Commissioner Remains In A Self-Congratulatory Mood

 

Social Security Free To Share Data With DOGE

      From The Guardian:

A US appeals court on Tuesday rejected a bid by a group of unions to block the Trump administration government downsizing team known as the “department of government efficiency” (Doge) from accessing sensitive data on Americans.

The Virginia-based fourth US circuit court of appeals in a 2-1 decision said the unions were unlikely to prevail on claims that Doge would violate federal privacy laws by accessing data at the US Department of Education, treasury department, and office of personnel management. ...

The decision reverses a temporary injunction issued by a federal judge in Maryland, which had been paused by the appeals court in April. ...

The fourth circuit on Tuesday said the unions that sued along with a group of military veterans had not shown how they would be injured by Doge accessing agencies’ computer systems. They also probably lacked legal standing to sue because that access is not a “final agency action” that can form the basis of a lawsuit, the court said.

A dissenting judge said it was prudent to temporarily block access to the data while the case plays out, and that the standard his colleagues had imposed on the plaintiffs was too high. ...    

 

Six Myths About Social Security

      With Social Security’s 90th birthday coming up the New York Times has a piece on “6 Myths About It That Won’t Go Away.” Here they are:

Social Security is ‘running out of money

Aging boomers are the problem

Social Security helps drive the deficit

The trust fund is nothing but a pile of I.O.U.s

We need to cut benefits now to pay them later

Waste, fraud and abuse abound

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.” …