Budget Impasse Continues

     The Speaker of the House of Representatives says he doesn't expect a government shutdown next week but also says he will pursue a plan that would make a shutdown almost inevitable. At best, nothing will be settled until Monday. In the meantime, based upon past behavior, expect the Commissioner of Social Security to be sending out a broadcast e-mail to employees either today -- Thursday -- or Friday. 

     I hope that the vast majority of Social Security employees remain at work even if there's a shutdown, but, to be honest, a straightforward interpretation of the Anti-Deficiency Act would mean that almost all Social Security employees would be furloughed. I don't know that one should read anything into it, but the last time there was a serious shutdown threat, President Obama said that he wanted Social Security to continue processing claims. I haven't seen such a statement this time around.

CR Charged With Extortion

     From the Associated Press with a Memphis dateline:

Federal prosecutors say a Social Security Administration claims representative has been charged with illegally charging beneficiaries a fee to process payment claims.

The U.S. attorney's office said Wednesday that 42-year-old Montrell Levelle Arnold has been charged with two counts of bribery and two counts of extortion.

Social Security Paying For Ads On Buses

     From the Meriden, CT Record Journal:

Ads along the side of city buses this past summer were intended to get Baby Boomers reaching retirement age to sign up for their Social Security benefits online.

Internet sign-ups are cheaper for the Social Security Administration than mailed forms. The local ads are part of a nationwide campaign to move people to electronic sign-ups and statements. ...

The contract [for the advertising] obtained through a freedom-of-information request, shows the Social Security Administration agreed to a $2,980-per-month rate for four displays.

Health Care Exchange Widget Added To Blog

     I have added a Health Exchange widget on the right side of the page. This allows readers to get information from the Department of Health and Human Services on the Health Care Exchanges set to begin operation on October 1, 2013. There is massive confusion across the country about the Health Care Exchanges. Most of this is due to the fact that it's all new. Some of it is due to deliberate lies told by those who oppose the Health Care Exchanges. On the whole, apart from the deliberate lies, I'd compare this to the implementation of the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit. The Prescription Drug benefit, although less important, was at least as complex to implement as the Health Care Exchanges. Things settled down fairly quickly on the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit. I've seen new government programs implemented over the decades. There will be the inevitable glitches but I expect things will settle down fairly quickly with the Health Care Exchanges. Despite what you've heard, it's not all that complicated and the Obama Administration has been working hard to achieve a smooth implementation.

     By the way, if you get your health care insurance through your employer or a family member's employer, just ignore the Health Care Exchanges. You don't need to sign up. In fact, you can't sign up if you have employer based health care insurance. I expect that nearly 100% of the people who are scared about "Obamacare" won't notice anything different once "Obamacare" is fully implemented.

Man Found Guilty In Field Office Bombing

     Abdullatif Ali Aldosary has been found guilty of setting off an incendiary device outside a Social Security field office in Arizona. Aldosary is also facing an unrelated charge of first degree murder.

Eric Conn Pleads Guilty

     Eric Conn, the flamboyant Kentucky Social Security attorney who has been featured in Wall Street Journal articles suggesting wrongdoing, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempting to give money to another person to give to a political candidate. Apparently, this was an effort to avoid limits on campaign finance contributions.

Chained CPI As Price For Debt Ceiling Extension.?

     A Businessweek article says that Republicans want cuts in Social Security's Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA),the chained CPI proposal, as their price for extending the debt ceiling.

     I'd love to see Republican members of Congress go on record as favoring chained CPI but my opinion is that virtually none of them would vote for it. Republican members of Congress love to talk in the abstract about cutting the budget, particularly "entitlements", but are afraid of voting for any specific cuts in the budget, particularly cuts in Social Security and Medicare, the biggest entitlements. Voters are all for cuts in the budget and in "entitlements" in the abstract. They just don't favor specific cuts, especially cuts in Social Security and Medicare. That's how we end up with sequestration, which applies a simple percentage reduction to most government programs. The damage from this approach isn't as immediately obvious to the public.

Symptom Validity Tests -- Senator Coburn And OIG Want Them

     From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):

In a January 30, 2013, letter to the Inspector General, Senator Tom Coburn, M.D., requested we review SSA's policy that stated it would no longer allow DDSs or ALJs to purchase SVTs [Symptom Validity Tests]. SVTs are used to determine whether an individual is exhibiting signs of malingering. ... The Agency began discouraging the purchase of SVTs in the early 1990s. In January 2012, SSA issued a reminder to DDSs that it should not purchase these tests. According to SSA senior officials, the Agency disallowed the purchase of SVTs because of weaknesses in the tests' psychometric properties and their limited value in determining, with certainty, a claimant's credibility. SSA stated that these tests could not prove whether a claimant was credible or malingering because there is no test that, when passed or failed, conclusively determines the presence of inaccurate self-reporting. However, according to medical literature and national neuropsychological organizations, there is consensus in the medical community that SVTs are useful in identifying malingering in disability evaluations, when used in conjunction with other evidence in the case file. We also determined VA, RRB, and private disability insurance providers fund SVTs for use in their disability determination processes. ... 

     In its response to the OIG report, Social Security noted that the list of medical sources given by OIG as supporting SVT was incomplete since it did not include differing medical opinion. Also, Social Security noted that the professional societies cited in the OIG report are on record recommending SVT, hinting at a possible conflict of interest. The members of these organizations would benefit if Social Security were to begin ordering SVTs. Social Security told OIG that "We believe that tests cannot prove malingering, as there are no tests that conclusively determine the presence of inaccurate patient self-reporting." However, Social Security also said that "Due to differing opinions on the use of SVTs, and whether they add value to our disability programs, we plan to seek impartial, external expertise to evaluate our policy on the purchase of SVTs, as resources permit. In addition, we plan to seek external expertise on psychological tests from the Institute of Medicine to include an examination of published research and studies on SVTs ..."