Interim Assistance Reimbursement NPRM

     From a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) posted in the Federal Register today:

We reimburse States that provide interim assistance to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claimants under our interim assistance reimbursement (IAR) program. We provide this reimbursement from the SSI recipient's initial retroactive SSI payment. On November 20, 2010, we began using an electronic Interim Assistance Reimbursement system (eIAR) to streamline the way we process reimbursements to the States. The eIAR process replaced our prior paper-based process with an electronic one, and greatly reduced our and the State's involvement in manually processing IAR cases. This electronic system did not change the amount of payments we make to States and SSI recipients. We propose to revise our rules about how we administer the IAR process to reflect the electronic process. We also made minor language changes and reorganized the sections for clarity.

What?

     From a notice to appear in the Federal Register tomorrow:

Under our current, long-standing policy, we do not purchase genetic testing to evaluate disability. However, we do consider all evidence in the record, including genetic testing and other genetic medical evidence, when we make a determination or decision of whether you are disabled. We are requesting information regarding how we should consider genetic information in the disability decision process and what issues we should consider. ... 

To submit your ideas and comments, please go to http://www.ssa- disabilityideas.ideascale.com and go to the Campaign entitled "Genetic Information".

     The link given in the notice isn't working.
     Obviously, if there is genetic testing that shows that a disability claimant has a genetic disorder, that evidence should be considered. Genetic testing may be able to show that a person has a propensity to develop some disorder in the future but that's in the future and isn't too relevant to a disability claim today. Is there something else they're getting at here?

No Statute Of Limitations On Overpayments

     From the Contra Costa Times:

For Vietnam War veteran Thomas Testerman, a letter he recently received from the Defense Department was a reminder of the mistreatment his generation of soldiers faced.

Landing in his mailbox two days before Veterans Day, the letter informed him that he owes nearly $500 because of checks the Social Security Administration mistakenly sent him in 1972. If Testerman does not pay or dispute the bill, the letter stated, deductions from his monthly military retirement checks will begin just days before Christmas.

     I have posted this sort of story before. Every time I do, I get comments which say, in effect, "Death to all who defraud Social Security!"  I find this bloodthirstyness shocking. Do they really believe the government should be vengeful? I wonder if these people know that many Social Security overpayments are due to mistakes made by the Social Security Administration itself. That was almost certainly the case here as the rest of the article makes clear.
     I know this man can almost certainly get his overpayment waived but he doesn't know where to turn.
     Isn't it time for a reasonable statute of limitations on non-fraudulent Social Security overpayments? Five years? Ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years?

Getting Hosed By COLA

     Danny Vinik at Business Insider argues that Social Security recipients are getting hosed by the Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) even without chained CPI. He thinks Congress should require the use of the CPI-E (with E standing for Elderly) for the COLA instead of the measure being used now, CPI-W. The CPI-E would result in significantly higher benefits for those staying on Social Security benefits for an extended period of time.

Eunuchs Who Receive Crazy Checks: A Preview Of The Debate On The Social Security Disability Trust Fund

It Looks Different From The Top

     CEOs with 1,200 times your retirement savings want to cut Social Security.

November 22, 1963

Will President Nominate New Commissioner Now That Filibuster Is Off The Table?

     The Senate has voted to end filibusters on executive branch nominations.
     The Social Security Administration has had an Acting Commissioner since February of this year. So far there has been no nomination to the position.
     The Senate's action has to make it more likely that the President will nominate a new Commissioner and that the Senate will act promptly on that nomination. For that matter, it is also more likely that the President will nominate a new Deputy Commissioner for Social Security.
     The Senate confirmation process had degenerated to the point that all of the President's nominations were being delayed for months and large numbers of them were being filibustered. Often, the filibusters had nothing to do with the qualifications of the nominee. The President was forced to be obsessive about the qualifications of nominees.
     I cannot say whether a nominee can be expected in the near future but I hope so. It is certainly less difficult for the President to make a nomination now and to expect that nominee to be confirmed within a reasonable time.
     I have wondered whether the delay at Social Security had to do with same sex marriage. There is a very big question about whether Social Security will recognize same sex marriages for claimants who live in states that refuse to recognize same sex marriages. Today's action in the Senate would prevent Republicans from filibustering a nomination over this or any other issue. Majority rule will prevail. What a concept!