Now Now. Not Later. Not Ever.

 

    When we're rushed, we cut corners and we make more mistakes than usual. Social Security employees are rushed. They're cutting corners. They're making lots of mistakes. They're putting off difficult work. Even in the best of times, there are some things which didn't get done properly to begin with that need to be corrected but in these terrible times there are many, many of these.

    The stress on Social Security employees isn't going away. They will remain overburdened indefinitely. My firm asks them to straighten out their mistakes but they don't have time to do it. It's getting to the point that I think the work isn't going to get done now. It's not going to get done later. It's never going to get done, at least not in the foreseeable future. 

    What kinds of mistakes or omissions am I seeing? Let me list a few:

• Claimant's monthly benefits are authorized but nothing is done about paying the back benefits or attorney fees.
• Claimant receives a small payment that is apparently their back benefits but it seems far too low. No award certificate is issued so the claimant and attorney can't figure out whether there has been a mistake.
• There's what I call a phantom windfall offset. Claimant filed an SSI claim which was quickly denied on income or resources. When the Title II claim is approved, no back benefits are paid because they're waiting on payment of the SSI benefits so they can do the windfall offset. Meanwhile, no back benefits or attorney fees are paid.
  
• A field office employee makes one telephone call to a claimant about implementing SSI benefits. They can't leave a message so they immediately deny the claim for failure to cooperate. (They're supposed to make repeated efforts to contact the claimant and those who may be able to help, such as the claimant's attorney but that takes time, so they just get the claim off their desk by denying it.)
• A fee petition is approved. That's a little unusual so it doesn't get paid.

    This is a depressing, discouraging situation for an attorney like me who wants to help his clients and who wants to receive the fees he's entitled to for helping them.

    Social Security is undergoing enormous stress. I think it's fair to say it's falling apart. Asking employees to work harder isn't going to solve the problem. The systems updates and IT changes the agency is making hardly help at all. Making employees come into the office every day would make little or no difference. The only solution is a lot more employees, like 10,000 more, but that might cost another billion dollars or so a year so it's out of the question now.

    I don't think the message is getting through to the public or members of Congress about just how bad things are.

    My only suggestion is that the agency should start closing many small field offices, which will mostly be in areas represented in Congress by Republicans. The administration needs to turn a deaf ear to the howls of protest from Republican members of Congress. You get the service you pay for. What's going on now is unsustainable.

What A Contrast

     Michael Ponsor, a Senior U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts, has written an op ed for the New York Times titled A Federal Judge Asks: Does the Supreme Court Realize How Bad It Smells?    

    Ponsor relates a couple of incidents from his time on the bench. Once he was having a casual conversation with an attorney who mentioned that he had two tickets to a Major League baseball game that he couldn't use. He asked if Judge Ponsor would like them. Even though he would have loved to take his young child to the game, Ponsor said no even though there was a good chance that the tickets wouldn't be used if he didn't take them. He later talks about another case:

... I issued a decision reversing the Social Security Administration’s denial of disability benefits to an older plaintiff. I was in our clerk’s office one day when the man and his wife approached me with a package. He had a woodworking hobby, and inside the package was an exquisitely crafted oak pencil case with bronze hinges. My ruling had made a big difference for them, and they wanted to extend this modest, personal gesture of gratitude. Again, they were obviously not being underhanded. Their lawsuit was over, and this was probably the last they would ever see of me. Nevertheless, as my police officer friends tell me, the road to perdition starts with a free cup of coffee. As politely as I could, I turned the pencil case down. It still pains me to remember their embarrassed, crestfallen faces. ...

    Contrast Judge Ponsor's appropriate behavior with that with some Supreme Court Justices who have accepted costly vacations and other valuable considerations from people whom they knew had an interest in the work of the Court. Ponsor's the kind of judge I know. Clarence Thomas (to pick the most prominent example) is something else.

    If you're an attorney and you're thinking, "What Justice Thomas has done is wrong but he's a reliable right wing vote on the Supreme Court so we can't force him out of office while a Democrat is in the White House", what is wrong with you? What Thomas has done is what judicial corruption looks like. You know that as well as me. You'd be apoplectic if a Justice appointed by a Democrat had done this and I'd be with you.  We can't accept this behavior from any Supreme Court justice, ever.

Can We All Agree That Fraud Is Almost Non-Existent In Social Security Disability Claims?

    The Buffalo News has posted the first of a two part article on the delays and difficulties involved in getting approved for Social Security disability benefits. Here's a small excerpt:

... “I do think some legitimate claimants have been hurt by some of the efforts to crack down on fraud, after the Eric Conn case,” said Som Ramrup, president of the American Association of Administrative Law Judges.

Ramrup said she believes the actual amount of fraud in the applications “is infinitesimal.”

“The government acts as though the amount of fraud is much higher,” Ramrup said.

Michael J. Astrue, who headed the SSA under President George W. Bush, told The News he believes “less than 1%” of disability claims are fraudulent. ...

    Let's stop over-reacting to the Eric Conn case. It was a weird, one-off scandal. Nothing like it is likely to ever happen again.

SSA Issues Long Covid Guide For Docs

     In conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security has created Long COVID: A Guide for Health Professionals on Providing Medical Evidence for Social Security Disability Claims. I had low expectations when I first opened this and was still underwhelmed.

Six Months In Slammer For Former SSA Employee

     From a press release:

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced Justin Skiff, age 36, of Castle Pines, was sentenced to six months in prison for wire fraud, social security fraud, and money laundering.

According to the plea agreement, beginning around August 2019 and continuing through September 2021, Skiff used his position as a claims specialist with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to fraudulently obtain money from the SSA.  Skiff used his knowledge and access to establish Social Security Numbers for ten fictitious children. He then established fictitious records of entitlements for surviving child benefits which he connected to the record of a real deceased individual.  These benefits were deposited into a bank account accessible to Skiff through debit cards he directed to be mailed to a P.O. Box to which he had access.  Skiff withdrew money and made purchases from this account from October 2019 through September 2021 for a total amount of $324,201.44. ...

OHO Numbers

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

Click on image to view full size

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

---

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.