Trustees Report No Changes

     From a press release issued by the Social Security Administration:


The Social Security Board of Trustees today released its annual report
on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. 
The combined assets of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, and
Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds are projected to become
depleted in 2033, unchanged from last year,

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Why Do People Retire Earlier Or Later Than They Planned?

From a MetLife study

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Unemployment And Disability Claims

     The abstract of  Characteristics and Employment of Applicants for Social Security Disability Insurance Over the Business Cycle, a study by Stephan Lindner and Clark Burdick for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:


This study investigates the relationship between fluctuations in the short-term unemployment rate and characteristics of applicants for Social Security

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The New Meme

     The new meme for the right wing echo chamber: Record 10,978,040 Now on Disability; ‘Disability’ Would Be 8th Most Populous State.

     This just in: The number of people living in the United States who have ever been diagnosed with "cancer" is 19 million which would be the 5th most populous state, well ahead of the "Social Security disability state."

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Final Rule On Garnishment Of Federal Benefits

     From today's Federal Register:


[Social Security and several other agencies] are adopting as
final an interim rule to amend their regulation governing the
garnishment of certain Federal benefit payments that are directly
deposited to accounts at financial institutions. The rule establishes
procedures that financial institutions must follow when they receive a
garnishment order against

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Every Little Way

     From EM-13017 issued last week:


SSA [Social Security Administration] is implementing changes to reduce the agency’s printing and mailing costs. We will stop enclosing appeal pamphlets with initial award and denial notices. The body of the notice includes a detailed explanation of the claimant’s appeal rights. We will make appeal pamphlets available upon request. We will no long include

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What Will They Do With The Report?

     From a presolicitation notice posted by Social Security at FedBizOpps.Gov:


Investigative services to be performed under contract to verify
claimants? (sic) U.S. residency to establish eligibility for receiving
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for (sic) the Social Security
Administration (SSA). It is anticipated that one award will be made.
The service area zones are

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Political Patronage Jobs On Social Security Tribunal

     From The Canadian Press:


Up to a third of the people who landed cushy patronage
jobs on the new Social Security Tribunal gave money to the Conservative
party, public records show.

As many as 16 of the 48 people so far appointed to the tribunal
donated money to the party, riding associations or candidates, according
to Elections Canada records. None of the appointees appear to have

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Senator Says That Social Security Is Candy And It's Going To Kill Us If We Don't Do Something

     From a speech given in February by Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) (emphasis added):


... The left is giving away candy.  You don’t have to buy it; they’re
giving it away and it’s tasty stuff.  And what are we faced with as
conservatives?  We’re the folks sitting on the sidelines going “Yes, I
know you like that candy, but here’s the problem; it’s caused a cavity. 
No, it’s even worse than

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Memorial Day

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Reallocation Is The Way To Go

     The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) has issued a news brief discussing the issues concerning the looming shortfall in the Disability Insurance Trust Fund in 2016. The obvious solution is a temporary reallocation of more of the FICA tax to the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Reallocations have been made -- in both directions -- eleven times in the past. What is unclear is

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Anyone Have A Theory About What Happened Here?

     From WLTV:


Gene Mathis 75, said he looks for strength and comfort in a place where many find them, his bible. ...

Mathis, now retired, said he needs the encouragement to face his problems with Social Security, a problem that is two years old. 

"They said I owe them 30-thousand dollars," he said. 

Mathis was born 1938, but his Panama City school records show he was born 1942. Mathis

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A CR's Lament

     An op ed piece in the Hudson, NY Register-Star:




On May 7, 2013 an e-mail with the subject, “A Plea For Help” was
sent to the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration,
Ms. Carolyn Colvin by Douglas Ottomanelli, claims representative and
union representative for the Hudson, NY field office. This e-mail
briefly outlined some of the issues and frustrations facing SSA

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Poll

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Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

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Could It Happen Here?

      From the Daily Mail:


A couple have spoken of their disbelief after just one of their disabled identical twin sons, who both have Downs Syndrome, was granted vital disability benefits while the other was refused.

Little Arthur and Alfie, both 10 months old, share the exact same medical conditions and need the same round-the-clock care. But a government ruling has found that only Arthur

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I Wish I Could Be Optimistic That This Will Work

Acting Commissioner Colvin is in a green top at the far end on the near side

     From a press release issued by the Senate Appropriations Committee:


Chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), joined by Senator Tim Johnson (D. S.D.), Chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, today announced the initial results of a roundtable discussion with senior Administration

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Boom In Training For Social Security Consulting

     From a press release:


Premier Social Security Consulting, LLC of Cincinnati has experienced
explosive growth since implementing its National Social Security
Advisors (NSSA) training certification program nationwide in
January. ...

The company provides two-day,
Social Security advisor training class for CPAs, financial advisors,
insurance agents, Enrolled Agents and other

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Videos To Prove That Social Security Disability Fraud Exists -- But The Question Is How Much?

     From KMOV in St. Louis:


People who fake disabilities to get paid are part of an exploding entitlement program.


Here in St. Louis, the fakers contribute to the
backlog, which forces people with real disabilities to wait up to two
years to get approved.

