Happy Thanksgiving

Can't Understand Social Security Notices? Here's Where You Complain

     From the Social Security Administration's 2018 Plain Writing Act compliance report:

It is our goal to improve the way we communicate with the public in a clear, organized way. We encourage members of the public and employees to make comments and suggestions at PlainWriting@ssa.gov. We make every effort to respond to all emails within one business day.

Expiration Date Of Five Listings Extended

     Social Security has published notice that it is extending the expiration dates of five Listings: Musculoskeletal System, Cardiovascular System, Digestive System, Skin Disorders, and Immune System Disorders. No change was made in any of the Listings.

Proposed Regs On Advance Designation Of Rep Payee

     From a notice from the Social Security Administration that will appear in tomorrow's Federal Register:

The Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018(Strengthening Protections Act)requires us to promulgate regulations specifying the information Social Security beneficiaries and applicants must provide to designate a representative payee in advance of our determination that the beneficiary needs a representative payee.We propose to revise our rules to satisfy this requirement,and to specify that we will allow individuals to designate in advance one or more potential representative payees. We also explain how we propose to consider an individual’s advance designation when we select a representative payee.

How Much Of A Penalty For Early Retirement And How Much Of A Reward For Late Retirement?

     From Are Social Security’s Actuarial Adjustments Still Correct? by Alicia Munnell and Anqi Chen of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:

• People can claim Social Security from 62 to 70, with adjustments to keep lifetime benefits the same, on average, regardless of claiming age.
• The question is whether the adjustments, set decades ago, are still correct, given the decline in interest rates and increase in life expectancy.
• For the average worker, the analysis shows that the reduction for claiming early is currently too large while the increase for claiming late is about right.
• Higher earners – who live longer and claim later – get a really good deal under the current system.

     This is asking questions that have not been asked in quite some time. The study suggests lowering the early retirement penalty which might increase the already high rate of early retirement as well as decrease the viability of the retirement trust fund if not accompanied by an increase in revenues. I doubt that's happening.

Social Security Scam Calls Skyrocket

     From Business Wire:

Social Security imposter calls are now the top phone scam in the U.S., making up nearly 10% of all consumer phone complaints registered in BeenVerified’s Spam Call Complaint Monitor. The report, which analyzed more than 200,000 phone calls from 2016 - 2019, noted that Social Security scam calls have skyrocketed in 2019, a 23-fold increase over the same period in 2018. ...

Ways And Means Subcommittee Chairs Object To Ending Telework

     From a press release:

Today, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson (CT-01), House Appropriations Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Subcommittee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), House Ways and Means Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny K. Davis (IL-07), and House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis (GA-05) sent a letter to Andrew Saul, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), to request transparency and more information after SSA abruptly ended a pilot telework program.

“SSA’s Operations division initiated the Telework Pilot in 2013 and has expanded the pilot significantly over the years. Today, roughly one-quarter of SSA Operations staff or 12,000 employees telework between one and two days per week…. While the SSA Operations Telework Pilot has existed for nearly six years, SSA apparently did not adequately evaluate the pilot and has not articulated its future plans for telework. Management’s failure to properly evaluate telework performance metrics while it was in a pilot phase should not be the rationale for suspending telework in its entirety,”

     Just a thought. You know these Subcommittees could hold oversight hearings. There are many other issues at Social Security that go well beyond telework.

Ten Years In Prison For Sending Bombs

     A Texas woman has been sentenced to ten years in prison for sending bombs to the President, the Governor of Texas and the Acting Commissioner of Social Security.