Only Limited Service Available

     Social Security has updated its Covid-19 webpage to include a statement that "During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are dedicating available staff to serve people in most critical need of our services." Also, "Our 800# agents can assist with limited transactions and are focused on helping those people most in need."

$300 Million More For Social Security?

     From Fedscoop (emphasis added):

... House appropriators are prepared to give federal agencies more IT funding than the White House is seeking to meet the unprecedented demand from teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A House emergency appropriations bill released Monday would increase much of the technology spending the Office of Management and Budget had initially requested in a memo on March 17. The $2.5 trillion legislation, intended to bolster the wavering U.S. economy, differs from the package that Senate Democrats and Trump administration officials have been negotiating, but it’s possible the House proposal could influence that bill. ...

The Social Security Administration would have $300 million of coronavirus-related impact relief, including teleworking, “phone communications services” and overtime pay. ...

Are Law Firm Scanning Personnel Essential Under A Stay At Home Order?

     My firm has employees of a legal staffing agency doing onsite scanning for us. The staffing agency says they are hearing that those doing scanning have been considered essential personnel and exempt from stay at home orders in other states. We are expecting a stay at home order in the near future. Has anyone already under a stay at home order faced this issue? Were scanning personnel considered essential and exempted from the stay at home order?

Major New POMS Section On Representation Of Claimants

     Social Security has added a new section to its POMS manual on representation of claimants. I'm not sure how much is new. Here are a few things I noticed on a quick read through:

... [A]n appointed representative may not: 

• sign an application on behalf of the claimant. ...

An appointed representative cannot delegate to an associate the performance of tasks that require taking legally significant actions about the claimant's case such as: 

• appearing at a hearing and presenting the claimant's case in proceedings before us ...

A claimant must sign a written notice of appointment.

The claimant's signature must be in ink. We do not accept signatures generated from electronic software programs (e.g., DocuSign or HelloSign) or rubber-stamped signatures from claimants on written notices of appointment. [Problematic at this time]

Return a notice of appointment if the claimant's signature is electronic. ...

The following individuals cannot appoint or revoke a representative on behalf of a claimant:

the representative payee ...

If a claimant dies before we complete action in a pending claim, matter, or issue, the representative's appointment continues until it is ended by one of the events listed in GN 03910.060B.

Should Social Security Be Expecting A Tsunami Of Disability Claims?

     If you believe that the number of Social Security disability claims filed is a function of the unemployment rate shouldn't you be expecting a tsunami of disability claims right now as the unemployment rate soars, perhaps to greater than 20%? If you're the Commissioner of Social Security shouldn't you be urgently seeking a huge special appropriation to deal with this?
     By the way, at least at my firm, the number of phone calls from new prospective clients isn't going up since Covid-19 exploded. The number is actually down.

A Little Update On What's Going On In SSA Land

     From Government Executive:

Amid growing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, the Social Security Administration’s ongoing saga over telework has reached some finality this week.  ...

SSA’s Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) will shift to full-time telework this week, he said.

Some employees in SSA’s payment service centers began full-time telework last Thursday or Friday. Others in the agency’s tele-service centers already have or will begin telework Monday, said Rich Couture, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 215....

Employees at SSA headquarters and other regional operations offices are also teleworking, Couture said.

SSA did not respond to multiple requests for comment. ...

Couture said SSA didn’t yet have enough “soft phones,” the special systems that tele-service center employees need to connect into the agency’s phone network and remotely handle their work.

The agency will also roll out some new technology in the coming week, which will allow OHO employees to remotely assist and cover hearings done over the phone, Couture said. ...

The agency is planning to first ask SSA supervisors to come into the office to handle some tasks that can’t be handled remotely, Couture said. ...

The Crooks Don't Let Up

     From a press release:

The Inspector General of Social Security, Gail S. Ennis, is warning the public about fraudulent letters threatening suspension of Social Security benefits due to COVID-19 or coronavirus-related office closures. The Social Security Administration (SSA) will not suspend or discontinue benefits because their offices are closed.  

The Social Security Office of the Inspector General has received reports that Social Security beneficiaries have received letters through the U.S. Mail stating their payments will be suspended or discontinued unless they call a phone number referenced in the letter. Scammers may then mislead beneficiaries into providing personal information or payment via retail gift cards, wire transfers, internet currency, or by mailing cash, to maintain regular benefit payments during this period of COVID-19 office closures. 

Some Things I'm Hearing About SSA And Covid-19

     Here are some things I'm hearing about Social Security's response to Covid-19, as well as some things I'm wondering about:

• It will be possible for Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) to do hearings from their homes. Everyone will have to be connected through the hearing office, however. This requires someone to be at the hearing office to initiate and end the recording process.
• ALJ hearings will only be conducted between 8:30 and 2:00. I guess they want to cut down on the amount of time someone has to spend at the hearing office initiating recordings?
• Snail mail and faxes may be a problem at field offices. The field offices do not have e-fax capacity. The plan is for someone, probably a management person, to go to each field office each day to handle the snail mail and faxes.
• I haven't heard what will be done about snail mail and faxes at the hearings offices but expect the same problem there. For that matter, I expect the same problem at the payment centers but on a much larger scale.
• A White House memorandum says that "It is recommended that agencies identify any impediments to using digital signatures, and remove those impediments, consistent with applicable law." Does this mean that attorneys can now submit appointment of representative and fee agreement forms that have been signed electronically?
• Disability Determination Services (DDS), being state agencies, have differing setups as far as allowing employees to work from home. My state, North Carolina, has no capacity for employees to work from home. Other states have full capacity. North Carolina DDS has tried to solve this problem by switching to two shifts in order to allow more distance between employees at their cubicle farm. Of course, this won't work if we get a stay at home order.
• There are already some physicians who have been doing consultative examinations for DDS who don't want to continue doing them due to Covid-19. This may become a serious impediment.
• I have heard nothing about Social Security's centralized printing operation. Keeping that going has to be a priority but can they?