Merry Christmas

 

NYT On SSA Overpayments

      The New York Times has a piece up on Social Security’s overpayment problem and its brutal effects on claimants.

Merry Christmas

 

Christmas Carols For Psychiatric Patients

     I deal with a lot of clients with psychiatric illness. Most Social Security and Disability Determination employees deal with the same mix of claimants. The piece below has been around for years. It may be a bit insensitive but it's funny.

BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER:
Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

DEMENTIA:
I Think I'll Be Home for Christmas

DEPRESSION:
Silent Anhedonia, Holy Anhedonia, All is Flat, All is Lonely.

MANIC:
Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants and...

MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER:
We Three Queens Disoriented Are

NARCISSISTIC:
Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER:
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,............(better start again)

PARANOID:
Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me.

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY:
On the First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me (and then took it all away).

PERSONALITY DISORDER:
You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll tell you Why.

SCHIZOPHRENIA:
Do you Hear What I Hear?

Merry Christmas

 

"We Will Need Sufficient And Sustained Funding"

     From The Sacramento Bee:

Trying to get through to Social Security on its 800 number? Be very, very patient. Wait times have been averaging roughly 35 minutes. In September, the latest data available, the average time on hold was 34.7 minutes. The shortest average wait so far this year came in May, 28.8 minutes. The longest was in March, 39.8 minutes. ...

Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, have introduced the “Stuck on Hold Act,” which would require the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs, which has also experienced customer service issues, to tell callers the estimated wait times. If the wait is longer than 15 minutes, the agency would give the consumer the option of receiving an automated call back when it is their turn in line. The agencies would have up to a year to put the new system into effect. ...

At Social Security, “We are doing what we can to improve phone service,” said Darren Lutz, an agency spokesman, who cited the hiring of new phone agents ... . The agency has moved to a new phone system, which Lutz said “allows us to receive more calls and provides callers with estimated wait times, and will soon provide an option for some callers to receive a call back instead of waiting in a queue. “ Social Security plans more improvements, he said, though ”to improve our phone service we will need sufficient and sustained funding.“ ...

Merry Christmas

 

Officially On The Job

      Martin O’Malley was sworn in as Commissioner on Wednesday.

     He has no leave built up yet so I guess he’ll be on the job every workday other than Christmas Day itself.