Law Firm Agrees To Represent Several Hundred Former Clients Of Eric Conn

     Morgan and Morgan, a law firm, has agreed to represent "several hundred" of the nearly 1,500 former clients of Eric Conn who may be losing their Social Security disability benefits. Morgan and Morgan appears to be based in Florida but has offices in Kentucky.

New Regs On Social Security Number Applications

     The Social Security Administration has adopted new regulations on Social Security number applications to allow for electronic applications.

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Mike Conrad ‏@mikeconrad1 5h5 hours ago

Social Security projected to hit 100 year mark in good shape. This will also mark 100 years of opponents' constant claims of impending doom.

Is PEBES Worth The Cost?

     The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has issued a report asking "Does the Social Security 'Statement' Add Value"? The Social Security "Statement" they're talking about is what the agency calls the Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement (PEBES). 

     Most people say they remember receiving PEBES and found the information helpful. However, there is little evidence that PEBES affects claiming behavior and there's little evidence that people remember the amount they will receive when they retire. See the chart below.

     For what it's worth, my clients often ask how much they'll receive a month if their disability claim is approved. I seldom have easy access to this information until close to the hearing. When I'm asked this question, I ask the client if they remember receiving the PEBES -- describing it in a way such that they'll understand what I'm talking about. They generally remember receiving it and say they have saved it. I tell them that the PEBES tells the approximate amount that their disability benefit will be. They're always surprised to hear this.

The "Testing" Goes On Without End

     Social Security is once again extending the "testing" of the use of a single decision maker and the elimination of reconsideration. This testing has been going on for many years. Everyone knows they both work. However, the single decision maker system results in a really tiny increase in the number of disability claims approved so it can't go forward and eliminating reconsideration funnels more cases to hearings before Administrative Law Judges which would increase backlogs at that level so it can't go forward either. So Social Security just keeps extending the "testing" indefinitely.

Social Security Not Doing Data Match With Federal Workers Comp

     The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has done a study on whether Social Security is properly reducing Disability Insurance Benefits by workers compensation benefits paid to former federal employees and found problems. GAO found that the agency was not detecting 13% of the cases where there should have been an offset and that there were probably more cases but GAO could not say for sure due to limitations in Social Security's data. The underlying cause of this problem is Social Security's failure to do a data match with federal workers compensation records. Social Security has felt that such a match would not be cost effective. I was under the impression that the agency was already doing data matches with state workers compensation records. I don't understand why they wouldn't do the same with the federal workers compensation records.

Just Tell Me What You Want!

     Senator Orrin Hatch went to the Senate floor today to talk about the bills that he has put forward on Social Security disability. It's worth watching the recording of his speech on the issue. Hatch is clearly concerned that any disability proposal that he and other Republicans come up with will be criticized as cutting Social Security. He really, really wants the President and other Democrats to propose cuts in Social Security disability while he sits back and keeps saying, "Not good enough -- give me more." However, Hatch has yet to propose anything that would extend the life of the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. All he and his Republican counterparts in the House come up with are dubious small bore proposals that would do virtually nothing to extend the life of the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Specifically, they are avoiding putting forward a plan to transfer income or assets from the Retirement Insurance Trust Fund to the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. We have no idea what their price for doing so really is.

     There's no reason for the President to accommodate Hatch and other Republicans on this issue. The President has a plan. Republicans control the Congress. They should come up with their own plan. If they don't want this to be an election issue in 2016 they need to convince Democrats, including the President, to accept their plan. If Hatch and his Republicans can't even say what they want, it's impossible to negotiate with them.

     And, I keep saying, there's a simple solution for this problem. The President can do it without help from Congress. Somehow, I think that Senator Hatch might be privately relieved if the President just took care of the problem.