Twenty Years Ago Today

     Twenty years ago today domestic terrorists bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. One hundred sixty-eight people were killed, including these sixteen Social Security employees:

• Richard A. Allen, Claims Representative 
• Saundra G. Avery, Development Clerk 
• Oleta C. Biddy, Service Representative 
• Carol L. Bowers, Operations Supervisor 
• Sharon L. Chesnut, Claims Representative
  Katherine L Cregan, Service Representative
• Margaret E. Goodson, Claims Representative 
• Ethel L. Griffin, Service Representative 
• Ronald V. Harding, Service Representative 
• Raymond L. Johnson, Senior Community Service Volunteer
• Derwin W. Miller, Claims Representative
• Charlotte A. Thomas, Contact Representative
• Michael G. Thompson, Field Representative
• Robert N. Walker, Jr., Claims Representative 
• Julie M. Welch, Claims Representative 
• William S. Williams, Operations Supervisor

Social Security May Be Central Issue In 2016 Election

     It's now becoming mainstream for Republican presidential candidates to express a desire to cut Social Security. House Republicans seem determined to try to cut Social Security disability benefits, perhaps dramatically. Meanwhile, even though Hilary Clinton has yet to announce a position, it's become mainstream for Democrats to embrace expanding Social Security.

Did They Even Read Their Own Regs?

     I have no idea why they believe this to be consistent with their own recently adopted regulations but Social Security is now taking the position that claimants are not just under an obligation to inform the agency of evidence that "relates to" their disability claim but to submit such evidence, regardless of the expense or difficulty, and are to be hounded to do so.

What Does "Relate To" Mean?

     From a section just added to Social Security's HALLEX Manual:

Last Update: 4/15/15 (Transmittal I-2-139)Before closing the hearing, the administrative law judge (ALJ) will remind the claimant that he or she must inform the ALJ about or submit, in its entirety, all evidence known to him or her that relates to whether he or she is blind or disabled. See 20 CFR 404.1512 and 416.912. If the claimant has a representative, then the ALJ will remind the representative that he or she must help the claimant obtain the information that the claimant must submit. See 20 CFR 404.1512, 404.1740, 416.912, and 416.1540. The ALJ must ask the claimant and the representative if they are aware of any additional evidence that relates to whether the claimant is blind or disabled.

25% Who Try To Use Social Security's Online Sytem Are Unable To Access Their Accounts

     At the end of a boring article about Acting Commissioner Colvin's visit to some Social Security offices in Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune relates a nugget of information. Social Security's online system "is so complicated and security so tight that about 25 percent of users who attempt to log on are not able to successfully access their accounts."

New Hematological Listings

     The Social Security Administration has adopted new Listings for hematological disorders.

USA! USA!

     The Guardian Newspaper of the United Kingdom decided to rank countries on their benefits for the unemployed and disabled. The U.S. came in last, after Russia and South Africa. Here are a couple of excerpts:

The US system of benefits for disabled people could be used as a cautionary tale for anyone who wants to know what happens when state financial support for citizens with physical or mental impairments is paired (sic) down to the minimum. ...

According to the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development], SSDI payments average $1,140 per month (£777) and are much less than the benefits paid by most other advanced nations placing the US 30th out of 34 countries in international rankings. The US is also hovering towards the bottom of the league tables (27th) on the percentage of its GDP that goes on disability benefits (just 0.8% in 2009 compared to the UK’s 2.4%  ...

Intellectual Disability Diagnosis Standards Much Tougher In U.S. Than In Canada

     From The Star Phoenix of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan:

If you lived in Niagara Falls, Ont., and got benefits for an intellectual disability, then moved across the Canada-U.S. border to Niagara Falls, N.Y., you wouldn't get them.

Psychologists can use two different yardsticks to determine your IQ, which, in turn, determines whether you are considered to have a disability, which, in turn, determines whether you get a disability cheque in the mail every month.

One yardstick is Canadian, the other American. And research by Dr. Allyson Harrison, who heads the Regional Assessment and Resource Centre at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., finds that five times more people are diagnosed with a disability when the Canadian yardstick, or standard, is used in tests than when the U.S. standard is used. ...

In a research study, Harrison administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition, (WAIS-IV) test to Ontario university students who had been referred to her by a doctor.

But because of how the test works - it's standardized, like SATs - their answers don't mean anything unless they are measured against a standard derived from test results of people in their own demographic as determined by gender, age and educational level. ...

Of Harrison's sample, 21.2 per cent qualify for disability cheques when they're scored using Canadian standards. Only 4.2 per cent qualify using the American standards. That number - 4.2 per cent - is what you'd expect in the population of college and university students she studied.