In fact, the downtown St. Louis Social Security
Administration office has the longest wait time for a disability ruling
appeal in

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New Children's Listings Proposed

     From today's Federal Register:


Several body systems in our Listing of Impairments (listings)
contain listings for children based on impairment of linear growth or
weight loss. We propose to replace those listings with new listings,
add a listing to the genitourinary body system for children, and
provide new introductory text for each listing explaining how to apply
the new criteria.

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Witness List For Social Security Subcommittee Hearing

     Here's the witness list for tomorrow's hearing before the House Social Security Subcommittee on "Bipartisan Entitlement Reform Proposals":

Ed Lorenzen
Executive Director, The Moment of Truth Project, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
G. William Hoagland
Senior Vice President, Bipartisan Policy Center
Jason Fichtner, Ph.D.
Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center
Leticia Miranda

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It's Not A Good Idea To Mess With Social Security

     A false rumor about the demise of Social Security in Brazil led to a run on banks in that country.

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Social Security Subcommittee Announces Hearing

     From a press release:


U.S. Congressman Sam
Johnson (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Social Security, today announced the third in a series
of hearings on the President’s and other bipartisan entitlement reform
proposals.  This hearing will focus on proposed adjustments to Social
Security benefits, as included in the President’s Fiscal Year 2014

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Call Me Maybe?

     From a notice of final rule-making set to appear in the Federal Register tomorrow:


To address recent court cases, we are making final the rules that allow the ALJ to determine that a person other than the claimant or any other party to the hearing may appear at the hearing by telephone. In a recent Federal case, a District Court Judge held that we could not take a medical expert’s

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Yelp Reviews A Field Office

     Yelp allows anyone to post a review of just about any entity dealing with the public and that includes Social Security field offices. Most field offices have not been reviewed but the field office in San Francisco's Chinatown has received quite some interesting reviews. Members of the public should expect lines and delays at that office but the Social Security employees do speak Chinese!

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Transition Report For The New Commissioner Of Social Security

     The Strengthen Social Security Coalition has produced a "Transition Report for the New Commissioner of Social Security", not that there is any sign that President will soon nominate a new Commissioner.
     Below is the press conference at which the report was introduced.

     A bit more could have been done to promote this report and press conference.

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News From NOSSCR Conference

     Here are a few items from yesterday's National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) Conference in Washington:

David Camp received the Eileen Sweeney Distinguised Service Award. Camp spearheaded the legal assault on the "secret ALJ" policy.
Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin said that Social Security is now 60 days out in scheduling appointments with its field

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Charlotte ALJ Harper Passes

     Charlotte Administrative Law Judge Richard Harper has passed away. He was the Administrative Law Judge in Charge (ALJIC) of that office until the name of the job changed to Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge (HOCALJ). He remained in that position until quite recently. It will give readers some idea of how long he managed that office that I interviewed with him for a staff

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CRS Report On Proposals To Cut Social Security Disability

     William R. Morton has done a report for the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on "An Overview of Proposals to Reduce the Growth in SSDI [Social Security Disability Insurance] Rolls."  The report is impressively footnoted but to say it breaks no new ground would be an understatement. I keep thinking I must have read this before even though it's brand new. 

     Morton accepts the premise

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Rockaways Office Reopens

     From the New York Daily News:


The Rockaway Social Security office, another casualty of Superstorm Sandy, re-opened Monday.



Staffers from the location had been temporarily working out of
Assemblywoman Michelle Titus' office while the facility at 113-06
Rockaway Beach Blvd. was repaired.



"The return of the Social Security office to the Rockaways represents
the federal

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Meet The New Judge, Same As The Old Judge

     Let's say a claimant has a hearing before Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) X and is denied. The claimant decides not to appeal the decision but to file a new claim. That new claim is denied at the initial and reconsideration levels. The claimant then requests a new hearing. Are there some hearing offices that automatically assign the claimant's case to ALJ X again instead of assigning the

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You Can Scare People But They Still Want Their Social Security

     From a poll conducted for the National Academy of Social Insurance:

Percent who agree strongly or somewhat:
Don't mind paying Social Security because it provides security and stability to millions -- 84%

It is critical that we preserve Social Security even if it means raising taxes -- Working Americans 82%, Wealthy Americans 87%

Percent who favor increasing Social Security's Cost of

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ALJ Positions Popular

     There's a report that there were more than 5,000 applications filed when the government recently took applications for positions as Social Security Administrative Law Judges (ALJs).

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Return To Benefits After Disability Termination

     From a study published in the Social Security Buletin:


The Social Security Administration (SSA) periodically reviews the disabilities of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients and Social Security Disability Insurance (DI)
beneficiaries to determine if their impairments still meet the
requirements for program eligibility. For individuals whose eligibility
was ceased after a full

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Most Popular Baby Names

     Social Security has released its list of most popular baby names for 2012:


Boys:

Jacob
Mason
Ethan
Noah
William
Liam
Jayden
Michael
Alexander
Aiden


 
Girls:

Sophia
Emma
Isabella
Olivia
Ava
Emily
Abigail
Mia
Madison
Elizabeth

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"There Must Have Been A Thousand People Just Sitting There Waiting"

     From the Philadelphia Inquirer:


Robin Blount
walked up to what used to be a Social Security Administration field
office in North Philadelphia this week and was shocked and angry.  ...

