Appeals Council Status Report Now Available Online

     Over the weekend Social Security added an Appeals Council Status Report feature to its online system. This allows attorneys and others representing Social Security claimants to go online and obtain a report on the status of their cases pending at the Appeals Council. Much time has been wasted over the decades as attorneys called the Appeals Council to ask about the status of their cases. Why would attorneys call to ask the status so much? When you have a case that sits at the Appeals Council for a year and a half your client gets antsy and wants to know what's going on. Can you blame them? There's been nothing an attorney could do other than call the Appeals Council to ask what's going on. They never told you anything much but, at least, you could determine that the case was still pending.

     I hate to be ungrateful for the electronic help we're getting but when will we be able to get information on our cases pending at the initial and reconsideration levels and, for that matter, on cases that have been approved and are pending payment? I'm not telling people at Social Security anything they don't already know but extending the system to the initial, reconsideration and payment center levels would save everyone, particularly Social Security, a lot of time.

Now That's What I'm Talking About!

President's Management Agenda Website

    There is a "President's Management Agenda" website for Social Security that allows anyone to share ideas on management initiatives for Social Security. Anyone can vote on whether they think an idea has merit. The top ideas will submitted to the President's Management Council. This website is sponsored by the Social Security Administration even though it's not on ssa.gov.

Astrue Takes Another Biotech Position

     About a month ago former Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue took a job as non-executive chairman of the board of Vivus, a biotechnology company. Astrue has now taken a position as interim CEO of InVivo Therapeutics, another biotechnology company. There is no sign that Astrue is resigning the Vivus position, which, being "non-executive", is presumably part time.

Watch Out For Walmart Debit Cards!

     My client wanted her Social Security benefits deposited to her Walmart debit card. After her disability claim was approved by Social Security, the U.S. Treasury tried to direct deposit her back benefits to the Walmart debit card. Unfortunately, Walmart limits each individual direct deposit to one of its debit cards to $7,000. My client's back benefits were more than $7,000 so the money bounced back to the U.S. Treasury delaying her receipt of the back benefits. Watch out on Walmart debit cards. They can cause problems for many people applying for Social Security disability benefits.

68 Arrests In Alleged Disability Fraud In Puerto Rico

     From the Wall Street Journal:

Federal agents arrested 68 people in Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into alleged abuse of the Social Security Disability Insurance program, two people familiar with the operation said. 

More arrests are expected. The bust appears to be one of the largest disability fraud cases ever assembled by federal investigators. 

The identity of those arrested couldn't be learned immediately. One person familiar with the arrests said it included two psychiatrists, one physiatrist, a secretary, and a person who works to help people win disability benefits. The person said the probe centers on alleged abuse of the federal program over several years that could have helped scores of people obtain benefits who should not have qualified.

     Update: From an Associated Press article:

Those charged include three doctors and 71 Social Security claimants accused of receiving more than $2 million in disability benefit payments. But the biggest haul allegedly went to a former Social Security worker accused of taking $2.5 million while directing claimants to doctors who would file false claims. ...

The former Social Security worker claimed to help clients seeking benefits and directed them to doctors who would earn up to $500 for each fake claim, said Ed Ryan, New York-based special agent in charge of the Inspector General's office of the Social Security Administration's investigations office.

Rodriguez said agents took videos of people that belied their claimed ailments. She said one who claimed back problems was a gym owner who posted a picture of himself on Facebook lifting a girl above his head. ...

Rep. Sam Johnson, a Texas Republican and the Social Security chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee, said he will discuss the Puerto Rican case during a September hearing.

"Clearly this isn't a case of just a few bad apples," he said in a statement. "That such fraud could occur in the first place raises serious and troubling questions regarding Social Security's management of the disability program."

AFGE Newsletter

     The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union local that represents most Social Security employees has gotten around to issuing its first newsletter of the year. The tone of the newsletter could be a bit less antagonistic toward the agency than prior newsletters. If so, that might be related to the departure of Michael Astrue as Commissioner of Social Security.

The Universal Identifier

     From WHEC in Rochester, NY:

I-Team 10 has a warning of how important it is to protect your identity. The problem happens to millions of Americans.

In this case, the woman didn't do anything wrong. It was the federal government that gave her social security number away and since then, it's been a nightmare.

Her name is Jennifer Lavigne and her nightmare started when she was 10-years-old. That's when the Social Security Administration mistakenly gave her social security number to a woman in Florida with the exact same name. To this day, the Rochester Jennifer is getting hounded for debts racked up by Florida Jennifer.

Jennifer Lavigne said, “I did not like to open the mail because I'd get summons for, you owe this amount and we need to get it by this date.”

The problems started when Jennifer Lavigne got to college. Suddenly, her student loan got canceled and her credit was so bad she couldn't get a new one. She couldn't get a credit card or a car.