Has Social Security's Chief Actuary Put Her Job In Jeopardy By Delivering Bad News?

     From a letter to Senator Ron Wyden from Karen Glenn, Social Security's Chief Actuary:

... We estimate that implementation of the OBBBA [One Big Beautiful Bill Act] will result in net increased program cost starting in 2025. Over calendar years 2025 through 2034, the total net increase in OASDI [Retirement, Survivors and Disability] program cost is estimated to be $168.6 billion. In addition, the timing of combined OASI [Retirement] and DI [Disability] Trust Fund reserve depletion is accelerated from the third quarter of 2034 under the 2025 Trustees Report baseline to the first quarter of 2034 following implementation of the law. Considered alone, the reserve depletion date for the OASI Trust Fund is accelerated from the first quarter of 2033 to the fourth quarter of 2032. DI Trust Fund reserves are not projected to become depleted during the 75-year projection period. ...

Additions To Compassionate Allowance List

     Ever since Michael Astrue was Commissioner from 2007 to 2013 the Social Security has been trumpeting additions to its list of illnesses deserving compassionate allowances of disability claims. They're mostly, if not completely, rare disorders. Astrue had experience working with the rare disorder community -- and there is one.  I suppose the list has some use for a tiny number of people but in my view it's of little practical consequence. In fact, it's been my impression that additions to the list seem to come out when the agency is under public criticism. Anyway, Social Security is adding these new disorders to the compassionate allowance list:

• Bilateral Anophthalmia
• Carey-Fineman-Ziter Syndrome
• Harlequin Ichthyosis - Child
• LMNA-related Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
• Zhu-Tokita-Takenouchi-Kim Syndrome
• Au-Kline Syndrome
• Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
• Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
• Progressive Muscular Atrophy
• Pulmonary Amyloidosis – AL Type
• Rasmussen Encephalitis
• Thymic Carcinoma
• Turnpenny-Fry Syndrome
• WHO Grade III Meningiomas 

OHO Caseload Report

 

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The Counter-Argument

          Government Executive goes through the counter-arguments against the letter that Commissioner Bisignano wrote to Senator Warren claiming that service is rapidly improving at Social Security. 

     I deal with Social Security. I know things aren’t going well and the future looks grim. Service is currently improving in some ways and worsening in others. The  only reason service isn’t worse is the generous use of overtime. I expect there will be significantly less OT in the next fiscal year. 

     I know the agency has a huge problem with what I call the “Now now, not later, not ever” backlog, cases that present complications that take time to sort out, time that just doesn’t exist now. The employees are sorting out the easy cases first to create stats. The complex cases aren’t worked and under current circumstances they’re never going to be worked. They just keep piling up. I don’t think anyone is even counting them. I’m an attorney. Of course I raise complications. That’s my job. I know when the workers compensation offset is wrong. I know to ask for a protective filing date based upon a prior claim when the agency took an SSI only claim when they should have also taken a Disabled Adult Child claim. I know to point out that the agency missed a date first insured issue. I’m not the only one. Social Security employees themselves spot many of these things but have no time to act on them.

Going After Those Greedy Poor People

      From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: 

The Trump Administration is preparing to propose a rule to cut Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and strip eligibility for hundreds of thousands of low-income older people and severely disabled adults and children.

Under the rule, nearly 400,000 SSI beneficiaries living with family or friends experiencing their own financial struggles likely would have their benefits cut — typically by hundreds of dollars per month — or lose eligibility altogether. …

Currently, very low-income disabled or older people who receive SSI can have their benefits reduced by up to one-third (about $300 a month) if they receive “in-kind support and maintenance,” including a place to stay. Similarly, SSI recipients can have their benefits reduced based on the income of their parents (if they are under 18) or spouse, under the assumption that they will contribute to an SSI beneficiary’s living expenses. However, these reductions don’t apply to beneficiaries who live in a household that receives “public assistance,” including food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). That’s because households financially precarious enough to qualify for those benefits can’t afford to financially support SSI recipients. These rules help families support their elderly or disabled relatives, including by allowing them to live in their homes, reducing the likelihood that they experience homelessness or need institutional care. …

Under the anticipated Trump Administration proposal, it’s expected that receiving food assistance from SNAP would no longer be enough to qualify a family as a “public assistance household.” …

Smiles All Around

      Social Security’s Commissioner recently visited an agency field office in Staten Island, NY. The Commissioner talked about this visit on a new appearance on Fox News.

Already A Political Ad

Rerouting Calls To Distant Field Offices Doesn't Help Unless You View Providing Service As Only A PR Problem

     From National Public Radio (which is still a thing):

Phone calls to local Social Security offices are currently being rerouted to other field offices — often to staff who don't have jurisdiction over the caller's case, employees say.

Disability advocates and experts warn this is making it harder for people to get help. ...

In a statement to NPR, a spokesperson for the agency said that "the goal of the phone sharing system is to enhance customer service by reducing wait times and addressing customer needs at the first point of contact. ... 

But Angela Digeronimo, a claims specialist in Woodbridge, N.J., and president of a union that represents employees at 25 offices in the state, told NPR this new system creates a "hit or miss" situation for people calling in to their local office.

Digeronimo said the intention of this change "may have been to not have callers waiting," which is a good thing. But in practice, she said, it delays getting an issue sorted if a caller is rerouted to a local office that can't actually fix their problem.

"If it's someone else's office, the jurisdiction is someone else's," she said. "You can't take action on it because your office does not have the ability to clear that claim. You have to refer it over to the servicing office, which is what the member of the public thought they were doing. So, it gets a little bit cumbersome." ...