The Emerging Republican Position: Increase Social Security Benefits Just A Little

     From Forbes:

Increasing Social Security benefits for widows can get enough support from both parties in Congress to become law, House Ways & Means Committee Social Security Subcommittee lead Republican Tom Reed said Wednesday.  

Stressing the need for an increase at a subcommittee hearing, the New York Congressman said the current system risks putting new widows in poverty by cutting their families’ Social Security payments by a third to a half. 

“Increasing the Social Security survivor’s benefit to 75 percent of the couple’s prior benefit could prevent hardship at a reasonable cost to the program,” said conservative think tank retirement expert Andrew Biggs. ...

     The Democratic proposal is for a general increase in benefits.  Their bill would also increase taxes.

That Trump Budget Proposal

     From Michael Hiltzik writing for the Los Angeles Times:

Much of the news coverage of President Trump’s proposed 2020 budget, which was released Monday, focuses on two aspects.

One: It’s just a PR exercise, since presidential budgets never get enacted. Two: Trump’s demand for $8.6 billion to build his border wall sets up a new conflict with Congress and maybe another government shutdown.

What shouldn’t fly under the radar, however, are the huge cuts to social safety net programs embedded in the document’s 150 appalling pages. These include drastic reductions in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—which Trump always promised to protect from any cuts—and to food stamps, housing assistance and family assistance. ...

Trump would gut the nation’s disability programs by $84 billion. At least $10 billion of that would come from Social Security disability through changes in eligibility rules. Another $400 million would come out of the Social Security Administration’s administrative budget, which is already strapped for cash, in the next year alone. Beneficiaries could expect more busy signals on the phone lines and longer waits at Social Security offices. ...

Trump Budget Fantasy Released

     The Trump budget proposal for fiscal year 2020 is out. Overall, the budget proposes a 3.5% cut in administrative funding. Considering inflation, that would be a cut of more than 5% in rel dollar terms. That would undoubtedly lead to a significant reduction in force.
     Below are the primary proposals for Social Security. Click on each to view full size.

     Remember that appropriations must be passed by the House of Representatives which is controlled by Democrats. This budget is only a wish list that may have little to do with what actually gets passed.

White House Wants Social Security To Snoop On Disability Claimants' Social Media Posts

Brian C. Blase

     From the New York Times:

If you’re on federal disability payments and on social media, be careful what you post. Uncle Sam wants to watch.

The Trump administration has been quietly working on a proposal to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to help identify people who claim Social Security disability benefits without actually being disabled. If, for example, a person claimed benefits because of a back injury but was shown playing golf in a photograph posted on Facebook, that could be used as evidence that the injury was not disabling. ...

In its budget request to Congress last year, Social Security said it would study whether to expand the use of social media networks in disability determinations as a way to “increase program integrity and expedite the identification of fraud.”

Since then, administration officials said, the White House has been actively working with Social Security to flesh out the proposal, in the belief that social media could be a treasure trove of information about people who are applying for or receiving disability benefits.

Some members of Congress, like Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, and some conservative organizations, like the Heritage Foundation in Washington, have supported the idea as part of a broader effort to prevent the payment of disability benefits to people who are able to work. ...

Brian C. Blase, a special assistant to the president for economic policy, has been coordinating development of the new proposals on Social Security. In 2014, Mr. Blase provided the staff work for a subcommittee investigation of the disability program led by Mr. Lankford, who was then a member of the House. Soon after he got to the Senate, Mr. Lankford proposed legislation to expand the use of “evidence obtained from publicly available social media.” ...

The Trump administration contends that it could authorize greater use of social media by regulation, without action by Congress. Under pressure from the White House, Social Security has drafted a timeline that envisions publication of a final rule in the spring of 2020.

Michael J. Astrue, the last Senate-confirmed Social Security commissioner, has expressed misgivings about the idea.

“Social media sites are not exactly clear and reliable evidence,” Mr. Astrue, who stepped down six years ago, said at a Senate hearing in 2012. “Facebook puts up phony websites under my name all the time.”

That, he said, is “why you need professionally trained fraud investigators” to evaluate the information. ...

The program has been “riddled with problems, including fraud and abuse,” said Rachel Greszler, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. When people who can work collect benefits, she said, “it drains the system for those who truly cannot work and support themselves.” ...

Social Security officials are considering other changes that could make it more difficult for people to qualify for benefits.

They are working with the White House to overhaul the way Social Security weighs various “vocational factors” — age, education and job experience — in deciding whether a person is able to work. ...

‘New York Post’ Publishes Report Exposing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 9-Figure Social Security Number

  Headline in The Onion

CCD Issues Position Paper On DDS Reform

     The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) is a large umbrella group lobbying and advocating in D.C. for persons with disabilities. The CCD is composed of about 100 organizations helping the disabled population. The CCD was largely ignored when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. It becomes more important now that Democrats control the House of Representatives. 

     The CCD has put out a statement on Improving Decision Making at the Disability Determination Services. Here are a few excerpts:

... It is the position of the CCD Social Security Task Force that the state Disability Determination Services (DDS) should only review a claim one time and that the current second level of review they perform, called reconsideration, be eliminated. ...

Although the Task Force does not have a specific recommendation regarding what performance metrics should be for DDS employees, it is the Task Force position that the completeness of the file upon which the decision is based should somehow be included in those metrics. ...

[Social Security should] Consider creating impairment specific explanations and forms that claimants can provide to their physician and other treating sources outlining what information is most helpful to SSA in evaluating the claim and including the types of tests which help establish meeting the listing in question. ...

SSA should review more denials of initial claims. TDRs [Targeted Denial Reviews] allow SSA’s Office of Quality Review (OQR) to examine unfavorable decisions of disability claims issued by state agencies. Fewer than 3 percent of initial level denials receive TDRs; the number performed varies each year based on resources available to the agency. In comparison, Sections 221 (c) and 1633 (e) of the Social Security Act require SSA to review at least half of the favorable decisions issued by state agencies. ...

Two Congressional Hearings Next Week

     The House Social Security Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing for March 12 on Protecting and Enhancing Social Security: Enhancing Social Security To Strengthen The Middle Class. The Subcommittee hasn't yet posted it but the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) says the Subcommittee has another hearing scheduled for the following day on  Protecting and Enhancing Social Security: Benefit Enhancements.

OIG Seeking More Help

     Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) seeking a contractor to help do investigations of alleged fraud in the Chicago area. This isn't just office work. They want the contractor to provide employees who have concealed carry permits. 

     OIG agents plus contracts with local law enforcement aren't enough? You get the feeling that OIG is rolling in dough while the rest of the agency is starving.