Average Age Of Disability Applicants Increased Sharply About 10 Years Ago

    From What Factors Explain the Drop in Disability Insurance Rolls from 2015 to 2019? by Siyan Liu and Laura D. Quinby for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:

 

Pillersdorf Honored

    The Louisville Courier Journal reports that Ned Pillersdorf is one of four lawyers nationwide who have been honored by the American Bar Association for volunteer legal work. Pillersdorf was instrumental in initiating and directing the legal response to the Eric Conn debacle.

    I think one element of Pillersdorf's work that needs to be especially noted is that he faced indifference, if not hostility, from the Kentucky bar. If this had happened in my state or most other states, I'm sure the bar would have organized a massive response. That didn't happen in Kentucky. Sure, there were some Kentucky attorneys who responded but most who have helped Conn's victims have been from out of state. It takes guts to stick up as Pillersdorf has done.

OHO Caseload Analysis Report

 

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Two Bills Advance

     Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee marked up two minor bills that would affect the Social Security Administration in small ways. One would allow minors whose Social Security numbers have been compromised to obtain new Social Security numbers. The other would provide for a single point of contact at Social Security for those whose Social Security numbers have been compromised. I'm sure the first is debatable and the second is pointless without additional funding. 

    I wouldn't bet on either bill advancing in the Senate. If they do, you never know what might get added.

New Digestive And Skin Disorders Listings

     The Social Security Administration will publish final rules to revise its digestive and skin disorders Listings in the Federal Register tomorrow. It runs to 159 pages in the PDF version! (It will be fewer pages in the actual Federal Register since that's three columns of small print.)

    One noticeable part is that they've changed the formula for determining SSA CLD, which has been used to determine whether claimants meet the Listing for chronic liver disease (CLD). It used to be exactly the same as the MELD formula used to determine whether individuals with chronic liver disease can get a liver transplant. Now it's just mathematically the same. I've speculated that the agency used the name "SSA CLD" to obscure the fact that it's literally easier to get a liver transplant than it is to meet the Listing for chronic liver disease. I'll speculate that they're going a step further to further obscure just how impossible it is to meet the Listing. They do note in the materials that a MELD or SSA CLD score that meets the Listing means that the patient has a 19.6% chance of dying in the next three months. They think that's a justification for their standard. I was not under the impression that the definition of disability required a person's condition to be quickly fatal.

    I also note that the new Listings make it impossible for claimants to meet the Listings for hidradenitis suppurtiva. Never heard of hidradenitis suppurtiva? Trust me, you don't want it. It's one of the most commonly disabling skin conditions.  For that matter, it appears that it will now be impossible to meet the Listings for psoriasis. For most people with psoriasis, the disease is annoying and unpleasant but manageable but that's not the case for a small percentage of people with psoriasis.

NPRM On FOIA

     The Social Security Administration posted a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) in the Federal Register today to amend its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations to make them more consistent with 2016 changes in the FOIA and with recent guidance from the Attorney General.

Disability Allowance Rates Plummeted After 2000

    From What Factors Explain the Drop in Disability Insurance Rolls from 2015 to 2019? by Siyan Liu and Laura D. Quinby for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:

 

Disability Incidence Rate Goes Up -- Until Age 62

    From What Factors Explain the Drop in Disability Insurance Rolls from 2015 to 2019? by Siyan Liu and Laura D. Quinby for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College: