Interesting

     From Roll Call:

House Budget Chairman Paul D. Ryan has said he wants the Ways and Means Committee gavel next year, but the Wisconsin Republican will face a challenge from Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas.

Brady, the current chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, told columnist Al Hunt in an interview that will air Friday evening that he wants the top slot on the Ways and Means Committee, where he is currently the No. 2 Republican.

Reigning Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., must relinquish his title next year due to term limits.

     Ways and Means has jurisdiction over Social Security. I don't know that either is better or worse for Social Security. Ryan certainly has a higher profile.

Annual Statistical Supplement Issued

     Social Security has issued its Annual Statistical Supplement for 2013. This is crammed with all the statistical information about Social Security benefits you could ask for. Unfortunately, it contains only limited information about the operations of the Social Security Administration itself. Want to know how many people are drawing U.S. Social Security disability benefits and living in the nation of Lebanon? It's 27. Want to know what percentage of appeals are approved by Social Security's Administrative Law Judges? You won't find it in the Annual Statistical Supplement. Which piece of information is of more interest?

Awesome Social Security Disability Survey

Social Security has put out on Twitter an online survey on its Social Security disability program. Take it yourself. And then comment here.

Lots Of Allegations Of Fraud But Almost No Prosecutions

     This is an excerpt from Acting Commissioner Colvin's written testimony given to the House Social Security Subcommittee today:

In fiscal year ( FY ) 2013, we made over 22,500 disability fraud referrals to the OIG [Office of Inspector General]; the OIG opened about 5,300 cases based on these referrals. To date, the OIG has referred over 100 of these cases to United States Attorneys’ Offices for criminal prosecution.

     If I understand this correctly, about 77% of the time when OIG is sent a disability fraud referral, OIG immediately decides that the fraud allegation has no merit and refuses to even open a file. Even when OIG opens a file, there's only a 1.8% chance that OIG will refer the case for criminal prosecution. In the end, 99.6% of the time that a disability fraud referral is made, OIG decides not to recommend prosection. Left unmentioned is the fact that even when OIG recommends prosecution sometimes the United States Attorneys refuse to prosecute the cases.
     This can be interpreted in different ways but it's a fact that while there's a lot of disability fraud being alleged, only a tiny, tiny percentage of those allegations result in prosecution.

Social Security Subcommittee Hearing Today

     The Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing today at 10:00 EST on "Preventing Disability Scams." Social Security's Acting Commissioner, Carolyn Colvin, will testify. The Subcommittee will also hear from J. Matthew Royal who is Vice President and Chief Auditor for the Unum Group (a large insurance company which writes most private long term disability insurance in the United States), William B. Zielinski who is Social Security's Deputy Commissioner of Systems and Chief Information Officer and Alan R. Shark who is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Alleged Arizona Bomber Will Be In Prison For a Long Time

     On November 30, 2012 a small homemade bomb was set off outside the Casa Grande, AZ Social Security field office. Fortunately, no one was injured. Abdullatif Ali Aldosary has been accused in the bombing. Apparently, that charge is still pending but Aldosary has now been convicted on charges of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition and sentenced to ten years in prison. The firearms and ammunition were found when Aldosary was arrested on the bombing charge. Aldosary is also facing a separate charge of murdering a man on November 27.

New HIV Listing Proposed

     The Social Security Administration has published a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) in the Federal Register to alter the listings for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection disability claims. Anyone who wishes has until April 28 to file a comment on the NPRM.

Proposed Changes To Neurological Listings

     The Social Security Administration has published a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) in the Federal Register to change its neurological listing of impairments. As has been the case for some years now, the NPRM dramatically lengthens the preamble to the listings and tightens the requirements of the listings in numerous ways.

     As a comparison, the current listing for non-convulsive seizures requires that they occur "more frequently than once weekly." The proposed rule would require that the seizures occur "at least once a week." You look at that and think there's not much difference. You might think that if anything the proposed rule is less difficult to meet since it only requires that seizures occur weekly rather than more than weekly. However, ask anyone who suffers from epilepsy how often their seizures occur and they always say "They don't occur on any schedule." Let's say claimant A has 25 seizures in a three month time period but happens to have one week during this time during which he or she has no seizures. Claimant A meets the current listing but not the proposed listing. The current listing permits averaging. The proposed rule doesn't. That's a significant tightening.

     For another comparison, the proposed listing for multiple sclerosis qualifies the degree of disorganization of motor function needed to meet the listing by adding the word "extreme." There would have to be "extreme limitation" of motor function in order to meet the proposed listing. This is a major change even though, in effect, nothing of consequence other than one word has been changed.

     The public is allowed to comment on the NPRM. Social Security must consider the comments. The process takes a year or more at best. The history of these things is that Social Security blows off all comments based upon anything other than grammatical errors unless the comments come from some major organization focused on a particular disease and the comments are forceful and backed up with lobbying. Since most such organizations are focused on research and happy talk about employment opportunities and not on disability benefits, they either don't comment on the NPRM or offer weak comments and don't lobby. If that happens, the NPRM is adopted essentially intact and more people who suffer from seizures or MS get denied and become impoverished.