IG Catches Alleged Murderer

     From the Albuquerque Journal:


The son of an 88-year-old New Mexico man has admitted killing his father
and dismembering the body on the floor of his bedroom with an electric
tree trimming chain saw, authorities said.

Carlsbad police said Steven Michael Allumbaugh, 62, recently
told investigators that he struck his father, Thomas Luther Allumbaugh,
during an argument in January

Read More

Advance Notice On Hearing Listings

     Social Security is giving advance notice that it is reviewing its Listings for hearing loss and disturbances of labyrinthine-lestibular function. No change is announced, just the opportunity to comment on whether and how the listings should be changed. If any change is to be made, Social Security would first publish the proposed changes and allow comments on them. 

     My experience is

Read More

Batting Next, Social Security

     The I.R.S has announced that same sex couples who were married in a jurisdiction that recognizes same sex marriages may file joint returns even if they live in a state that refuses to recognize same sex marriages solemnized in other states. This leaves Social Security as, by far, the most important agency where this issue remains unresolved.

Read More

Getting Harder, Not Easier

     From Disabled Worker Allowance Rates: Variation Under Changing Economic Conditions, Actuarial Note 153 issued by the Office of Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration.



     You can make of this what you will but anyone who says it's been getting easier to get Social Security disability benefits doesn't know what he or she is talking about. In truth, it's become significantly more

Read More

Don't Even Think About It

     From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:


Federal employee and Conyers, Ga., resident Cordell Fleming pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to extorting money from people due Social Security benefits. ...

Fleming offered to “expedite” the processing time of SSI payments to
SSI beneficiaries and SSI beneficiary payees in exchange for a fee. In
an attempt to make the expedited SSI payments

Read More

Nine Meters Of Croissants A Minute And The DOT

     I recently interviewed a new client whose last job was with a commercial bakery. He only worked there for about three months. It was the first time in his life that he had worked in baking. He made croissants. I expressed surprise because I thought that making croissants required great skill. His response was basically, "No, they have a machine that makes the croissants. All I had to do

Read More

Appeals Council Status Report Now Available Online

     Over the weekend Social Security added an Appeals Council Status Report feature to its online system. This allows attorneys and others representing Social Security claimants to go online and obtain a report on the status of their cases pending at the Appeals Council. Much time has been wasted over the decades as attorneys called the Appeals Council to ask about the status of their cases.

Read More

Now That's What I'm Talking About!

Read More

President's Management Agenda Website

    There is a "President's Management Agenda" website for Social Security that allows anyone to share ideas on management initiatives for Social Security. Anyone can vote on whether they think an idea has merit. The top ideas will submitted to the President's Management Council. This website is sponsored by the Social Security Administration even though it's not on ssa.gov.

Read More

Astrue Takes Another Biotech Position

     About a month ago former Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue took a job as non-executive chairman of the board of Vivus, a biotechnology company. Astrue has now taken a position as interim CEO of InVivo Therapeutics, another biotechnology company. There is no sign that Astrue is resigning the Vivus position, which, being "non-executive", is presumably part time.

Read More

Watch Out For Walmart Debit Cards!

     My client wanted her Social Security benefits deposited to her Walmart debit card. After her disability claim was approved by Social Security, the U.S. Treasury tried to direct deposit her back benefits to the Walmart debit card. Unfortunately, Walmart limits each individual direct deposit to one of its debit cards to $7,000. My client's back benefits were more than $7,000 so the money

Read More

68 Arrests In Alleged Disability Fraud In Puerto Rico

     From the Wall Street Journal:



Federal
agents arrested 68 people in Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning as part of an
investigation into alleged abuse of the Social Security Disability Insurance
program, two people familiar with the operation said. 



More
arrests are expected. The bust appears to be one of the largest disability fraud
cases ever assembled by federal investigators. 

Read More

AFGE Newsletter

     The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union local that represents most Social Security employees has gotten around to issuing its first newsletter of the year. The tone of the newsletter could be a bit less antagonistic toward the agency than prior newsletters. If so, that might be related to the departure of Michael Astrue as Commissioner of Social Security.

Read More

The Universal Identifier

     From WHEC in Rochester, NY:


I-Team 10 has a warning of how important it is to protect your identity. The problem happens to millions of Americans.

