CCD Opposes NPRM On Medical Evidence

     The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), the largest umbrella group of organizations involved in advocating for persons with disabilities, has submitted comments on Social Security's Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) on ensuring program uniformity at Social Security. CCD opposes the changes for these reasons (which are elaborated on in the CCD letter):

1. Creating an arbitrary deadline for the submission of evidence is inconsistent with the statutory and regulatory duties of the Commissioner to fully develop the record and inconsistent with the duties of claimants to submit all evidence as required in 20 C.F.R. §404.1512 and §416.912.

2. Excluding material evidence is administratively inefficient and will increase appeals to the Appeals Council and to federal court.

3. The proposed rule ignores the reality that testimony, and sometimes new evidence, is routinely introduced at or after ALJ hearings, and claimants and representatives need the opportunity to respond.

4. Serious problems and inconsistencies exist with the implementation of the 5 business day rule in Region I.

Charlie Binder Has An Objection

     Below is a letter I have received from an attorney representing Charlie Binder. You can click on each thumbnail to see it full size.

     Binder is objecting to my post Proposed Rules Of Conduct For Appointed Representatives where I wrote that "This [proposal regulation] is just overkill. I'm not Eric Conn or Charlie Binder. Don't treat me like them. I don't deserve it." Binder feels that I have accused him of certain conduct that the proposal would ban and that I am associating him with the allegedly criminal behavior of Eric Conn. 

     I have no problem saying that I have no knowledge that Charlie Binder or anyone else at Binder and Binder has done anything illegal and that I don't know that this proposal would have any more effect upon Binder and Binder than it would have on my firm.  It would not have taken a three page letter from Binder's attorney to get me to say this. A simple e-mail from Binder himself would have been enough.

     My point in using the names of Eric Conn and Charlie Binder was not to say that their behavior has been the same or similar. My point was to express my concern that each, for different reasons, has generated negative attitudes towards Social Security attorneys on the part of upper Social Security management. I am concerned that these negative attitudes are behind recent Social Security regulatory actions. The issues at Binder and Binder, while not criminal, are magnified in importance by the prominence of that entity. I thought about going through the issues at Binder and Binder but decided there was no point. Almost all my readers already know enough about Binder and Binder to have their own opinions.

     The ironic thing is that Charlie Binder doesn't like to be lumped together with Eric Conn. I don't like being lumped together with either Conn or Binder.

Attorneys Responding To A Crisis

     Many attorneys from around the country responded to the call from AppalReD Legal Aid to help the former clients of Eric Conn who have found themselves faced with the challenge of proving all over again that they are disabled.  AppalReD has provided the following list of the attorneys who have helping these claimants.

     There's one other name that was inadvertently omitted from the list above, Christopher Bush of Kentucky. Also, it's Daniel Smith, not Danny Smith.

ALJ To Plead Guilty To Having Sex With Claimant

     From the Birmingham News:

A former Social Security Administration judge in Alabama allegedly had sex with a woman claimant at the federal court house in Tuscaloosa, according to charges involving a public official accepting a gratuity, theft, and obstruction filed against him Tuesday.

Paul Stribling Conger, Jr.,73, of Akron, Ala., also entered a plea agreement Tuesday with the U.S. Attorney's Office to the charges of theft of government property, obstructing justice, and accepting a gratuity, according to court documents. ...

In July 2013, Conger was presiding over the hearing of a claimant, a woman identified as T.M.

T.M. was subsequently approved for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, which included future monthly payments and retroactive benefits. In November 2013, T.M. discussed Conger with a mutual acquaintance of theirs, identified as Individual A.

"Individual A" related information to T.M. about Conger that led T.M. to approach Conger in an effort to receive her retroactive SSI benefits, totaling about $10,000  in a lump sum because T.M. needed the money all at once.

On Nov. 19, 2013, T.M. met Conger in his chambers at the federal courthouse in Tuscaloosa. T.M. was seeking to receive the retroactive SSI benefits she had been awarded in a lump sum. ...

At the federal courthouse, on that occasion, the two engaged in a sex act and other sexual contact. T.M. and Conger remained in communication by phone, including calls and text messages over the ensuing weeks. ...

During the month of December 2013, Conger met with and paid a person only identified as "Individual B" money to obtain T.M.'s phone and destroy it. Conger provided information from T.M.'s SSA files, including T.M.'s confidential medical information and social security account number, in order to assist Individual B in locating T.M. ...

Your Social Security Account Card

A Longevity Benefit?

     From John Turner at the Pension Policy Center:

In the United States, poverty rates for seniors increase at older ages.  The rates are higher for persons age 75 and older than for persons age 65 to 74.   Poverty rates increase at older ages because relatively more people fall into poverty as they age than exit poverty due to death. Persons who live longer may fall into poverty because of various life events -- their spouse dies, they have higher medical or long-term care expenses than expected, or their investment returns are worse than projected. As Americans live longer, they face an increased risk of outliving their savings.

This outcome of poverty rates increasing at older ages is not inevitable. In Ireland and Poland, poverty rates actually decrease for those age 75 and older compared to those age 65 to 74.  The explanation for lower poverty rates at older ages is a low-cost targeted policy intervention called a longevity insurance benefit. A longevity insurance benefit is a benefit that starts at an advanced age, such as age 82. Both Ireland and Poland provide such a benefit for their oldest citizens.  ...

Triple Amputee Denied Social Security Disability And I'm Not Surprised

     Social Security recently denied a disability claim filed by a triple amputee. I'm not surprised. The problem is that the woman had been a stay at home mom for ten years prior to the illness that led to the amputations. Generally, you must have worked five of the last ten years before becoming disabled in order to draw Social Security disability benefits based upon your own earnings.
     For decades some have called for some sort of caregiver credits as part of Social Security. This idea has never received serious attention in the past and probably won't in the future. However, should Hillary Clinton not just win but ride into office on a tsunami that brings Democrats into control of both houses of Congress, anything's possible. Clinto has called for unspecified improvments in Social Security.  The Iowa Electronic Market gives Democrats an 18-25% chance of gaining control of both houses of Congress.

Proposed New Regs On Medical Evidence Coming

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has cleared a set of proposed new regulations on medical evidence considered in Social Security disability claims. Below is the agency's brief description of the proposal. We won't know exactly what's in the proposal until it's published in the Federal Register, which should happen soon. Remember it's only a proposal. A new administration can change it significantly or can it.

We are proposing several revisions to our medical evidence rules. The proposals include redefining several key terms related to evidence, explaining what is and is not evidence, revising our list of acceptable medical sources (AMS), revising how we consider and articulate our consideration of medical opinions and prior administrative medical findings, revising who can be a medical consultant (MC) and psychological consultant (PC), revising our rules about treating sources, and reorganizing our evidence regulations for ease of use. These proposed revisions conform with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA), reflect changes in the national healthcare workforce and in the manner that individuals receive primary medical care, simplify and reorganize our rules to make them easier to understand and apply, allow us to continue to make accurate and consistent decisions, and emphasize the need for objective medical evidence in disability and blindness claims.