She Doesn't Have The Luxury Of Ignoring The Problem

     I'm unable to embed it here but television station WATE in Knoxville ran a long piece on a young woman whose Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits may be terminated. She has digestive problems. She says she needs to go to the bathroom too frequently to work. This sort of limitation is always ignored at the initial and reconsideration levels of review. Always. It's like the problem doesn't exist as far as Social Security is concerned. Unfortunately, this young woman can't ignore the problem.

Altman Appointed To SSAB

     From a press release:

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced that she will appoint Nancy Altman to the Social Security Advisory Board.  The Board is a bipartisan, independent federal government agency established to advise the President, the Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters of policy and administration of the Old-age, Survivors and Disability Insurance and the Supplemental Security Income programs. ...

Altman is the co-founder and president of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition and Social Security Works ...

Acting Commissioner's Message On Hurricane Maria

From: ^Commissioner Broadcast 

Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2017 3:15 PM
Subject: Hurricane Maria Update

A Message to All SSA and DDS Employees

Subject: Hurricane Maria Update

When Hurricane Maria swept across the Caribbean, it devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  We continue to work to account for our hundreds of employees in more than a dozen offices on these islands.  However, because communications are an ongoing issue, we still cannot reach about half of our offices or managers.  Please keep our colleagues in Operations, ODAR, the Puerto Rico DDS, OIG, and OGC in your thoughts and prayers.

All of our offices remain closed, severely impairing our ability to deliver service.  Limited power, spotty telecommunications, and extreme gas shortages will further impair recovery efforts.

On Friday, we put our Cycle 4 payments in the mail.  In Puerto Rico, the postal offices remain closed.  All payments destined for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will be sent via express mail as soon as the United States Postal Service can get a plane into San Juan.  The New York Region is prepared to send a team to Puerto Rico when it is safe to do so.

I will keep you updated on the status of our employees and offices in the affected areas.  Recovery efforts are just beginning, but know that we are doing everything possible to reach and account for all SSA staff and restore our critical services to those in need.

Nancy A. Berryhill

Acting Commissioner

The Disability Backlogs Are A Disgrace

     The Altoona Mirror editorializes on the awful Social Security disability backlogs:

... [T]his nation, which, for the most part, prides itself on being compassionate, has, for the past half-decade, been guilty of an increasingly terrible disservice to individuals dealing with disabling physical and mental conditions. ..

Off Topic But I Hope I'll Help Somebody

     I'm going to succumb to the temptation of playing amateur physician and give readers a little advice that only a very few of you need. If you've got hidradenitis suppurtiva, see a dermatologist.

     First, I need to explain what hidradenitis suppurtiva is, since if you already know that you have it, you're probably already seeing a dermatologist. Hidradenitis suppurtiva is a skin condition that causes severe recurrent boils in the arm pits and groin areas. It's extremely painful. It can absolutely be disabling. It's just a matter of how frequently you get the boils and how long they last. (No, thank goodness, I'm not talking from personal experience. I've just heard enough about it from my clients, including one I saw recently.)  Most people who have hidradenitis suppurtiva don't get referred to a dermatologist because they don't get diagnosed. They keep going to general surgeons who keep treating the disease as a series of individual boils to be drained or excised rather than as a dermatological problem to be managed with medication. Almost every time I see a client with this problem I have to refer him or her to a dermatologist. Dermatologist do a better job of managing the problem than surgeons.

     Your first impulse on considering this may be that a skin condition couldn't possibly be disabling. Your second impulse is probably that if a skin condition is disabling, it must be an awful disease to have. Your second impulse is the correct one. Hidradenitis suppurtiva is a really nasty skin problem. There are other really nasty disabling skin problems. You don't want to be on disability for any of them.

     By the way, you might be surprised how often these cases come up before Social Security Administrative Law Judges. The incidence rate of this disease may be as high as 4% of the adult population so it's not rare. Statistically, it's almost a certainty that there will be at least on reader of this blog who has an undiagnosed case of hidradenitis suppurtiva. Of course, not everyone with hidradenitis suppurtiva is disabled by it. There are mild cases and there are severe cases. It's only the extremely severe cases that lead to disability claims.

And I'd Like To Have Flying Monkeys At My Disposal

     From a contracting notice posted by the Social Security Administration:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is conducting market research/sources sought to help determine the availability and technical capability of qualified businesses providing an artificial intelligence interface that can provide customer service in a conversational manner. This is not a request for quotations or proposals, and we do not guarantee the issuance of a solicitation as a result of this notice. We will use the information we obtained from this research for planning purposes only. ... 

This technology should be capable of undergoing both supervised and unsupervised learning for continuously improving its support capability. The technology should be able to remember actions and contextual details during conversations, and leverage the captured information for suitable responses to other users, as appropriate. ...

The new technology cannot require extensive training for proficiency. It must provide flexibility in offering technicians with a broad range of skillsets the opportunity to successfully share and complete tasks for the public. 

This technology should support seamless transition of conversation history of authenticated users across channels and sessions. ...

Online Social Security Fraud Decreasing

     From Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):

... [I]n 2012, SSA implemented my Social Security, an internet portal that allows people to create a personal online account to access their Social Security information. In January 2013, SSA enhanced my Social Security to allow beneficiaries to change their direct deposit bank information. The innovation was helpful for SSA and beneficiaries alike; however, soon after SSA added the direct deposit function, the agency began to receive reports of misdirected benefits due to unauthorized direct deposit changes in my Social Security....

To address this issue, SSA said it would strengthen controls over my Social Security accounts to address fraud and improve service to beneficiaries. ...

Our auditors followed-up on this issue in a recent report, and they estimated the amount of misdirected benefit payments from 2014 to 2016 was considerably less than it was in 2013. ...

Hurricanes May Increase Social Security COLA

     From The Motley Fool:

... Unquestionably, these hurricanes were respective disasters for Texas and Florida, and it's going to take months for some individuals and families to get their lives back together. ... 

But the more immediate impact from the U.S. being hit with this double-whammy is that it's pushed crude oil prices, and thusly prices at the pump, higher. ... 

More importantly, per the BLS' August report that was released last week, the CPI-W increased to 1.9% on an annualized basis from the 1.6% reported in the previous month. This implies that Social Security beneficiaries are in line for a larger benefit increase in 2018 than was expected just a month or two ago. ...