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We're Cheapskates

From the International Social Security Association

    Public spending on incapacity (sickness, disability and occupational injury). Click on image to view full size. Note how low the United States is in comparison to other countries.

Meet Nancy Berryhill

     Nancy Berryhill, Social Security's new Acting Commissioner, has written a piece for the agency's blog, giving some of her background story.

Long Lines In Corpus Christi

     From KRIS-TV:

People at the Social Security office are upset with long wait times. 

"I am more than frustrated, and I am not going to use any bad language. but I am more than frustrated," 

Aaron Simons just described how people felt when they visited Corpus Christi's only Social Security office. 

 "I think it's nonsense that I have to wait this long. I think it's not organized properly," said Simons.  

People aren't just waiting inside the office. Many of these people lined up outside hours before doors opened at eight this morning. 

"I've been here since 7 o'clock this morning. Still waiting still waiting, I'm tired of waiting, but I have to wait because I need that paperwork for my wife," said Simons. 

Dozen's of people decided to leave after waiting for hours. ...

According to the social security office, before this month people waited for an average of 32 minutes in line.  So, what happened? That's what KRIS 6  asked a spokesperson for the social security office. We're told, the office sees increased traffic at the beginning of every year. Lots of people go to the office to get their social security cards before they fill out their taxes.  ...

Benefits Card Problems

     From KING-TV:

Washingtonians who are among the roughly 5 million Americans relying on a special debit card offered by the federal government for Social Security recently had trouble accessing their cash.

Direct Express promises safety and convenience. However, multiple users complained they couldn't find an ATM in Western Washington that would accept the card without a $3 penalty.

"To direct deposit, you need to have a bank account for the money to come into the bank, which I didn't have. So, it really was my only choice," said Larry Woods, a recipient of Social Security, explaining why he chose Direct Express.
The trouble started when Woods visited his nearest ATM and was blocked from obtaining cash without paying a surcharge.

Woods lives on just over $800 a month. So for him, $3 makes a big difference. As he put it, "It's lunch." ...

Technically, Woods shouldn't have to pay. On the website, Direct Express claims to have an extended network of surcharge-free ATMs.

However, when KING 5 accessed the website,  most of the links weren't working or identified zero participating ATMs west of the Rockies.

While Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Service regulates the program, it's facilitated through a contract with Comerica. A Comerica spokesperson said the Direct Express website was experiencing temporary technical issues. ...

After roughly two weeks, the website ATM search tool was functioning again.
Direct Express Card Holders can visit BECU branch ATM's without a penalty, according to other area banks. ...

For Most People Disability Isn't Something That Happens All At Once

     Jackson Costa has done a study, published in the Social Security Bulletin, on the decline in earnings prior to claims for Disability Insurance Benefits. Below is a chart from the study.

     The study demonstrates something that's obvious at ground level -- for most disabled people, disability isn't something that happens all at once. It comes on over the course of years. 

     This is important because those in Congress and the higher reaches of Social Security tend to visualize disability as mostly associated with trauma but that's wrong. Trauma is actually a relatively minor source of disability. It's illnesses that accumulate and worsen over time. Often it's more than one thing that disables a person. People try hard to fight off disability. Often they wait a considerable period of time after stopping work altogether before filing a claim. People don't like to have to concede that they're disabled.

"Not Sustainable"

     This comes from a trusted source but I can't verify it otherwise:

1. The ODAR [Office of Disability Adjudication and Review] leadership had a call with all of ODAR management and a separate call with the decision writers. They were told the state of the current way of doing business is not sustainable model. So as part of this, the decision writers were told they had to increase their productivity as there is a backlog of about 52,000 cases that continues to grow. In addition management has to start writing up decisions. This applies to management in ODAR offices that have some training on writing up decisions. It is my understanding the most group supervisors have this training so they have started writing up decisions. 

2. SSA [Social Security Administration] slapped a freeze yesterday on all competitive promotions after 1/22/17. This applies to all promotions except career ladder promotions. An example is that you can’t promote someone into a group supervisor position or Hearings Office Director. This also applies to Field Offices. It is Agency wide. This comes from interpreting President Trump’s decision to put a freeze on hiring. That freeze also applies to promotions.

When Will A New Commissioner Be Nominated?

     The Baltimore Sun asks how long it will be before the new President nominates someone to become Commissioner of Social Security. Their answer, which is certainly true, is God only knows. My guess, which may be proven wrong any day now, is that it will be months and months before there's a nomination. Commissioners of Social Security have precious little discretion. It's not likely to be a priority to nominate someone.