Social Security has a form to make an advance designation of representative payee but for reasons unknown to me they won’t release the form to the public. What good does it do to have the form but not release it to the public? However, a wills and estates law firm has gotten a copy and posted it online.
Apr 4, 2022
April 7 Is The Day
Social Security field offices will reopen to the public on April 7, per an agency press release.
Good luck.
It Rings And Rings And Rings
From KFOR:
Oklahomans in need of new Social Security cards claim they can’t get the help they need, but federal officials say more aid will soon be available.
Between 12-hour nursing shifts and caring for two kiddos, Mikyla Cartwright stays quite busy.
But lately, much of her free time has been spent on the phone, fighting to find her four month old’s information.
Her son, Xander, was born back in November. Mikayla tells KFOR she opted for the hospital to file for Xander’s Social Security card.
For whatever reason though, the card never came. Come tax time, Mikyla grew concerned and decided to file for Xander’s Social Security card herself.
When she stopped by her local office, she said the door was locked. Mikyla called the number on the door, which didn’t help.
“Longest I was ever on hold was two days, I mean two working days,” said Mikyla. “It just rings, it rings and rings and rings.” …
Apr 3, 2022
SSA To Allow Self-Selection Of Sex
From a press release:
Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, announced that the agency will offer people the choice to self-select their sex on their Social Security number (SSN) record. The agency anticipates this option will be available in the fall of 2022. ...
People who update their sex marker in Social Security’s records will need to apply for a replacement SSN card. They will still need to show a current document to prove their identity, but they will no longer need to provide medical or legal documentation of their sex designation once the policy change becomes effective. SSN cards do not include sex markers. ...
This appears to be part of a larger Biden Administration effort to ease the lives of transgender Americans.
Why should Social Security even bother to collect gender information? Prohibitions on same sex marriage used to affect benefits payments but that was external to Social Security and those prohibitions are now gone. Social Security benefit payments themselves have been gender neutral for many decades.
Apr 2, 2022
AFGE And Social Security In Contentious Relationship
From the Washington Post:
… AFGE leaders criticized officials [at Social Security] for continuing to act like Trump’s anti-union edicts remain in effect, despite Biden’s policies to the contrary.
“You still have those holdovers from the previous administration,” Kelley told reporters, “that just don't want to give up any form of authority.”
Social Security officials continue to pursue an “aggressive anti-union/anti-employee bargaining approach … undoubtedly directed by the Trump orders,” said an email from Rich Couture, AFGE’s spokesman on Social Security.
Among the current Social Security polices Couture cited as “antithetical” to Biden’s agenda are “draconian official time cuts” and the “elimination and reduction of union office space nationwide, which similarly limits our ability to represent and access employees, especially now with reentry at agency installations now starting.” Official time allows union leaders to represent workers in limited ways, such as grievance procedures, while on government time.
A Social Security statement said it “complied with all of the administration’s labor policies and is fully committed to positive relations with our labor partners. Last year, we offered to renegotiate major provisions of our collective bargaining agreements with all three of our unions. Two of our unions accepted and we are currently in contract negotiations with them. AFGE did not accept that offer and is pursuing arbitration to revoke the entire 2019 contract.” …
Apr 1, 2022
Help Please
For some time now I've been posting the Caseload Analysis Report issued by Social Security's Office of Hearings Operations (OHO). To their credit, OHO has been voluntarily releasing it.
I'm sure that other Social Security components produce similar reports. I'd like to see some of them. I can request them under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) but it would help if I knew what the reports are called. I'd be interested in the names of the operational reports for the Disability Determination Services (State Agency Operations Report?), Field Offices, Teleservice Centers and Payment Centers. The names of the reports can't be some closely held secret. Can anyone help me with just the names of the reports?
It's hard to imagine any harm to the agency in the public having a better idea of the agency's operations. It might be of help in obtaining an adequate operating budget.
Mar 31, 2022
When Will The Field Offices Reopen To The Public?
Why is it that I have a feeling that Social Security won't make any prior announcement when they reopen the field offices to the public because they want a "soft" reopening? Is there any other way they'd do it?
Anyway, here are new health protocols for visiting the agency's field offices just issued by Social Security:
What safety protocols must I follow to visit a Social Security office?
Date:
All visitors, employees, and guards must review the self-assessment below before allowed to enter. You may not enter the office if your answer to any of these questions is YES, regardless of your vaccination status. Masks are required for all visitors, employees, and guards.
- Do you have any new or worsening symptoms of COVID-19 including:
- Fever (100.4 degrees or higher);
- Cough or sore throat;
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing;
- Fatigue;
- Muscle pain or body aches;
- Headache;
- New loss of taste or smell;
- Congestion or runny nose; or
- Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea?
- Within the last 10 days, have you:
- Been diagnosed with COVID-19;
- Received instructions from a public health authority (local health authority, medical professional, etc.) to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 or self-quarantine due to COVID-19;
- Been tested for COVID-19 and are awaiting the results (other than for travel purposes); or
- Been in close physical contact with anyone who was diagnosed with COVID-19 or developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19?
- Within the last 5 days, have you:
- Traveled outside the country by means other than land travel, such as car, bus, ferry, or train?
Close physical contact is defined as being within 6 feet of an infected/symptomatic person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from 48 hours before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic individuals, 48 hours prior to test specimen collection).
If you answered YES to any of these questions or if you feel ill, please call the office to reschedule your appointment.
If you answered NO, you must wear a face covering over your mouth and nose to enter this facility. If you do not have one, we will provide you with one. If you are unable to wear a face covering, call the office and ask to speak with the manager.
Mar 30, 2022
Preach!
From a piece by Nancy Altman, the president of Social Security Works, in The Hill (emphasis added):
After two long years, Social Security offices are scheduled to reopen in early April.
It was wrong to keep them closed (to all but those deemed to be in dire need) for so long. Post offices never closed. ...
During the two years of closed offices, claims for disability benefits plummeted, at a time when they should have skyrocketed, given the pandemic. ...
But the reopening may be rocky — or worse. There may be very long lines; there may be people who wait and wait but are not served. People may be forced to wait outside in the rain. If things go horribly wrong, there could even be violence, committed by people who are desperate. ...
The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) should have started planning for reopening the day the offices were closed. But unfortunately, the commissioner at the time was a Donald Trump crony, Andrew Saul, who was only too happy to work from home himself, even before the pandemic.
Ralph de Juliis, head of the union council representing field office workers, also contributed to the two years of closed offices. Shockingly, he has publicly advocated for permanently shuttering almost all of the more than 1200 field offices. ...
Congress has starved SSA — and continues to do so.The Omnibus funding bill recently passed by Congress drastically underfunds SSA ....
This is part of a long pattern of Congress underfunding SSA, which began years before the pandemic. Between 2010 and 2021, SSA’s operating budget fell by 13 percent. During the same period, the number of beneficiaries grew by 21 percent due largely to the (still ongoing) retirement of the Baby Boom generation. ...
For most of its history, SSA had a well-deserved reputation for providing exemplary service to the public. People went to their local field offices knowing they would get excellent, compassionate help with their earned benefits. It was considered one of the best federal agencies to work for, as well. Now, it ranks near the bottom. Training, which used to be extensive and first-rate, has reportedly deteriorated. ...
You would expect that Altman would be sympathetic to de Juliis and the union. I think it's a sign of just how outrageous the union has become that Altman is criticizing him by name.
It's not a good long term strategy for a labor union to lose support from the left since it will never have support from the right.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)