Jan 25, 2016

Central Offices Closed

      Social Security has announced that its central offices in the Baltimore area will be closed on Monday due to Friday's snowstorm.
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Jan 24, 2016

Hives And Rashes At New York Field Office

     From the Olean, NY Times Herald:

Those working at the Social Security office in downtown Olean continue to experience the same medical conditions as they did in late September while at work, a union official has reported.

“Employees have the same medical issues — strong outbreaks of hives and respiratory issues,” said Shawn Halloran, executive vice president of The American Federation of Government Employees Local 3342, which represents the dozen Social Security employees at the Olean office. ...

Officials at Park Centre Development, which owns the building and is headquartered nearby, said those working in offices neighboring the Social Security location have not reported experiencing similar symptoms. ...
An industrial hygienist went through the Social Security office two days after it closed and took samples to determine what caused the reaction.
The inspection did uncover some minor issues, such as exposed insulation in a utility closet and some excess equipment gathering dust. In addition, the inspector recommended the office’s heating and cooling system be adjusted to ensure its vents were functioning properly.
Park Centre had the facility thoroughly cleaned before it reopened Oct. 1.
In the nearly four months since the office reopened, Halloran has received calls almost weekly from office employees reporting the recurrence of hives and rashes. He added that officers with a private firm who provide security at the office have also experienced the same symptoms.
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Social Security Sued Over Kentucky Suicides

     From WYMT:
Family members of two people who killed themselves after receiving letters from the Social Security Administration indicating their federal disability benefits were suspended are suing the agency. ...
The SSA in 2015 ordered nearly 1,800 people to attend hearings to determine whether they should continue receiving disability checks. ...
The people being forced to undergo hearings are former clients of Floyd County lawyer Eric C. Conn.
Congressional investigators suspect Conn used fraudulent information to secure the benefits.
Conn has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.
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Jan 23, 2016

"We Make Every Effort To Deliver World Class Service In Our Field Offices"

     From The Ledger:
Some mornings the lines outside the Lakeland office of the Social Security Administration start forming as early as 6:30. The office doesn't open until 9 a.m. but word has spread among elderly and disabled residents that those first in line have a shorter wait.
So over the next few hours they quietly queue up, among them on a recent day an elderly woman sitting in a wheelchair, a woman leaning on a walker, and a young woman toting an infant in a carrier. An older man with a walker leans his back against the building and grimaces.
There are no benches, no water fountains. Until the doors are unlocked at 9 a.m., there is no access to restrooms. And even then, no signs explain to those in the line outside that they can ask the guard's permission for restroom access. Some days, the guard announces no food or drink are allowed inside "so if you have anything with you, you might as well go put it back in your car."...
 Social Security's data shows the average wait time is only 34 minutes, she said, but [a Social Security spokesperson] had no response to that being the average wait from the time a person gets inside and takes a ticket. ...
Stacia Edwards of Lakeland said she had called the number listed on the door for phone service but “calling is ridiculous. Sometimes you wait an hour. Now they have a thing where they say they will call you back.” When she called, it was a 55-minute wait for a callback so she decided to take her chances by lining up in person. ...
Explaining the Social Security Administration's official position, [a Social Security spokesperson] said, “We make every effort to deliver world class service in our field offices. ...
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Jan 22, 2016

Central Offices Closed By Snowstorm

     Social Security's central offices in the Baltimore area will be closed today due to the snowstorm hitting the Northeast today.
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Jan 21, 2016

The Depressing State Of Hearing Backlogs At Social Security


 
Posted by Charles T. Hall at 24 comments:
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Jan 20, 2016

