Declining Disability Claims

From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General

Fees For Representing Social Security Claimants Going Down

     As part of a virulently hostile piece about attorneys who represent the disabled, the Manhattan Institute, a right wing "think tank", posted this graph, which undermines their argument a bit:

Updated Disability Trust Fund Numbers

     The numbers are now available on the operations of Social Security's Disability Insurance Trust Fund through the third quarter of this year. To make it a little easier to understand, I'll give the net decrease in the Trust Fund balance for each quarter this year, in billions, and the comparison to 2013.

• 1st Quarter 2014 -$6.4 billion, $1.5 billion better than in 1st Quarter 2013
• 2nd Quarter 2014 -$4.1 billion, $0.2 billion worse than in 2nd Quarter 2013
• 3rd Quarter 2014 -$10.1 billion, $0.3 billion better than in 3rd Quarter 2013

     The net is a reduction in the Disability Trust Fund of $20.6 billion through the first nine months of 2014, which is $1.6 billion better than during the same time period of 2013. The intermediate projection of Social Security's Chief Actuary was that the decline in the Disability Trust Fund would be exactly the same in 2014 as in 2013, $32.2 billion, so, thus far this year, the rate of decline is about 5% better than projected. Does that continue in the 4th quarter? More important, does the improvement continue next year and in coming years?

"Truly Disabled"

Senator Tom Coburn, who will be leaving the Senate in January, has some strong opinions he wants to share about Social Security disability.

Hearing Backlog Growing Rapidly

From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General

Americans Demand Local Field Office Service

      Poll results reported by the Strengthen Social Security Coalition:

A majority of Americans want to be able to call or visit a local Social Security field office for various services. The vast majority of Americans — regardless of party affiliation, race/ethnicity, gender and age — believe that we need to have more or the same number of local field offices in the future. 

57 percent of people want to be able to call or visit a local office to request a new Social Security card. 

• 35 percent of those surveyed would prefer to call a local phone number to speak with a live agent. 
• 22 percent said that they would like to visit a local Social Security office in person. 
• 24 percent would prefer to call a national 800 number to speak with a live agent. 
• 11 percent prefer using the internet or email. 
• 7 percent of participants prefer using an automated phone service. 1 percent would like to correspond through the mail and 1 percent are unsure of their preferred method. 

59 percent of people want to be able to call or visit a local office to get information when they are one or two years away from retirement . 

• 33 percent of those surveyed would prefer to call a local phone number to speak with a live agent. 
• 26 percent said that they would like to visit a local Social Security office in person. 
• 21 percent would prefer to call a national 800 number to speak with a live agent. 
• 12 percent prefer using the internet or email. 
• 5 percent of participants prefer using an automated phone service. 1 percent would like to correspond through the mail and 1 percent are unsure of their preferred method. 

61 percent of people want to be able to call or visit a local office when it was time to actually apply for retirement benefits.

• 32 percent of those surveyed would prefer t o call a local phone number to speak with a live agent. 
• 29 percent said that they would like to visit a local Social Security office in person. 
• 19 percent would prefer to call a national 800 number to speak with a live agent.
• 13 percent prefer using the internet or email. 
• 5 percent of participants prefer using an automated phone service. 1 percent would like to correspond through the mail and 1 percent are unsure of their preferred method. 

86 percent of Americans want more or the same number of local field offices in the future. 

• 44 percent believe there should be more local field offices in the future 
• 42 percent believe there should be the same number of local field offices in the future 
• 8 percent believe there should be fewer local field offices in the future 

These results are from a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling who surveyed 1,207 registered voters on November 14 - 16, 2014.

Does This Line Keep Going Up And Up?

From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General

Budget Cuts Opposed

     From Joe Davidson's column in the Washington Post:

In advance of feared Republican budget cuts, Social Security advocates gathered on Capitol Hill to ward off more hits to a basic federal program that serves nearly all American families. ...

[S]ervice reductions have been a reality for years, with Congress providing less money than President Obama requested. ...

From fiscal year 2011 through 2013, the Social Security Administration received $2.7 billion less than Obama requested, followed by a small increase in 2014, according to a Senate Special Committee on Aging report.

“The three previous years of low funding, combined with a wave of retirements and a hiring freeze that has been in place since 2010, led to a reduction in staffing throughout SSA’s operations,” the report said.

Staffing reductions mean service reductions. The notion of doing more with less only goes so far and that is not far enough to maintain service without cuts.

Citing data from the National Council of Social Security Management Associations, the committee said field-office staffing dropped 14 percent from 2011 to 2014. ...

Good luck to Social Security clients requesting a hearing after being denied benefits. They’ll need a great deal of patience. There are about 1 million cases in the hearing backlog. SSA estimates it will take an average, not a maximum, of 435 calendar days for those clients to get a decision.

“Shameful” is the word acting SSA commissioner, Carolyn Colvin, had for the backlog.
Colvin, whom Obama has nominated to be the full time commissioner, said, “I’ve had to make some very, very difficult decisions.”

Reduced funding prevented the agency from hiring administrative law judges who conduct the hearings. That led, Colvin said, to “a situation I find not acceptable.”

The agency lost 12,000 employees it could not replace. How do you manage a field office now staffed with two or three employees instead of the eight to 12 who once worked there, she asked. Her answer: “It’s almost impossible.”

 She assured the advocates that “there is no grand plan to close down field offices” and she has “absolutely no intention” of using technology to replace workers — particular concerns of Mikulski and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), whose members staff them. ...