Improvement In 800 Number Service

     I don't know how they've done it but Social Security is reporting dramatic improvement this year in average speed to answer times and agent busy rates for their 800 number.

Oblique Response

     The Acting Commissioner of Social Security has sent a letter to the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee responding obliquely to his request for information about whether the agency would be providing names of claimants with representative payees to other government agencies for use in determining capacity to obtain firearms. The Acting Commissioner says that Social Security isn't doing that now. She does not say whether there is a plan to do so in the future although she does say that no names would be provided merely because a claimant has a representative payee.

About Time

     Social Security has now announced that it will recognize same sex marriages even before the date of the Supreme Court decision requiring that all states recognize same sex marriages. Just yesterday there was a New York Times article saying that the Department of Justice was still considering the issue.

Same Sex Marriages Still A Problem For Social Security

     From the New York Times:

Same-sex couples may have won marriage equality, but some gay and lesbian individuals have been left wondering if their unions are still less than equal in the eyes of the government.

Kathy Murphy is one of them. She has been unable to collect survivor and death benefits from Social Security since she lost her spouse, Sara Barker, to cancer in 2012. Ms. Murphy retired from her career in publishing in 2011, earlier than she expected, to care for Ms. Barker, who died at 62.

Ms. Murphy finds herself in this predicament largely because her spouse died before the Supreme Court’s monumental ruling in June, Obergefell v. Hodges, which declared that marriage is a fundamental right. That case came after the landmark Windsor decision, in 2013, in which the court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits. ...

A spokesman for the Social Security Administration said it was working with the Justice Department to analyze the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell. He said the agency would provide updated instructions as new information became available.

Use Of ERE Message Function

     By chance I noticed recently that I was the only one at my firm using the message function in Social Security's Electronic Records Express (ERE) system. I've been using it to send simple messages such as as “We have submitted all the evidence that we promised on the day of the hearing and you can proceed to issue a decision” or “The post-hearing CE strongly supports our argument that Mr. _____ is limited to sedentary work.” I've only been sending these messages to one hearing office. The process has been working well for me.
     After finding out that no one else at my firm was using the message function, I asked outside my firm. I couldn't find anyone else using the message function.
     I'm curious. Are attorneys in other states using the message function? Is it working OK if you are? If you're not using it, is it because you tried and there were problems? Were you even aware of the message function?
     If this technology isn't being used widely, there's something wrong. Either the system isn't functional or people just don't know about it.

Social Security Headcount Up From A Year Ago But Still Way Down From Peak

     The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has just posted updated figures for the number of employees at the Social Security Administration as of the end of the first quarter of 2015:

• March 2015 64,432
• 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

Early Intervention Contractor Sought

     Social Security is seeking a contractor for an early intervention mental health study. This would only be for denied applicants. The overwhelming majority of applicants for Social Security disability benefits who suffer from mental illness are denied.

Why Do So Many Republican Candidates For President Favor Cuts In Social Security?

     Today's opinion pieces:

• Paul Krugman at the New York Times believes most Republican candidates for President support cuts to Social Security not because these cuts are popular with the Republican base (they aren't) but because big money donors support cuts in Social Security.
• Tim Worstall at Forbes says that you don't have to be a bloated plutocrat to favor cuts in Social Security. In fact, retirement age should be raised to 80!
• Ezra Klein at Vox believes that one of the major reasons that Donald Trump is popular with Republican voters is that Trump doesn't favor cuts in Social Security.