Social Security To Require That Those Representing Claimants Use Online Systems To Access Files

     From a notice that Social Security will publish in the Federal Register on Monday:

This notice provides advance notification of the requirement that, for claims with certified electronic folders pending at the hearing or Appeals Council levels, an appointed representative must access and obtain a claimant’s folder through Appointed Representative Services (ARS) in matters for which the representative requests direct fee payment. Except under the limited circumstances described in this notice, we will no longer provide compact disc (CD) copies of the electronic folder to appointed representatives who request direct payment of fees. ...

A representative who falls under the terms of this mandate, as described, has an affirmative duty to comply with this requirement. We may investigate to determine if a representative violates this duty or is attempting to circumvent our rules. We may sanction a representative who does not follow these rules, as described in 20 CFR 404.1745-1795 and 416.1545-1595. However, we will not reject or delay a claimant's hearing or process a claim differently if a representative fails to comply with this electronic access requirement. ...

Still No Action On Eanes Nomination

     The Senate Finance Committee scheduled a meeting for March 2 to consider the nomination of Andrew Lamont Eanes to become Deputy Commissioner of Social Security but the meeting was later "postponed." It's never been rescheduled. I'd think that if it were a simple scheduling issue, it would have been rescheduled by now. It sounds like there's a more serious problem. If there is a problem, it may not be with the Eanes nomination. There were three other nominations scheduled for consideration at that time. If there's a problem, it may be with one of the other nominations. Even if the problem is with another nomination, at the least, it's certainly delayed the Eanes nomination.

Conn Out On Bail

     Eric Conn has been released from jail on $1.25 million bail.

Help For 387,000 Disabled People

     From a Treasury Department press release:

The U.S. Department of Education announced today a new process to proactively identify and assist federal student loan borrowers with disabilities who may be eligible for Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) loan discharge. ... The Higher Education Act allows for loan forgiveness for borrowers who are totally and permanently disabled. By proactively identifying and engaging borrowers who may be eligible for TPD loan discharge, the Department is fulfilling its commitment to ensure that borrowers who are totally and permanently disabled have the information needed to take full advantage of the debt relief to which they are entitled....

The Department of Education has been working closely with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to complete a data match to identify federal student loan borrowers who also receive disability payments and have the specific designation of "Medical Improvement Not Expected" (MINE) which, because of a change in Department regulations in 2013, qualifies them for loan forgiveness under the TPD discharge program. This streamlined and more accurate process ensures that eligible borrowers receive loan discharges. Approximately 387,000 borrowers were positively identified in the first set of matches which were conducted in December 2015 and March 2016. In total, these borrowers have a combined loan balance of over $7.7 billion, and roughly 179,000 are currently in default. As required by federal law, over 100,000 of those borrowers with defaulted loans have been certified for the TOP, and are therefore at risk of losing federal tax refunds, and of having their Social Security benefits offset. Today's announcement will ease the process of obtaining forgiveness for these struggling borrowers and ensure they receive this entitlement under the law. Beginning on April 18, 2016, borrowers who were positively identified in the match will receive a customized letter explaining that the borrower is eligible for loan forgiveness and the simple steps needed to receive a discharge. Unlike other borrowers, those identified through the data match will not be required to submit documentation of their eligibility. Instead, they are eligible for a streamlined process by which they simply sign and return the completed application.

     I started calling for this more than a year and a half ago.

Alcoholic ALJ Fights Disciplinary Action

     From The Daily Caller:

A Social Security Administration (SSA) disability judge admitted to routinely being drunk on the job and sexually assaulting a federal security guard, and now claims government employee union precedents bar his being disciplined since he says his superiors knowingly tolerated numerous other employees being inebriated in the office.

Sridhar Boini is also invoking disability on his own behalf, saying his alcoholism is a condition government managers must accommodate, a March 22 filing with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) shows. He demands the right to try cases over video so he could keep drawing a paycheck without the public being exposed to him. ...

Some of the incidents took place in a public area of the Scranton, Penn., SSA office, and numerous people whose cases Boini adjudicated are now appealing on the basis that the judge may have been drunk when he turned them down. ...

Eric Conn's Former Clients Get Some Help

    The Social Security Administration is trying to cut off the disability benefits of more than 1,500 former  clients of indicted attorney Eric Conn even thought those clients did nothing wrong.  John Rosenberg writes for the Lexington, KY Herald Leader on the work of 135 attorneys who have volunteered to help those who are facing the loss of their income. So far, their efforts have helped more than half of those who have gotten decisions stay on benefits.

Building Closed Due To Water Main Break

     The Security West Building at Social Security's central offices in the Baltimore area is closed today due to a water main break.

New Social Security Ruling On Genetic Testing

     Social Security Ruling 16-4p will appear in the Federal Register tomorrow. It concerns the use of genetic tests in determining disability. The bottom line on the Ruling seems to be that, yes, Social Security will consider genetic testing results but that, no, they won't pay for it. Their reason for not paying for it is that they say genetic testing isn't necessary to establish a finding of disability even though the Ruling itself admits that at least in the case of non-mosaic Down syndrome or Edward's syndrome or cystic fibrosis or chronic myelogenous leukemia such testing may be necessary. Maybe they ought to be more honest and say they don't want to spend the money and they really don't care if a few claims are unjustly denied.