situations where an individual is concurrently receiving benefits under title II and title XVI of the Act. 
3. The current rules may prevent us from making changes regardless of the possible outcome for the individual. For example, if an individual presents or we discover new and material evidence after the time period that would allow us to reopen, we cannot take corrective action and revise the determination or decision. Modifying our rules to change certain timeframes for reopening may enable us to take corrective actions on more cases. 
4. The Office of the Inspector General has recommended that we review our rules on administrative finality to find ways that will allow us to correct more erroneous payments. 
5. Some of our administrative finality rules have not been revised in sixty years. Over the years, there has been an increase in our workloads and the complexity of our programs. Updating the rules would allow us to reflect these changes. 
6. Finally, modifying our current rules would enable us to streamline and simplify our rules on administrative finality. We believe this would allow us to operate more efficiently in a challenging, limited-resource environment.

SSA Employee Sentenced To Five Years In Prison

     From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

A former Social Security Administration worker caught on camera masturbating to child pornography while on the clock has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Caught with a staggering 3,772 photos and videos showing children being sexually assaulted, Thomas Barrett Jr. was investigated after his Internet trolling for child porn brought a computer virus onto a Social Security network.

Investigators found Barrett, 50, had been searching for child porn on his work computer in November and set up a camera watching his work station, located at the Social Security Administration’s Seattle office.

Shortly thereafter, Barrett was recorded fondling himself while viewing photos of a man sexually assaulting a young girl. Prosecutors noted Barrett appeared to bounce between the child porn and his actual work in an apparent effort to hide the rape photos from his coworkers.

The Washington Examiner Has Lots Of Attitude

     The Washington Examiner is running a bizarrely slanted piece on Social Security disability benefits. I think this goes well past the line between journalism and propaganda, starting with calling Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits "unearned" disability benefits. You could call it that but I don't think anyone previously has called it that. I don't know why you would use that term unless you were deliberately trying to be pejorative. 

     The piece are headlines such as "Many say they're on disability simply because they can't find a job or are picky..." followed by a chart saying that 11% of SSI recipients report that  they cannot find a job they want, a result which may have as much to do with the way the question was phrased as anything else. Should you answer this yes or no if you cannot find a job you're capable of performing? Why would you want a job you're not capable of performing?

     If you want to believe that everyone drawing disability benefits is a lazy bum, you'll love this piece. Otherwise, you'll probably find it weird, annoying or just boring.

Three Notices In Federal Register

     Three notices from today's Federal Register:

I. This final rule adopts, without change, the interim final rule with request for comments we published in the Federal Register on January 12, 2012, at 77 FR 1862. The interim final rule modified our rules so that we may send a Ticket to Work (Ticket) to Ticket to Work program (Ticket program)-eligible disabled beneficiaries. Under our previous rules, we mailed initial Ticket notices to all Ticket-eligible beneficiaries immediately after they began receiving benefits, regardless of whether they were likely to participate in the program. This change did not affect Ticket eligibility requirements.

II. We are extending for 2 years our rule authorizing attorney advisors to conduct certain prehearing procedures and to issue fully favorable decisions. The current rule will expire on August 9, 2013. In this final rule, we are extending the sunset date to August 7, 2015. We are making no other substantive changes.

III. We are extending our pilot program that authorizes the agency to set the time and place for a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). This final rule will extend the pilot program for 1 year. The extension of the pilot program continues our commitment to improve the efficiency of our hearing process and maintain a hearing process that results in accurate, high-quality decisions for claimants. The current pilot program will expire on August 9, 2013. In this final rule, we are extending the effective date to August 9, 2014. We are making no other substantive changes.

Like Chewing Styrofoam

     Words are important. They change the world by informing, inspiring and directing. However, they can also be empty and meaningless. That's the case with Facing the Challenges -- Envisioning the Future, a paper produced by the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB). Reading this paper is like chewing styrofoam. It is packed with blindingly obvious advice. As an example, the paper recommends that "the plan for the placement of field offices, indeed any SSA facilities, should be proactive, flexible and have the ability to customize services to circumstances such as geographic location, the individuals who live in the service area, and any other contributing factors." I'm sure that Social Security's leaders will keep this masterpiece on their desks.

Why No Action On Same Sex Marriages?

     The Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prevented Social Security from recognizing same sex marriages, was unconstitutional on June 26, 2013. That was more than a month ago. While Social Security has sent out a press release saying it is "taking" claims for benefits based upon same sex marriages, it has instructed its staff to do NOTHING with these claims. How much longer will it be before Social Security starts to act on these claims? 

     The dodge of saying "we're taking claims" can't work much longer. Eventually, the main stream media will figure out that simply "taking claims" is meaningless. It's what you do with the claims that counts. Holding them for months and months is little different from denying them. The main stream media will be asking questions in the near future. The agency and the administration can't just think about this subject for the next six months or so.

An Eventful Career

     From the Norman Transcript:

In his tenure with the Social Security Administration in Oklahoma and western Arkansas, Dennis Purifoy has weathered turbulence and change and navigated tragedy and triumph.

He’ll step down from the agency Aug. 2 after 40 years. ...

As a claims representative in Stillwater, Purifoy intended to work for the SSA for a couple of years before pursuing other opportunities. After 40 years, he is glad he stuck around.

“From Stillwater to Shawnee and then Hot Springs in Arkansas, I’ve enjoyed my job every step of the way,” Purifoy said. “I was the manager in the Clinton office, where I was introduced to my wife, before I went to OKC and was there during the bombing before coming here (Moore).”

Purifoy was inside the Oklahoma City SSA office, where 16 employees were killed, when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed April 19, 1995. ...

“I wouldn’t call it a highlight, but, of course, it sticks in my memory,” Purifoy said, recalling the bombing. “That was a rough day, but,” he said, brightening, “we had the office open and serving people in Shepherd Mall, where it is today, in one month.” ...

That was not the last time Purifoy witnessed an emergency first-hand while at work. Four years later, he was conducting a pre-retirement class at the United Auto Workers Local 1999 union hall near the now-closed General Motors plant on Southeast 74th Street in Oklahoma City when it was destroyed by the May 8, 2003, tornado. ...