New Instructions For Attorney-Advisor Decision

     Social Security has issued new instructions for Attorney-Advisor (AA) decisions (also called Senior Attorney decisions) after claimants requests a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). The idea is that clearly meritorious claims would be quickly approved by AAs. The AAs would not deny any claims. If the AA couldn't approve a claim, the claimant would still get an ALJ hearing. The point of the AA decisions is to help reduce the backlog of pending requests for hearings.
     The AA decisions have been around for many years. Since 2010 when Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives there have been few AA decisions. Not coincidentally, the hearing backlog has mushroomed. The AA reviews conducted in recent years seemed to me to be a waste of resources. I would get a call from an AA saying they were reviewing a case. The AA would ask for certain pieces of medical evidence and demand that the evidence be submitted in two weeks or less. That's completely unreasonable. Most medical providers don't respond to requests in that kind of timeframe. When I told an AA that I couldn't get the evidence in within the timeframe they were giving, I was told that the AA couldn't hold onto the case any longer. However, it was often the case that I had already requested, obtained and submitted the records that the AA wanted suggesting that the AAs weren't reviewing the files too closely before calling. It didn't seem to matter what records were submitted or how strong the case was. We wouldn't get any action from the AAs. The AAs seemed to be almost incapable of approving a claim. They were just spinning their wheels. The agency would have been better off if the AAs were drafting decisions for ALJs.
     We'll see how these new instructions are implemented but I see no evidence in them that there will now be large numbers of AA decisions. In past years when there were many AA decisions, cases were selected for AA review based upon profiles of claims likely to be approved by ALJs. The profiles were top secret but it wasn't hard to see the pattern -- mentally ill claimants and older claimants. I though the profiles worked pretty well. I never understood why they were abandoned unless the point was to hold down the number of claims approved by AAs. The new instructions suggest to me that cases will not be selected for review based upon profiles. Here are the selection criteria in the new instructions:
  • New and material evidence is submitted;
  • There is an indication that additional evidence is available;
  • There is a change in the law and regulations; or
  • There is an error in the record or another indication that a fully favorable decision may be warranted.
      I suppose the "another indication that a fully favorable decision may be warranted" language would cover profile selection but I can't think of a reason why they wouldn't say they intend to use profiles. The first two criteria could be used to cover virtually any case with a pending request for hearing. Reviewing virtually all cases wouldn't be a good thing. There's too much effort wasted on cases where the AAs can't or won't issue a favorable decision.
     The instructions suggest that there will be a two level process. One person will hand select a case for AA review and then another will actually do the AA review. That's labor intensive. The instructions carefully forbid an AA from actually reviewing a case that he or she has selected for review, suggesting a process that almost requires that two AAs agree before an AA decision is issued.
     It looks like there won't be that many AAs participating in the process. Only those selected to a national "team" will be allowed to participate. The instructions themselves say the "team" is a "small group."
     After an AA decision is issued there will be four different levels of "quality review" which suggests a deep uneasiness with AA decisions.
     It still looks like the agency thinks that holding down the number of disability claims approved is far more important than dealing with its hearing backlog. I hope to be pleasantly surprised but I'm not expecting much from this. Meanwhile, the hearing backlog continues to grow.

Posted by Charles T. Hall at 33 comments:
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Jan 19, 2016

Miami Psychiatrist Indicted For Social Security Fraud

     From the Miami Herald:
A Miami psychiatrist who became a national symbol of over-prescribing was indicted this week by a federal grand jury for allegedly running a racket that defrauded numerous public programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Social Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The psychiatrist, Dr. Fernando Mendez-Villamil, 48, and three other Miami-Dade residents whom he employed in his Coral Way office, were charged with an elaborate scheme to provide false diagnoses of debilitating psychiatric conditions that allowed numerous people to fraudulently qualify for Social Security disability benefits, Medicare and Medicaid, and to be exempted from testing requirements for becoming naturalized U.S. citizens, according to the grand jury indictment filed in Miami federal court on Thursday....
A third employee, Arnaldo Oscar Jimenez, 57, of Hialeah, also allegedly recruited individuals who wanted to fraudulently obtain Social Security disability benefits....

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article53792465.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article53792465.html#storylink=cpyA third employee, Arnaldo Oscar Jimenez, 57, of Hialeah, also allegedly recruited individuals who wanted to fraudulently obtain Social Security disability benefits.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article53792465.html#storylink=cpy
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