In this case, the woman didn't do anything wrong. It was the federal
government that gave her social security number away and since then,
it's been a nightmare.

Her name is Jennifer Lavigne and her nightmare started when she was

Read More

Treasury Agrees To Scale Back Paper Check Threats

     From the Columbus Dispatch:


Seniors who were threatened with the loss of their benefits if they did not trade
in their paper checks for Social Security benefits paid through a debit card or electronic deposit
might be getting a reprieve.

The Treasury Department has agreed to make it easier for them to request a waiver to the
electronic requirement, after a hearing held by Sen. Bill

Read More

New POMS Transmittal On Suspension Or Disqualification Of Representatives

     Social Security has issued a transmittal to its Program Operations Manual Series (POMS) dealing with "Suspension or Disqualification of Representatives." The changes mostly concern the new requirement that those who represent claimants deal with the agency electronically as much as possible. Agency employees can share their experiences but I haven't heard anything suggesting that there have

Read More

SDM Works Great But It Must Die?

     From a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):


Our review of 3,900 sample cases from the SDM [Single Decision Maker] prototype, SDM II and Non-SDM sites showed initial claim processing times were shorter in SDM sites than in the Non-SDM sites.

The 20 pilot sites, as well as the National Association of Disability Examiners and the National Council of Disability

Read More

No Punishment For Aiding And Abetting Illegal Aliens

     From an audit report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) (footnotes omitted, emphasis added):


Because the Social Security Administration (SSA) calculates future benefit payments based on the earnings an individual has accumulated over his/her lifetime, it is critical that the Agency accurately record those earnings. SSA’s ability to do so, however, depends, in part, on

Read More

"It Is A Frustrating Bureaucracy"

     From some Arizona newspaper that hides its name on its website:


Gaye Kelley spent 50 years in the workforce, doing many jobs:
teacher, flight attendant and, eventually, Salt River Project
customer-service representative for 30 years.

When the Mesa resident retired in 2011, she had accrued a full two
years of vacation pay and sick days from SRP. She looked forward to
retirement. But

Read More

Investigation In Puerto Rico

     From the Wall Street Journal:


Federal investigators on Wednesday searched six facilities in Puerto
Rico as part of a broadening probe into potential widespread disability
fraud.

Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Social
Security inspector general’s office, among others, searched five
doctors’ offices and one other location as part of their sweep, a

Read More

Silverstone Named As New Executive Director Of NOSSCR

     Barbara Silverstone has been named as the new Executive Director of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR). NOSSCR's 3,000 plus members, most of them attorneys, represent claimants for Social Security benefits. Barbara had been a staff attorney for NOSSCR.

Read More

Doing Less With Less

     From Federal News Radio:


Social Security managed to escape most of the impacts of sequestration. Other agencies, like the Defense Department, the Internal Revenue Service, the Housing and Urban Development Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have furloughed people. Social Security cut back office hours and is doing more with fewer

Read More

AARP Calls For New Commissioner

     The AARP has issued a press release calling for the President to nominate a new Commissioner of Social Security.

Read More

Taitz Not Going Away

     Orly Taitz is still going strong at the "World's Leading Obama Eligibility Challenge Web Site." She's now mostly making Freedom of Information Act requests to the Social Security Administration for documents concerning the President's mother!  Among Taitz' findings are these gems:


It is not clear, why did Ann Dunham [the President's mother] apply for a change from Dunham to Dunham Obama

Read More

Not Necessarily Social Security Disability But Still ...

     From KGW in Portland, OR:

Several Portland neighborhoods were outraged after fliers were left on doorsteps in the middle of the night targeting people with disabilities.

The fliers accuse people who receive disability benefits of destroying democracy, and the person behind the fliers is now promising to post the names of all people in specific neighborhoods that receive disability benefits

Read More

Just In Britain?

     From a press release issued by Kent University in England:


Misleading news coverage, driven mostly by the policy process, is
preventing thousands of people in need from claiming vital welfare
benefits, according to a new report by University researchers on behalf
of the charity Turn2us.


The report, titled Benefits Stigma in Britain, reveals that one in
four eligible people had

Read More

Broomell A Special Employee

     From the Washington Post: 



David Broomell, a longtime Social Security programmer and project manager, has been instrumental in creating new ways to make visits to Social Security offices more customer-friendly through innovative information technology solutions. At the same time, he has developed new computer tools for employees, allowing them to offer more timely and efficient

Read More

Glad We Got Solutions To Those Problems!

