Merry Christmas

 

Could We See A Commissioner Nomination Next Year?

     Democrats will have 50 Senators in the new Congress and Republicans 49. Senator Sinema will continue her effort to be the most complete flake possible as an Independent. She may or may not caucus with Democrats but this still leaves Democrats with a majority without needing the Vice President’s vote. That doesn’t sound like much of a difference from the current Congress but the Washington Post reports that the extra Senator makes plenty of difference, particularly with confirmation of nominations. Will President Biden finally nominate a new Commissioner of Social Security next year?

Merry Christmas

 

OHO Backlogs Creeping Up

     This was uploaded by Social Security. Click on the image to view full size.

The Need Is Real

     From Lisa Rein writing for the Washington Post:

Top House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday called for a drastic boost in funding for the Social Security Administration to increase staffing, improve technology and expand other investments as the agency confronts a massive backlog in claims for disability benefits. ...

“Lawmakers in both parties are getting an earful at home about the backlog and poor customer service at the Social Security Administration, and are demanding answers on this and the disarray in its workforce,” Rep. Kevin Brady (Tex.), the ranking Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement. ...

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) decried the “unacceptable” delays facing disabled Americans “to even find out if they are eligible for benefits.”...

The push for a bigger budget comes as House and Senate negotiators race to agree on a bipartisan deal to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year before a temporary budget expires Dec. 16. ...

It’s unclear, though, if Congress will agree on enough spending priorities to pass a new budget before the end of the year. That would leave Social Security and the rest of the government with a full-year stopgap measure at current funding levels. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is preparing for such a scenario with proposals for additional funding for several agencies over current levels. In Social Security’s case, the request would grant the full $800 million boost that the administration sought in the fall, according to an OMB document circulating Tuesday on Capitol Hill. ...

Redesigned SSA Web Site

     The Social Security Administration has issue a press release saying that they've redesigned their website. The press release says that the agency's website is getting about 180 million hits a year.

Merry Christmas

 

At The Breaking Point

    From Lisa Rein at the Washington Post:

The Disability Determination Division in Austin was at a breaking point.

Inside its vast two-story warehouse, close to 130,000 claims were awaiting review by the state employees who help decide whether Texans will get disability benefits from the Social Security Administration — a backlog that would take at least a year to clear. Nearly 40 percent of the examiners had quit since January, driven out by crushing workloads and low wages that could not compete in the high-tech boomtown. Those who stayed toiled in long rows of cubicles or at home reviewing massive medical files.

Then one week in September came the unthinkable: 75,000 new claims suddenly were routed to an electronic queue already buckling under 2½ years of strain during the coronavirus pandemic. ...

The data obtained by The Washington Post paints a grim picture of the holdups claimants are confronting across the country. In Texas, it took 214 days on average in fiscal 2022 to process an initial application. Wisconsin took 227 days, up from 90 days in fiscal 2019. Florida’s average time has almost tripled to 225 days. Georgia is taking 246 days. And Delaware now holds the record for the longest wait: 261 days. The pileup of cases has driven a normally three-month wait for an initial review to at least seven, the data shows. But in states struggling most to catch up, it’s taking well over a year. ...