One Republican Senator Asks For Hearing Speedup

The Raleigh News and Observer reports that Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) has written the Commissioner of Social Security:

"Those appealing a denial of Social Security disability benefits are experiencing outrageously long delays in the scheduling of hearings at the Offices of Disability Adjudication and Review," Dole wrote to Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue. "North Carolinians appealing a denial must in many cases wait nearly two years, and individuals who are ultimately granted benefits on appeal suffer substantial financial, emotional and even physical hardships during this delay.

"This situation concerns me deeply and is clearly unacceptable."

One View Of Social Security Disability Benefits

From an op ed piece by Melanie Scarborough (no e-mail address given) in the Washington, D.C. Examiner:

Most Americans probably assume that to qualify as “disabled,” an individual must be physically unable to work for a living. In fact, the Social Security Administration deems individuals disabled if they cannot continue working in their chosen profession and “cannot adjust” to a different job. ...

It’s even possible to collect payments for being disabled from a job you were never able to perform. A few years ago, a Newport News pipefitting apprentice was fired for cause after earning failing marks in her training courses.

But because she injured her wrist before she was terminated and would have been unable to continue in the job, had she been able to do it, a judge ruled that she established “a prima facie case of total disability.” ...

The SSA’s guidebook, which might as well be entitled, “You, Too, Can Be Disabled!” walks applicants through the steps to collect their jackpots. The first requirement is not to have traceable income of more than $900 a month.

Next, one must present a malady that is either among the listed impairments or is equal in severity. The lists are so exhaustive that almost everyone has some condition by which they could claim to be disabled. ...

For example, the guidelines say that in determining whether an individual has a musculoskeletal disability, the “inability to walk on the heels or toes, to squat, or to arise from a squatting position may be considered evidence of significant motor loss.” It also may be considered evidence of being older than 40.

Among the disabilities listed under “skin disorders” is dermatitis — i.e., dish-pan hands. Some skin conditions can be deemed disabling merely because they’re upsetting. ...

Yet the biggest travesty is that chiselers are clogging a system designed to help individuals who drew the genetic short straw and, through no fault of their own, cannot work to support themselves.

Most Have No Alternative To Social Security Disability Benefits

United Press International reports that a study shows that only 44% of Americans have long term disability insurance, even though disability insurance benefits under Social Security are only paid after a five month waiting period -- and most Social Security disability claimants have to wait much longer for a disability determination or appeal

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Personnel Changes At SSA

The Social Security Administration is now advertising position openings for Associate Commissioner for Budget, Deputy Associate Commissioner for Budget and Regional Commissioner for the Seattle region. The two budget openings suggest that Commissioner Astrue is already starting to make personnel changes and that Social Security's budget situation is a high priority.

Proposed Regulations On Overpayment Personal Conferences

From today's Federal Register:

We propose to revise our title II regulations and add title XVI regulations on personal conferences when waiver of recovery of an overpayment cannot be approved. These proposed rules would allow for the conferences to be conducted face-to-face, by telephone, or by video teleconference in these circumstances.

An Image From 1951

Ticket to Work Meeting

Social Security's Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel has scheduled a teleconference meeting for March 13. If you are really a glutton for punishment, it is possible to listen in.