H.R. 2792 Passes House

     From a press release:

On Thursday , September 28 , 2017, the House of Representatives approved by a vote of 224 to 171 an amended version of H.R. 2792 , a bill to cut off Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits entirely for certain people with disabilities, as well as seniors. The proposed cut would bar payment of SSI benefits to people with an outstanding arrest warrant for an alleged felony or for an alleged violation of probation or parole. 

H.R. 2792 would revive an old, failed policy that had catastrophic effects for many people with disabilities and seniors, employing procedures that did not withstand judicial scrutiny. This proposal would not help law enforcement secure arrests. The Social Security Act already prohibits payments to people fleeing from law enforcement to avoid prosecution or imprisonment. ...

Based on prior experience with SSA’s failed former policy, the people who would be affected are those whose cases are inactive and whom law enforcement is not pursuing. Most of the warrants in question are decades old and involve minor infractions, including warrants routinely issued when a person was unable to pay a fine or court fee, or a probation supervision fee. Many people are not even aware that a warrant was issued for them, as warrants are often not served on the individual. Some people will be swept up as a result of mistaken identity, or paperwork errors, which can take months or even years to resolve. ...

Do Medical Marijuana Laws Increase Disability Benefits Claiming?

     From the abstract of The Impact Of State Medical Marijuana Laws On Social Security Disability Insurance And Workers' Compensation Benefit Claiming by Johanna Catherine Maclean, Keshar M. Ghimire and Lauren Hersch Nicholas:

We study the effect of state medical marijuana laws (MMLs) on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Workers' Compensation (WC) claiming. We use data on benefit claiming drawn from the 1990 to 2013 Current Population Survey coupled with a differences-in- differences design. We find that passage of an MML increases SSDI, but not WC, claiming on both the intensive and extensive margins. Post-MML the propensity to claim SSDI increases by 0.27 percentage points (9.9%) and SSDI benefits increase by 2.6%. ...

     A few words of caution in interpreting this:

• The Social Security Act forbids granting disability benefits on the basis of substance abuse disorders, a point which the authors of this study seem not to understand.
• The effect found is small and could have other causes.
• If there is an effect, it may be a little less direct than the authors (who are economists) think. My guess is that if there is an effect, it would be because marijuana lessens the effectiveness of medications given for mental health problems such as bipolar disorder.

Huge Layoffs At Binder And Binder

     From Newsday:

Binder & Binder plans to lay off 100 of the 147 employees at its Hauppauge headquarters, a state regulatory filing says. ...

The layoffs are planned for Dec. 11.

In addition, Binder & Binder plans to close its Long Island City, Queens, office and lay off all 90 employees, also on Dec. 11, a separate WARN notice says....

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

     Social Security has been working on the Disability Case Processing System (DPCS) for some time now. It's a major project to develop a common computer system for disability determination at least at the initial and reconsideration levels. They're already spent $64.8 million on the project. Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a report on the progress of the DCPS project. So far, Social Security has only been able to process 1,665 cases using the system. They report that the staff members who have used DCPS seems happy with it. The agency plans plan a widespread rollout by January 2018 and a complete rollout by April 2018.

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. ..