2.8% COLA

     As predicted Social Security's Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for this year is 2.8%.

Proposed Regs On Rep Payees

     The Social Security Administration has published proposed regulations to implement legislation passed in August that prohibits persons convicted of certain criminal offenses from serving as a representative payee in certain circumstances. I hope there's enough discretion remaining in this proposal. Certainly, there are rep payees who rip off Social Security beneficiaries but the biggest problem I've seen has been a lack of anyone willing or able to be a rep payee. Blanket disqualifications may exclude trustworthy people. It's possible to commit a crime, be convicted, serve your time and then get out and live an honorable life.

Waiting In Topeka

     From the Topeka Capital-Journal:

The average time to process a claim for Kansans with disabilities jumped this fiscal year, despite millions of dollars invested into the Social Security system to address an issue one official called “inhumane” and “unacceptable.”

Mike Stein, assistant vice president of operations strategy and planning for TrueHelp, said he has “a lot of words” about what people face who are unable to work and whose lives may be destroyed as they await a decision from Social Security on whether they deserve disability benefits. An average disability check is $1,197 per month, he said.

“Every month that goes by when that person who is simply asking for a benefit that they paid for during their working years doesn’t seem fair,” he said. “All that while, they might not be able to afford their medications or regular treatment on top of the other financial stresses. Their condition probably is going to get worse because of their financial strain. They were prescribed one pill a day, and they take a half a pill a day because of cost.” ...

"A lot of damage gets done when someone can no longer work,” he said. “We see the physical ailment turn into a mental ailment at times. The depression from losing a big part of one’s identity. Neighbors looking at you. A lot of pressure, all the way you’re waiting on Social Security. We hear the stories of them taking out loans, losing the house, the spouse has to get another job. These are not outlier stories.”

Fraud Alert

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 9, 2018

The Acting Inspector General of Social Security, Gale Stallworth Stone, is warning citizens about an ongoing Office of the Inspector General (OIG) impersonation scheme.  The OIG has recently received reports from citizens about suspicious phone calls claiming to be from the Acting Inspector General.

The reports indicate the caller identifies as “Gale Stone” and states the person’s Social Security number (SSN) is at risk of being deactivated or deleted.  The caller then asks the person to call a provided phone number to resolve the issue.  Citizens should be aware that the scheme’s details may vary; however, citizens should avoid engaging with the caller or calling the number provided, as the caller might attempt to acquire personal information.

The Acting Inspector General urges citizens to be cautious, and to avoid providing information such as your SSN or bank account numbers to unknown persons over the phone or internet unless you are certain of who is receiving it.  If you receive a suspicious call from someone alleging to be the Acting Inspector General or from the OIG, you should report that information to the OIG at 1-800-269-0271 or online via https://oig.ssa.gov/report.

See the full advisory at the OIG website.

Those Still Working Have A Lot Of Illusions About Retirement

     From the 2018 Retirement Confidence Survey (click on each image to view full size):

 

      Note in the first chart that 68% of those who haven't yet retired think that they will do some work in retirement but only 26% of retirees report that they are working. Note in the second chart the divergence between the age that people expect to retire -- 65 -- and the age at which they actually do retire -- 63.

OIG Report On Social Security's Nonwork Alien File

     From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General:    

The Social Security Administration (SSA ) issues nonwork SSNs to noncitizens who lack Department of Homeland Security (DHS) work authorization but have valid nonwork reasons for the SSNs [Social Security Numbers], such as to obtain a federally funded benefit that requires an SSN.

Section 414 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 requires that SSA provide DHS an electronic file, known as the Nonwork Alien File (NWALIEN ) that includes the SSNs, names, and addresses of noncitizens working with nonwork SSNs; the employer reporting the wages; and the earnings amount. Additionally, each year SSA is required to send a report to the Congress on the aggregate quantity of nonwork SSNs used to earn wages.

For Tax Years (TY) 2014 to 2016, SSA’s NWALIEN File included about 422,000 individuals who were assigned nonwork SSNs but earn ed about $50 billion in wages

In TY 1996, there were about 607,000 individuals working under nonwork SSNs. In TY 2016, that number decreased about 43 percent to 343,000 individuals. Further, about 80 percent of the employers in the NWALIEN files for TYs 2014 to 2016 may not have been aware their employees were not authorized to work because they had not registered to use E-Verify to confirm their employees’ employment eligibility. Moreover, since 2007, SSA was unable to provide the NWALIEN file to DHS because the data exchange agreement had expired and had not been renewed in 12 years.

Finally, based on our review of SSA’s records for two sample populations of individuals assigned nonwork SSNs with wages posted to the NWALIEN File for TYs 2014 to 2016, we estimate SSA

• erroneously placed 6,000 individuals on the NWALIEN file because staff did not update their work authorization status on the Numident when they provided the Agency with supporting evidence during the benefit claims process, and

• incorrectly assigned nonwork SSNs to 2,700 individuals who were U.S.-born citizens. ...

     This shows problems at Social Security but the bigger problem is employers not verifying authorization to work. If you're serious about reducing illegal immigration, you get serious about putting the burden on employers. Republicans want to build walls and punish immigrants but the more effective course, as well as the cheaper and more humane course, would be to concentrate on the employer side but Republicans don't want to restrict the supply of cheap labor or put additional burdens on employers. By the way, it may have sounded stupid when Mitt Romney talked about illegal immigrants self-deporting but he had a point. Make it nearly impossible for them to work in the U.S. and they go home.

A Professor Theorizes

     There’s a podcast out of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania about one professor’s theorizing about ways to convince people to work longer and delay starting their Social Security benefits. She wonders whether some lump sum bribe would work. 

     With fewer than 10% of people now waiting to age 67 to start drawing Social Security, I’m doubting this scheme would work. Health issues drive many, perhaps most, retirement decisions. People are much more into sufficing rather than maximizing income and wealth than this professor realizes. 

     Governments incentivize people to do some things and avoid doing others. This is an area where additional incentives seem over the top to me. Elderly poverty is certainly a problem but I don’t think this would be an appropriate or effective way of addressing the problem.

Minor But Interesting Development

     I'm noticing that some United States District Courts are now issuing opinions in adult Social Security cases which identify the plaintiff only by first name and last initial. It seems to be more than one Judge or District doing this. It’s being done to protect privacy. I'm sure that anyone who really wanted to could look in the Court's records and discover the real name. This would just protect privacy on Westlaw, the major online database of Court opinions. I just noticed it. I can't think it's been around long. It's not being done in any of the North Carolina Districts. Does anyone know where this started?