Social Security Now Recognizing Same Sex Marriages Nationwide

     I wondered how long it would take  the Social Security Administration to consult with the Department of Justice about the Obergefell decision before it fully recognized same sex marriages. It turns out that it took a little over a week. The agency is now fully recognizing same sex marriages, at least as of the date that each state started recognizing same sex marriages. 

     There are still issues about back benefits. If Texas, for instance, wasn't recognizing out of state same sex marriages until the Obergefell decision, is it still appropriate to deny claims for benefits based upon out of state same sex marriages for persons living in Texas for the time period before Obergefell? I expect that there's going to be litigation on this issue. Fortunately, it's a minor matter, affecting only back benefits for only a few people.

Wasting Money Trying To Collect Low-Dollar SSI Overpayments

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

Generally, SSA [Social Security Administration] attempted to collect overpayments regardless of the amount. ... 

SSA collects data on the average costs to collect RSI [Retirement and Survivors Insurance], DI [Disability Insurance], and SSI [Supplemental Security Income] overpayments via its Cost Analysis System ( CAS ). ... However, the average cost to collect an SSI overpayment as reported in CAS represents the cost of a single action taken to collect an SSI overpayment during a FY [Fiscal Year]. Therefore, the average cost to collect an SSI overpayment does not represent the cost of collecting the overpayment when multiple actions are required. This results in an understatement of the average cost to collect an SSI overpayment when multiple collection actions are required. ... 

Based on our analysis using average cost data from CAS, we estimated SSA spent over $323 million to collect low-dollar overpayments in FYs 2008 through 2013. Using SSA’s overpayment collection percentages for these FYs, we estimated SSA collected approximately $109.4 million of the low-dollar overpayments. This resulted in SSA spending over $213.6 million more than it collected ....

Attorney Fee Payments Continue To Decline

     Through June of this year, fees paid to attorneys and some others for representing Social Security claimants totaled $561 million. This is a 5% decline from the $588 million paid during the same period last year.

Happy 4th Of July

Eric Conn's Social Security Practice Fading Away

     Eric Conn hasn't been prosecuted and he is still allowed to practice before the Social Security Administration but it sounds like his law practice has taken quite a hit. The Louisville Courier-Journal says that "Conn has closed satellite offices in Ashland as well as in Beverly Hills, Calif., and San Francisco. The giant sign that towers over his office is literally fading, and on a recent weekday his overflow parking lots and waiting room were empty."

Davy Crockett Has A Question

     From WKRN in Nashville, TN:

During a question and answer session with Barack Obama Wednesday a Tennessee man asked the president if there was anything he could do to help him after his social security had been denied several times.

After telling President Obama that Davy Crockett was in fact his real name, the Tennessee resident whose social security has been denied four times asked, “Is there anything you can do to push it through, or something?”

The president responded by promising he would help get the answers to his question. See pictures from President Obama’s visit here.

 “I don’t run the Social Security Office, but if I ask a question, I tend to get an answer pretty quick,” President Obama said. “So what we’re going to do is we’re going to get your information Davey and I’ll make sure the Social Security Administration takes a look at it and expedites it.”

Social Security Headcount Increased In Late 2014

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has finally posted updated figures for the number of employees at the Social Security Administration at the end of 2014:

• December 2014 65,430
• September 2014 64,684
• June 2014 62,651
• March 2014 60,820
• December 2013 61,957
• September 2013 62,543
• June 2013 62,877
• March 2013 63,777
• December 2012 64,538
• September 2012 65,113
• September 2011 67,136
• December 2010 70,270
• December 2009 67,486
• September 2009 67,632
• December 2008 63,733
• September 2008 63,990
• September 2007 62,407
• September 2006 63,647
• September 2005 66,147
• September 2004 65,258
• September 2003 64,903
• September 2002 64,648
• September 2001 65,377
• September 2000 64,521

Fewer People Drawing Disability Benefits

     The Social Security Administration has finally released updated numbers for May on the number of people drawing Disability Insurance Benefits. The decline was tiny but the number drawing disability benefits went down in May. In seven of the last eight months the number drawing these benefits has declined.