Video CEs

     Social Security has now issued new instructions to allow for video consultative examinations of disability claimants but only by psychiatrists and psychologists. 

     I'm not seeing any physical consultative examinations locally. Are any going on elsewhere? Is there a plan for this other than to hold cases indefinitely?

Lawsuit Over Wet Signature Requirement

     From a press release:

Timothy Cole is being treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. His treatment leaves him immunocompromised and unable to work, and places him at additional risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. He needs to apply for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the safest way to do so would be to fill out the application online at his home in Jacksonville, Florida. Because he is immunocompromised, leaving his home or interacting with paper mail is dangerous for Mr. Cole. But since he plans to hire an attorney to help with the complex application process, he cannot submit his application online because applicants using authorized representatives, like attorneys, must sign a paper copy of their application. This is true even though SSA has an online application and electronic signatures are accessible, secure, and federally approved.

Mr. Cole and three other plaintiffs, along with the National Federation of the Blind, are suing the Social Security Administration in federal court. They seek a court order requiring SSA to allow e-signatures on applications rather than requiring a "wet-ink" signature when the applicant is using an attorney or other authorized representative. SSA does not require wet-ink signatures for applications for some benefits when an authorized representative is not being used by the applicant. The suit contends that the requirement has always been discriminatory, but during the COVID-19 pandemic it also endangers the health and even the lives of applicants, as even SSA has recognized in quarantining its own mail for two days and shutting down its field offices. ...

11% Reduction In Backlog Of Pending Cases?

     From National Public Radio:

... Social Security field offices are closed. But the shutdown hasn't stopped the agency from processing claims for new benefits and appeals of benefit denials. And according to statistics that the SSA sent its workers, the agency has been doing so at a faster pace than before. ...

According to [Ralph] deJuliis [head of the union that represents most Social Security employees], the SSA has found that its backlog of pending cases has fallen by 11% since March 23, when the agency instituted wide-scale telework, and that calls from recipients are answered more quickly. ...

     Exactly which backlog of pending cases is it that's fallen by 11% since March 23? There are many backlogs at Social Security and they certainly haven't all dropped by 11% in less than a month and a half. I'd love to see those statistics that Social Security sent its employees.

Emergency Paid Leave Not Yet Available At SSA

     From Federal News Network:

Employees at the Social Security Administration say the agency hasn’t yet made emergency paid sick leave available to them, despite a congressionally-mandated implementation date and assurances from its payroll provider that its customers can, in fact, access these new benefits.

Under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA), all federal employees are eligible for up to 80 hours of emergency paid sick leave if they meet certain coronavirus-related circumstances. Congress included emergency paid sick leave in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which the president signed into law March 18.

Under the law, employees had access to the emergency paid sick leave starting April 1, and the benefits are available through Dec. 31, 2020.

But SSA employees and the unions that represent them say the agency hasn’t explained when they’ll be able to formally request and use emergency paid sick leave benefits under the new law. 

“We are working with our payroll provider on implementation of this new legislation and the associated leave balance,” an SSA spokesman wrote in an email to Federal News Network. “In the meantime, employees may continue to take personal leave or request advanced leave when necessary. Additionally, the leave from this legislation may be applied retroactively or used for future needs.” ...

A Question

     A question for those representing Social Security claimants or for employees of Social Security's Office of Hearings Operations (OHO): 

Claimant already has a hearing scheduled for July or August of this year but the hearing office is notified that the claimant declines a telephone hearing. Does OHO just cancel the hearing or leave it on the schedule hoping that by then they can do an in person hearing?

Senator Smith And Representative Craig Provide Leadership

     You may have wondered whether anyone in Congress is trying to do something to make sure that the dependents of Social Security beneficiaries receive economic stimulus payments. There are ongoing efforts. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) and Representative Angie Craig (D-MN02) are leading the way. I wish there were more followers.

Rep Payees And Stimulus Payments

     When a person is receiving Social Security benefits through a representative payee their economic stimulus payment is being sent to the bank account of their representative payee because that’s the only bank account information Social Security has to give the Department of the Treasury. Social Security has now announced that it isn’t responsible for making sure the money is spent in the interests of the person it is intended for. Apparently, no agency is.

I Doubt This Is More Than A Localized Or Even An Individual Problem

     From a local television station that prefers to hide its call letters:

A local veteran, fighting for disability benefits, says he should have an answer in his case by now. In fact, he's already waited the three months they told him it would take. ... 

Alvie Roach says he has been working for just shy of seven years to file and appeal his disability claims. ...

He had his last hearing in early January, well before COVID-19 closures were put into place. His decision expected within three months. ...

But now were hitting almost four months of waiting, and still no word on that decision. Alvie says when he tried to investigate with the his lawyer's help, he found the judge actually filed a decision the day after his hearing. So, why won't anyone tell him what happened. ...

      I have not seen or heard of increased delays in getting out decisions after hearings so I expect this is at most a localized problem. Decision writing is the part of the process that's least likely to be delayed because of working at home. 

     I don't think the judge "filed" the decision the day after the hearing. More likely the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) put it in a decision writing queue and there's some delay there. While the ALJ may have made up his or her mind, nothing is cast in stone until the final sign off. Sometimes, perhaps not often enough, a decision writer gets back to the ALJ basically to ask "Are you sure about this?" Sometimes the ALJ changes his or her mind. Some delay on this account isn't necessarily a bad thing. My experience is that a little unexpected delay is a bad sign. The claimant is likely to be denied. A lot of unexpected delay, on the other hand, is either a neutral sign or perhaps even a favorable sign. I hold my breath in these cases.

     Also, the seven years part is unusual. The most common explanation when that happens is that the claimant failed to appeal an unfavorable decision and then let years elapse before filing a new claim. There are very few cases which are aggressively pursued for seven years. I've had some but not many.