Official Notice On Telephone Hearings Through August

     I received this e-mail message from Social Security today:

SSA Attorneys and Representatives:

We would like to inform you that we are scheduling telephonic hearings only through the month of August due to COVID-19 related concerns.  Furthermore, our schedulers will now need confirmation first if a claimant (or their representative acting on his/her behalf) voluntarily accepts a telephone hearing before scheduling and releasing any notice of hearing for the months of July and August. 

For this reason, we highly recommend that representatives check their ERE status report for any cases currently scheduled in July, as well as cases in “ready to schedule” status, and begin confirming as soon as possible with your claimants whether they voluntarily accept a telephonic hearing.  Please know that our schedulers are currently contacting your offices primarily by telephone in order to confirm whether the claimant voluntarily accepts a telephonic hearing and to schedule the cases for hearing.  Therefore, knowing this information beforehand will assist with a more expeditious and efficient scheduling experience when we contact your office. At the bottom of this email are ERE status report instructions for any firms that are new on our mailing list.  We also have a representative ERE/ARS guide that we can furnish upon request. 

Likewise, our schedulers will also need confirmation if your claimant decides instead they decline a telephonic hearing so that we may proceed with postponing their case if it was previously scheduled for July, and/or refrain from scheduling their case for August, or until in-person hearings resume.

In the alternative, we are also accepting “blanket” declinations or acceptances from SSA attorneys and representatives, should this be an option you voluntarily wish to consider. 

We are also working on alternative ways of communicating and submitting information for these purposes.  As we receive additional scheduling updates that affect Georgia and North Carolina offices, we will forward them to the representative community. 

Pease (sic) note that our unit was under a “freeze” from all scheduling activities until recently.  Accordingly, we are still working on updating and responding to emails previously sent to our representative box.  Furthermore, please be advised that our unit is only handling confirming telephonic hearings for cases previously scheduled in July and/or “ready to schedule” cases that we can potentially schedule for the August docket.   All matters for cases scheduled from April through June are being handled by the local hearing office at this time. ...

Does It Sound Like She's Describing Social Security Disability?

      From an interview with Pamela Herd, a public policy professor at Georgetown University and the co-author of Administrative Burdens: Policymaking by Other Means, conducted by Sean Illing for Vox:

... Pamela Herd

... Most of our social welfare policies are designed in such a way where they’re a lot more concerned about preventing people who aren’t eligible from accessing benefits than ensuring that those who are eligible actually receive them. We’re fixated on fraud and abuse, which is extremely low in social welfare programs — something like 1 to 2 percent of cases. And even then, it’s not what people mean when they think of “fraud and abuse.” It’s mostly people making mistakes because they didn’t understand eligibility rules.

The problem with this unjustified obsession with fraud and abuse is that it means 20 to 30 percent of people are unable to access these programs even when they’re clearly eligible for them, because they’ve created all these administrative burdens designed to target people they don’t want on the programs. So it’s a huge disconnect in terms of trying to meet the broader goals of these programs. ...

I want to push a little on this point because I don’t think a lot of people who claim to be concerned about fraud and abuse are really concerned about fraud and abuse. As far as I can tell, this is about trumping us these accusations in order to undermine programs they fundamentally don’t believe in, just as a lot of Republicans disingenuously complain about voting fraud as a cover for depressing voting numbers.

Pamela Herd

You’re right about that. Partly, this is a way conservatives justify the use of administrative burdens. They make these sorts of arguments all the time, whether it’s about voting or social welfare programs. The pretense is always about preventing fraud and abuse. But think about a program like SNAP, or food stamps. The goal of that program was to prevent hunger, was to ensure people had adequate nutrition. If you think about that goal and you realize the way that you’re running that program means that 20 percent of people eligible for that benefit aren’t getting that help that they really need, then you’re fundamentally undermining these programmatic goals. You’re allowing all those people to go hungry. ...

Sean Illing

What are the simplest, most effective things we could do to improve this process right now for people in need?

Pamela Herd

There are technocratic things like requiring state governments and the federal government to quantify how many people who are eligible for benefits aren’t getting them. Right now they’re required to report on fraud and abuse, but they should also be required to report how many people they’re failing to reach. This would be a good start....

Phone Hearings For How Much Longer?

     I am hearing varying reports on how much longer that Social Security expects to be offering only telephone hearings to Social Security disability claimants who appeal and ask for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. I'm sure it will be phone hearings only through June but some hearing offices are telling attorneys that it will only be phone hearings through August. Has there been an official decision, especially one reduced to writing? None of us can say for sure but it looks more than possible that most Social Security employees will be back in their offices before August. No in person hearings even after employees are back at their desks suggests that field offices won't be open to the public either.

Field Office Closures Hurt

     From WWLP:

Fred Hall told Border Report he walked more than 14 blocks to get to the Social Security Administration office in Downtown San Diego trying to take care of “important Social Security business.” 

When he finally got there, he was turned away by a locked door adding to his frustrations of trying to get a hold of someone inside. ... 

“My phone is dead, I can’t get a phone to report that my phone is dead, I can’t go to the library to use the internet because the library is closed, the senior centers are closed, I just can’t get any help,” Hall said. ... 

It appears seniors like Hall, have become victims of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. While talking to him, at least two other senior citizens walked up to the office without getting inside or finding anyone to help them. ...

More On Stimulus Payments To SSI Recipients

     Last night Social Security sent out a press release saying SSI recipients have to May 5 to file “tax returns” in order for their minor children to get economic stimulus payments.

     Let me be clear. The U.S. Treasury is responsible for making these payments. They’re the ones making a mess of this. If there is another round of payments maybe Treasury will have its act together but my thought is that the Social Security Administration may need to detail some employees to help them out. Social Security has been using databases since the 1930s. Yes, they existed back then in a primitive form. There’s probably no other government agency with Social Security’s experience with databases. Treasury was so pathetic that they didn’t even do a match with the Death Master File before sending out payments! They need help.

So, What's It Like Working From Home Every Day?

     Ready to get back in the office again? How's your productivity? What are the problems? What does Social Security need to do differently?

Union Argues For Increased Telework But Is The Argument Founded In Reality?

     Ralph de Juliis, the head of the union that represents most Social Security employees, has penned an op ed in the Baltimore Sun calling for Social Security to continue extensive telework even after the end of the Covid-19 emergency. He says:

... Social Security employees have found that not only are they able to efficiently work from home, they can provide an even better public service in a time of increased uncertainty. Before the implementation of telework, our field office employees had a 70% response rate to claimants, a rate that has increased to 95% in our remote work world. ...

     What does a 95% response rate mean? Field office service during this emergency has been better than I expected but I certainly haven't seen improvement over the baseline.

     He also says:

.....We also propose allowing employees in our telecommunication centers to work 100% remotely. The work of our telecommunications professionals already takes place over the phone, and we saw an increase in productivity among these employees during our 2013-2019 telework program. ...

     Yet, Social Security is reporting that the wait time for its 800 number went up to 90 minutes after telework was resumed! That does not sound like an increase in productivity.

ALJ Union Sues

     The union representing Social Security's Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) has filed a lawsuit challenging the authority of the Federal Service Impasses Panel that imposed a harsh contract on its members. The suit is a constitutional challenge to the fact that Impasses Panel members are not confirmed by the Senate. This is likely to still be pending come next January 20 when it is possible that Joe Biden will be sworn in as President. This is going to be a frequent theme on this blog. Lawsuits filed in the hope that a new President will settle the case in a way which overturns decisions made during the Trump Administration.