"Some" Same Sex Marriage Claims Being Processed

    A press release from Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin:

“I am pleased to announce that Social Security is now processing some retirement spouse claims for same-sex couples and paying benefits where they are due.  The recent Supreme Court decision on Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, made just over a month ago, helps to ensure that all Americans are treated fairly and equally, with the dignity and respect they deserve.  

We continue to work closely with the Department of Justice.  In the coming weeks and months, we will develop and implement additional policy and processing instructions.  We appreciate the public’s patience as we work through the legal issues to ensure that our policy is legally sound and clear. 

I encourage individuals who believe they may be eligible for Social Security benefits to apply now, to protect against the loss of any potential benefits. We will process claims as soon as additional instructions become finalized.”

    Update: The staff instructions are to continue to hold claims in cases where the state in which the claimant is residing does not recognize same sex marriages. Social Security had to wait over a month to issue this! Deliberation is fine but this issue shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone.
   Further update: This press release and these instructions appear to have been timed to come out on Friday afternoon, traditionally the time that public relations gurus say to release information you wish you didn't have to release. Also, this was released just before an Obama press conference.

When Might Social Security Have A New Commissioner?

     The Baltimore Sun has noticed that six months after Michael Astrue completed his term as Commissioner of Social Security the President has yet to make a nomination for a new Commissioner:

Advocates have praised acting Commissioner Carolyn W. Colvin, a former Maryland state official, for managing this year's budget cuts and being more communicative than Astrue. But they say anyone leading an agency the size of the Social Security Administration without Senate confirmation has limited power to advocate for resources and make controversial decisions.

"They should try to get a name up here as quickly as possible," Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland said. "Clearly, Social Security has professional leadership. But it does not help the agency to go that period without a confirmed leader."

     No word yet on who might be nominated or when the nomination might come.

Reporter Didn't Enjoy Visit To Field Office

     Rick Tosches has written a column for the Colorado Springs Independent that he's titled "A dispatch from Crazytown, aka the Social Security office." He claims there were no chairs in the waiting room and that he had to wait over two and a half hours to be "served". Also, he wasn't too impressed by the other people he saw in the waiting room.

Layoffs At Allsup

     From the Belleville, IL News Democrat:

Local Social Security disability claims company Allsup Inc. is cutting 65 jobs.

Rebecca Ray, director of corporate public relations for Allsup, said employees were being notified Tuesday. She said the cuts affect jobs within different departments at the Belleville-based company. ...

Ray said the layoffs are coming as a result of federal budget constraints and changes in the Social Security Administration. She said the company is adjusting and focusing on new business opportunities. ...

[A]fter the employee reduction, the company will have a total of about 700 employees.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/08/06/2730810/allsup-laying-off-65-employees.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/08/06/2730810/allsup-laying-off-65-employees.html#storylink=cpy

Cutting Processing Time In Half At VA With Just A Form?

     From the Columbus Dispatch:

... Starting today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will offer veterans seeking disability benefits the chance to be eligible for one year of retroactive benefits by filling out comprehensive disability forms known as Fully Developed Claims [FDCs].

The retroactive program, approved last year by Congress, is an aggressive effort by the Obama administration to dramatically shorten the wait for disability benefits that tens of thousands of veterans have been forced to endure. ...

The VA says it can process the FDCs in half the time a more traditionally filed form takes. ...

     I would say that such a program would never work at Social Security but I have no idea how a more complete claim form would cut processing time in half at VA. My familiarity with the VA system is quite limited. Does this make sense to those who are familiar with VA?

Can You Get Good Advice From Social Security?

     Yahoo! Finance doesn't think much of the advice being given by Social Security employees.

SSAB Wants BOND Ended

     From the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) (footnote omitted):

This paper is an assessment of merits of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Benefit Offset National Demonstration’s (BOND) ability to address the following: 1) will an offset incentivize more work in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries, and 2) what will be the amount of induced entry from the change in work incentives? 

The Social Security Advisory Board finds that the BOND, as it has been implemented, is not adequate to answer these questions. In our view, BOND is a victim of both faulty conceptualization and implementation. Congress owes it to the taxpayers to call a halt to further spending on this project. The questions that were the basis for Congress originally requesting the demonstration should still be addressed, albeit more efficiently. ... 

While Congress requested a demonstration of variations in the benefit offset amount, the demonstration as implemented is testing the specific benefit reduction of $1 for every $2 earned. This demonstration, even if completed, will not yield results that have tested which ratio of benefit reduction will have the most work incentivizing results. The “2 for 1” amount would help align the SSDI and SSI work incentives but this demonstration will not further our knowledge of which particular ratio is most appropriate.... 

To be clear, we are advocating that this demonstration project be terminated because it is both without merit and costly. In our view, BOND is a victim of both faulty conceptualization and implementation - Congress owes it to the taxpayers to call a halt to further spending on this demonstration project

Fee Payment Update

     Social Security has issued updated numbers on payments of fees to attorneys and some others for representing Social Security claimants. These fees are withheld and paid by Social Security but come out of the back benefits of the claimants involved. The attorneys and others who have their fees withheld pay a user fee for this privilege. Since these fees are usually paid at the same time that the claimant is paid, these numbers show how quickly or slowly Social Security is able to get claimants paid after a favorable determination on their claims.

Month/Year	Volume	Amount
Jan-13	32,663	$96,690,734.65
Feb-13	35,508	$102,242,540.93
Mar-13	45,189	$130,690,281.94
Apr-13	33,178	$92,566,832.32
May-13	42,841	$122,781,135.03
June-13	33,954	$97,627,420.68
July-13	35,221	$103,494,644.97