What Will The COLA Be This Year?

     It's that time of year when publications start trying to estimate the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits. Forbes is giving itself plenty of wiggle room by estimating it at 8.6% to 10.5%. Even the low figure is high. The upper figure is alarming.

    Obviously, the COLA is crucial for recipients of Social Security benefits but inflation that high has serious implications for Social Security's administrative budget, Social Security employees who won't receive a COLA anywhere near this great and Social Security attorneys who are subject to a fee cap that isn't indexed for inflation.

The Statute Already Calls For This

     Senator Ron Wyden, the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Robert Casey, the Chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and Senator Sherrod Brown have written a joint letter to the Acting Commissioner of Social Security asking that the Social Security Administration incorporate children into its outreach program to those potentially eligible for SSI benefits, As already required by 42 U.S.C. §1383d(a).

Telework Debated

     From Government Executive:

Officials from the Biden administration on Thursday defended federal agencies’ approach to workplace flexibilities like telework and remote work from skeptical Republicans, who have grown more stridently against the concept of hybrid work environments in recent months.

In testimony before the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee on government operations, Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja said flexibilities like telework and remote work, where possible, are central to the administration’s effort to revitalize the federal workforce and improve agency efficiency. 

“One lesson we have learned throughout the pandemic is that workplace flexibilities, such as telework and hybrid work schedules, can promote resilience of federal government operations in the face of disruptions, enhance productivity, and improve employee morale,” she said. “During this time, we have seen the private-sector labor market—and what workers expect from their jobs—change quickly. Private-sector employers have had to quickly learn how to respond to employee needs. Federal employers must do the same to attract and retain talent in this tight labor market.”

But Republicans on the committee criticized the idea of providing additional “perks” to “bureaucrats,” and blamed teleworking workers for service backlogs at agencies like the IRS, OPM and the Social Security Administration. ...

 

Answers Hard To Come By For Those Formerly In Foster Care

    From NPR:

It's been almost 45 years since Kathy Stolz-Silvis was in foster care in Pennsylvania. Stolz-Silvis was nine when her father died, making her and her siblings eligible for Social Security survivor benefits. But she didn't become aware of those benefits until decades later — after reading an investigation published by The Marshall Project and NPR. ...

"Out of curiosity, I called them to find out what happened to my benefits when I was in foster care," Stolz-Silvis said. "The person on the other end of the line told me they were not allowed to give me that information." ...

In recent months, The Marshall Project and NPR have heard from dozens of former foster youth who described similar failed efforts to learn whether a state or local agency had applied to become their "representative payee," allowing the agency to receive their federal benefits, a process permitted by federal regulations. ...

In an email, Darren Lutz, a spokesperson for the Social Security Administration, said that for those inquiring about past benefits: "We maintain records on the benefits we have paid and can answer their questions." The agency has "provided guidance and training to our employees on our rules and requirements for selecting representative payees, notifying the proper parties, and monitoring the performance of foster care agencies that serve as the representative payee for a child in foster care."

For current foster youth, Administration for Children and Families spokesperson Pat Fisher confirmed that both the agency and the Social Security Administration are developing joint guidance to state agencies about how to handle these cases, though there is no timeline for releasing it. ...

It Just Took 30 Minutes After A Reporter Contacted SSA To Get This Widow's Problem Solved

     From WSET:

... Dolores Roake's husband passed away on Jan. 1, 2002 [2022?]. It's been nearly five months, and she still does not have her widow's social security fund in her pocket. ...

Roakes reached out on Jan. 10 to let social security know about the changes. Roakes had a phone call appointment on February 14, where they told her to file her paperwork at the local office.

She filed her paperwork at the local office on March 1.

"I kept waiting and waiting to hear something. Never did. Never got anything in the mail."

That's when she started to call the social security office. On April 26, she finally got ahold of someone.

"She said she would push it through and she would process it that day, and I'd get something in five days. Well, I never heard anything. I would go online to try to check this progress, but no results," Roakes said. 

That's when she reached out to ABC13 for help.

ABC13 emailed the Social Security Administration, asking about Roakes' benefits.

Only half an hour after ABC13 reached out, Roakes got some answers.

"After you sent the email, I got a phone call. She finally found where everything was processed on Friday. She just apologized, and that was about it," Roakes said. ...

Covid Is No Mirage

    From David Weaver, writing for The Hill:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) just released beneficiary death information for 2021. Together with the data for 2020, it is clear the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the beneficiary population — and it is well past time for the federal government to take additional steps to protect individuals served by SSA’s programs.

SSA recorded nearly 5.6 million beneficiary deaths in the 2020-2021 period, an increase of about 840,000 over the number recorded for the 2018–2019 period. This represents about a 17.7 percent increase in deaths from one two-year period to the next. ...

Based on SSA data on deaths and number of beneficiaries, the average annual death rate in the two years before COVID-19 was 37.7 deaths per 1,000 beneficiaries. The corresponding rate for the 2020-2021 period was 43.2 deaths per 1,000 beneficiaries, representing a 14.4 percent increase in the death rate. ...

Inconsistencies In Handling Of Critical Cases

     From SSA Expedited Most Critical Cases at Hearings Level but Lacks Consistent Policy Implementation, a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO):

The Social Security Administration (SSA) flags a disability appeals case as critical after determining that the claimant’s health or financial condition, such as having a terminal illness or dire financial need, meets criteria in SSA’s policy manual. Cases can be flagged as critical before reaching a hearing office or during nearly any stage of the hearing process. SSA policy directs staff to expedite the case once it is flagged as critical. However, staff GAO interviewed from three of the five selected offices said that claimants must provide documentation of their dire financial need, even though SSA policy does not require it. 

Hearing offices consistently processed critical cases faster than non-critical cases between fiscal years 2010 and 2020, but wait times varied depending on when the case was first flagged. Cases that arrived at a hearing office with a flag took a median 201 days to reach a hearing decision; those first flagged while they were at a hearing office took a median 351 days. This difference exists because hearing offices quickly begin work on flagged cases. In contrast, non-critical cases took a median 469 days (see figure). GAO found that, across the stages of the hearings process, critical cases flagged after reaching a hearing office spent the largest portion of the wait time in the stage before being assigned to a case worker. Once flagged during this waiting period, hearing office staff assigned most cases to a case worker within a week. ...

    I wish they'd also look at expediting below the request for hearing level. Where appropriate, I help clients file critical case requests regardless of level. There's supposed to be expediting at the initial and reconsideration levels but I see little sign that it's happening. Backlogs at the initial and reconsideration levels are far worse than at the hearing level at least where I'm practicing.

    Also, it would help if the agency came up with its own form for requesting critical case status. My impression is that Social Security employees are often unsure of what to do with a request that doesn't arrive on an official Social Security form.

Covid And The Musculoskeletal Listings

     The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has once again extended the declaration of public health emergency due to Covid-19. The earliest this could be ended is October 13, 2022.

    So, how is this Social Security News? The Musculoskeletal Listings, an important part of disability determination at Social Security, contain a provision (1.00.C.7.a.) making it slightly less difficult to be determined disabled during the declared public health emergency. The Listings are still harsh. This just makes them slightly less harsh.

    In my opinion, we should never go back to the pre-Covid standard.