A sign inside the gates read: "The Social Security Administration
field office previously operating at this location IS NOW CLOSED."

People were advised to visit the Social Security office in Center

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Unauthorized Immigrants Help Social Security

     From a report issued by Social Security's Office of Chief Actuary, issued in response to a request from Senator Marco Rubio:



Beyond the taxes paid and benefits received by unauthorized workers, the larger effect on the long-term actuarial status of the OASDI [Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance] Trust Funds derives from the children born in the U.S. to these immigrants. These

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It's A Big Country

     I live in Raleigh. It's a prosperous, urban place. People here are mostly well educated and mostly work in white collar jobs. Raleigh produces disability claims but many of my firm's clients live in places like Roanoke Rapids, where I took this picture on May 2. Roanoke Rapids has a population of about 17,000. The town's name comes from the extensive rapids on the Roanoke River which lie

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I Think This Problem Is Just Going To Get Worse And Worse

     From a TV station that wants to be known as "6 South Florida":


As Maria Elena Ruiz was getting ready to pay her father's medical bills for the month, she realized there was a big problem.

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New SSA Mobile Optimized Website

     From a Social Security press release:


Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, today
announced the agency is offering a new mobile optimized website,
specifically aimed at smartphone users across the country.  People
visiting the agency’s website, www.socialsecurity.gov,
via smartphone (Android, Blackberry, iPhone, and Windows devices) will
be redirected to the

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Is This A Good Idea?

     From the Montgomery Advertiser:


Michelle Clampit expected financial relief to arrive soon in the form
of an income tax refund check. She was counting on it, in fact. ...


But
no deposit was made, and when she checked the IRS website to find out
what happened, she was referred to the Social Security Administration.


The
Wetumpka resident said she had no idea she possibly could have

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Dilsability Recipients Fight Stigma

     From the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser:


When he looks in the mirror each morning, the man staring back at
Steven Ladner looks healthy. There are no outward signs of disability,
certainly nothing that would prevent the 42-year-old from heading off to
a full-time job and normal life.But
underneath the skin, it’s a different story. Ladner suffers from
debilitating migraines and diabetes.

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Payments Down Sharply In April

Social Security has issued updated numbers on payments of fees
to attorneys and some others for representing Social Security
claimants. These fees are withheld and paid by Social Security but come
out of the back benefits of the claimants involved. The attorneys and
others who have their fees withheld pay a user fee for this privilege. Since these fees are usually
paid at the same time that

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Who Is Behind Planet Money?

      The Citizens Journalists Exchange blog thinks that the critics of the NPR hit piece on Social Security disability need to take off the kid gloves:


Just over a week ago,  my Twitter feed
started getting bombarded with links to the latest — and quite possibly
the scummiest — Planet Money/This American Life propaganda piece on NPR
for the financial industry, disguised as highbrow

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Philadelphia Office Closed

     From KYW:


Some North Philadelphia residents were surprised today to find their local Social Security Administration office shuttered, the result of a tighter federal budget and sequestration.

Since October, the Social Security Administration has closed three of its offices in the Philadelphia region. ...

The office served about 100 people a day, roughly 26,000 a year ...

The Social

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Takes Too Long To Get Problems Resolved

     From some Tulsa TV station that only wants to be known as "2":


There's a lot to ponder, Charles says, during his daily walks.   

How do you recover, he wonders, after a drunk driver kills your adult son? ...

It only turned worse, when the emotional grief turned to financial turmoil. 

Since
his son's first and last names were the same as Charles', social
security mistakenly thought

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OIG Agents Testify

     From KOMU:


Social Security Administration agents said under oath Wednesday they
requested a list of Missouri's concealed-carry permit holders on three
occasions but ultimately never used the data. ...

Schilb and Troy Turk, Special Agent in Charge of the administration's
Kansas City field office, told the committee they had planned to compare
the list of Missouri's concealed-carry

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How Well Does Social Security Use Plain Language?

     Social Security has recently issued its 2012 Plain Writing Act Compliance Report. You can send any comments on the state of plain writing at Social Security to PlainWriting@ssa.gov.

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Online Fraud Attempt

     From KSDK:


The Social Security Administration says complaints of fraud linked to online social security accounts are isolated. 

NewsChannel 5 broke the story Monday that people had gotten letters about an online account they hadn't signed up for. 


Late Tuesday afternoon, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office reached
out to victims via Facebook, offering ways to protect themselves.

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Why Is It Acceptable For People Calling Social Security To Wait Eight Minutes For Someone To Answer The Phone?

     I thought it would be a good idea to take another look at the White House proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2014, which begins on October 1, 2013. Take a look at these numbers:

Average
Speed of Answer (ASA) [on Social Security's 800 number] (seconds) 
FY
2012 294
FY 2013 455
FY 2014 482 [projected]

     
It was taking an average of five minutes to get to a real person when
you

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