OHO Numbers

     Operating statistics for Social Security's Office of Hearings Operations recently posted by the agency:

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Congressional Hearing Today

     A press release:

There will be a Hearing of the Committee on the Budget 

On: Wednesday, July 12, 2023, 10:00 AM 

In: Room SD-608. 

To consider: "Protecting Social Security for All: Making the Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share"

Witnesses

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1. The Honorable Phillip Swagel, Ph.D.
   Director
   Congressional Budget Office
    
2. Mr. Stephen C. Goss
   Chief Actuary
   Social Security Administration
    
3. Ms. Kathleen Romig
   Director of Social Security and Disability Policy
   Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
    
4. Ms. Amy Hanauer
   Executive Director
   Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
    
5. Dr. Andrew G. Biggs, Ph.D.
   Senior Fellow
   American Enterprise Institute

New Upload Documents Service

     From Emergency Message EM-23041 issued yesterday:

This Emergency Message (EM) notifies technicians of a new online service option called Upload Documents that customers can use to electronically submit certain technician-requested evidence and forms. Technicians will initiate the request through the Technician Experience Dashboard (TED). ...

We will release Upload Documents on July 8, 2023. The initial rollout will be limited to the Boston Region offices using TED.

Upload Documents can be used to serve Title II, Title XVI, and Title XVIII beneficiaries, as well as individuals who do not currently receive benefits from SSA.

Initially, technicians will be able to use Upload Documents to request a small number of forms that do not require a signature (Section F). During release 2, we will update Upload Documents to include additional forms, including some forms requiring a signature. Customers will be able to sign and submit these forms using Upload Documents’ electronic signature (“eSignature”) functionality. We will discuss the eSignature process for Upload Documents in a future EM.

Upload Documents will also allow technicians to request certain pieces of evidence. ...

... TED is a new technician-driven SSA interface that will help modernize and streamline our interactions with customers.

When a technician determines that SSA needs a certain form and/or evidence that is on the list of items currently accepted for Upload Documents, the technician can initiate the request using TED. Before initiating the request, the technician will first contact the customer regarding the request, offering the use of Upload Documents. If the customer is interested in using Upload Documents to submit the requested evidence or form, the technician will obtain the customer's consent to receive a one-time email from SSA, containing an access link and instructions for Upload Documents. The technician will be able to view a customer’s previously registered mySSA email address, where applicable. The customer can choose to receive the one-time Upload Documents email at the previously registered email address, or at a different email address. If the customer consents to receive a one-time Upload Documents email, the technician should verify the customer’s preferred email address. The technician will then select the forms and evidence that are needed from the customer within TED (see screenshot below). ...

    It says something, doesn't it, that this is named for the "technician experience" rather than the claimant or customer experience.

    Are they still going to insist on calling the claimant to ask "Is this really your signature?", which defeats the whole point of using an online system for uploading documents? I wonder how often claimants say "No, I didn't sign that." Maybe, never. You have to be careful but you don't have to be paranoid.

If Congress Wants Better Service At Social Security, It Needs To Give The Agency A Greater Operating Budget

     From the testimony of Chad M. Poist, Deputy Commissioner for Budget, Finance, and Management, Social Security Administration, before the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce

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Age At Which Workers Claim Social Security Retirement Benefits

      From The Motley Fool:

• Age 62: 29.3%
• Age 63: 7.4%
• Age 64: 8%
• Age 65: 12.7%
• Age 66: 24.7%
• Age 67: 3.9%
• Age 68: 2.3%
• Age 69: 2.1%
• Age 70 (or above): 9.6%

Dropped Calls

    From The Social Security Administration’s Telephone Service Disruptions, a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):

 

A 25% Reduction In Social Security's Operating Budget?

     The House Appropriations Committee has voted along party lines for Subcommittee allocations, that is the amount that each Subcommittee will have to allocate among the agencies within its purview. This is for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills. As the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD) points out, the allocation for the Labor-HHS Subcommittee which has responsibility for the Social Security Administration's Limitation on Administrative Expenditures (LAE), the equivalent of an appropriation for an agency that takes its money from a trust fund, is 25% below the current FY. The Subcommittee can then allocate the pain among the agencies covered by the Labor-HHS appropriation bill.

    As you may recall, the President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives earlier agreed to overall budget limits that were only a little below the current fiscal year. So why is the Labor-HHS allocation so low? The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives decided that they weren't bound by their agreement with the President.

    A 25% reduction in Social Security's operating budget would mean massive RIFS at Social Security and an almost completely non-functional agency -- an unmanageable situation.

    It is far from clear that the House of Representatives could pass an FY 2024 Labor-HHS appropriation bill that is 25% lower than the current fiscal year. It certainly couldn't pass the Senate or receive the President's signature. So they would negotiate, right? The President has little incentive to negotiate with leaders who refuse to be bound by agreements they have made.

    We may be heading towards a year long Continuing Resolution (CR), which means that Social Security could spend money at the same rate as in FY 2023. There are worse things that could happen.

Catch 22

     Let's say you're developmentally disabled, meaning you've been disabled from birth. You start drawing SSI as a child due to your disability. You become 18 and Social Security does a review to see whether you're disabled under the adult standard and they decide you are. Then, a parent dies or goes on Social Security benefits when you're 21. That potentially entitles you to Disabled Adult Child (DAC) benefits on your parent's Social Security number since you became disabled before age 22. Shouldn't Social Security just put you on the DAC automatically? You've already been found disabled under the same standard. Under a new addition to Social Security's POMS manual, the answer is not so fast. They first want to make sure they can't find a way to cut you off the SSI benefits you're already drawing. So, if you're the claimant aren't you a little afraid you're going to lose your sole means of support if you file that DAC claim? But, if you don't file the DAC claim, you may lose your SSI because you refused to avail yourself of means of support other than SSI. Nice Catch 22 they've set up for you. That's what all this fancy talk about collateral estoppel is about, finding ways to cut claimants off benefits, or, really, finding ways to avoid collateral estoppel since that doctrine should help the claimant in this situation.