Dec 23, 2020
Dec 22, 2020
0.5% Increase In Social Security's Operating Budget
The huge appropriations/stimulus bill that was just passed by Congress and which should soon be signed by the President includes a $12.9 billion appropriation for Social Security's administrative expenses, an increase of $67 million or 0.5% from the last fiscal year.
Update: I've corrected the math error. It's not a 5% increase, but a 0.5% increase. There's a reason I'm a lawyer and not an engineer!
Dec 21, 2020
What's Going On With The Puerto Rico SSI Case?
In
U.S. v. Vaello-Madero the First Circuit Court of Appeals held that it is unconstitutional to deny SSI benefits
to U.S. citizens who reside in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico. The United States Solicitor General petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to review that decision. That means they are asking that the Supreme Court hear the case.
All the briefs concerning the petition have been filed. The Court generally makes decisions on whether to grant cert at weekly conferences, usually held on Fridays. The Vaello-Madero cert petition was distributed for consideration during the Court's conference on December 11. The Court could have granted or denied cert at that conference but it didn't. It could have relisted the cert petition for consideration at a future conference, which is common, but it didn't. They took no action, effectively putting the case on hold which is less common.
Amy Howe, writing for SCOTUSblog, which is THE website for Supreme Court news, tells us that the most common reasons for putting a cert petition on hold are because the Court is already considering a similar case or because the Court is waiting for another cert petition presenting a similar question. Neither of these is the case here, unless the Supreme Court is waiting on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to act on a similar case concerning SSI benefits for Guam residents but, as far as I know, that case hasn't been scheduled for oral arguments yet. A decision could be many months off.
What else could be going on here? I'm no Supreme Court expert but I've read some of the briefs. The briefs supporting SSI for U.S. territories expressed concern that there would be a summary disposition of the case, that is that the Court would summarily reverse the First Circuit without oral arguments, which it can do. The Court may have already decided to do that but has not yet announced anything because a decision and possible dissents are being prepared but that's just my speculation.
Update: Vaello-Madero is an oddball case. The government has been seeking to recover an overpayment that occurred when the claimant moved to Puerto Rico but continued to receive SSI. Arguably, the case should have been resolved on a procedural issue, whether Vaello-Martinez should have contested the overpayment administratively. There's a class action seeking directly to order the government to pay SSI benefits to Puerto Rico residents. That's now pending in the Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs in that case filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court asking that the Court hold off on the Vaello-Madero cert petition pending a decision in the Court of Appeals in their case, Peña Martínez v. U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs which presents the issue more directly. The Peña Martínez case also involves other government benefits. Maybe the Court wants to wait for Peña Martínez and the Guam case. That could put Vaello-Madero on hold past the end of June or early July, when this term of Court ends. It also allows the Biden Administration plenty of time to express its own position on the matter.
Dec 20, 2020
Dec 19, 2020
Ways And Means Subcommittee Chairs Ask For Action On Covid-19 Related Overpayments
Today, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson (D-CT) and Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny K. Davis (D-IL) sent a letter to Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Andrew Saul demanding that SSA forgive repayment of extra benefits paid to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This fall, SSA began notifying beneficiaries about these extra benefit payments, which were paid through no fault of their own. SSA also set up a limited process for some beneficiaries to have repayment of their COVID-19 overpayments forgiven. However there have been widespread reports that many beneficiaries have been unable to access even this limited relief.
“With the clock ticking, we urge SSA to immediately extend and expand the streamlined waiver process, providing all beneficiaries with immediate, automatic relief from COVID-19 overpayments. We also request that you provide us with detailed information on SSA’s actions and any relief that has been provided, to date,” wrote Larson and Davis.
“It is unfair and unjust for SSA to allow any hurdles to prevent beneficiaries from accessing relief from these COVID-19 overpayments,” continued Larson and Davis. “We urge SSA to immediately provide automatic relief for all beneficiaries with a COVID-19 overpayment, regardless of whether or not they apply for relief.”
The full letter can be viewed here.
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