     The Cato Institute, a right wing "think tank", has issued a set of what it calls "essays" on "downsizing" Social Security (lots of quotation marks here but they're all merited):





Social Security Retirement:
Social Security faces a huge financing gap because of its pay-as-you-go
structure and the aging of the U.S. population. It should be
transitioned to a system of personal savings

Read More

An Omission Noted

     From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:


The House Ways and Means Committee has invited members of the public to comment on the Bowles-Simpson and Domenici-Rivlin plans to restore solvency to Social Security.

But there’s a glaring omission:  from reading the committee’s description
of the two plans — and its draft bills — you’d never know that both
Bowles-Simpson and

Read More

Looking Good Through First Half Of Year

     Social Security's only urgent funding problems is the Disability Trust Fund. The projections are that it will run out of money in 2016. I had written last month about the fact that so far this year the Disability Insurance Trust Fund was doing much better than anyone had projected.
     We now have updated numbers on the income and outgo from the Disability Trust Fund through June of this

Read More

Social Security Bulletin Released

     The August 2013 issue of the Social Security Bulletin, the agency's scholarly publication, has been released

Read More

Sheriff Pleads Not Guilty

     From the Mobile Press-Register:


Washington County Sheriff Richard Stringer formally pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he helped an employee evade Social Security rules capping the amount of retirement money he could earn.

Authorities
allege that Stringer agreed to put the employee’s wife on the payroll
at the Sheriff’s Office and divert part of the man’s income to her.

Read More

"Some" Same Sex Marriage Claims Being Processed

    A press release from Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin:


“I am pleased to announce that Social Security is now processing
some retirement spouse claims for same-sex couples and paying benefits
where they are due.  The recent Supreme Court decision on Section 3 of
the Defense of Marriage Act, made just over a month ago, helps to ensure
that all Americans are treated

Read More

When Might Social Security Have A New Commissioner?

     The Baltimore Sun has noticed that six months after Michael Astrue completed his term as Commissioner of Social Security the President has yet to make a nomination for a new Commissioner:


Advocates have praised acting Commissioner Carolyn W. Colvin, a
former Maryland state official, for managing this year's budget cuts
and being more communicative than Astrue. But they say anyone

Read More

Reporter Didn't Enjoy Visit To Field Office

     Rick Tosches has written a column for the Colorado Springs Independent that he's titled "A dispatch from Crazytown, aka the Social Security office." He claims there were no chairs in the waiting room and that he had to wait over two and a half hours to be "served". Also, he wasn't too impressed by the other people he saw in the waiting room.

Read More

Layoffs At Allsup

     From the Belleville, IL News Democrat:


Local Social Security disability claims company Allsup Inc. is cutting 65 jobs.

Rebecca
Ray, director of corporate public relations for Allsup, said employees
were being notified Tuesday. She said the cuts affect jobs within
different departments at the Belleville-based company. ...


Ray
said the layoffs are coming as a result of federal

Read More

Cutting Processing Time In Half At VA With Just A Form?

     From the Columbus Dispatch:


... Starting today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will offer veterans seeking disability
benefits the chance to be eligible for one year of retroactive benefits by filling out
comprehensive disability forms known as Fully Developed Claims [FDCs].

The retroactive program, approved last year by Congress, is an aggressive effort by the Obama

Read More

Can You Get Good Advice From Social Security?

     Yahoo! Finance doesn't think much of the advice being given by Social Security employees.

Read More

SSAB Wants BOND Ended

     From the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) (footnote omitted):



This paper is an assessment of merits of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Benefit Offset National Demonstration’s (BOND) ability to address the following: 1) will an offset incentivize more work in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries, and 2) what will be the amount of induced entry from the

Read More

Fee Payment Update

     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

Read More

Seeking Child Support As Condition For SSI?

     From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):


SSA [Social Security Administration] could save approximately $151.2 million, annually, if the number of individuals receiving and/or reporting child support increases by 100,000. Alternatively, SSA could save approximately $302. million, annually, if the number of recipients receiving and/or reporting child

Read More

Man Arrested For Threatening Ann Arbor Office

     From a WDIV in Detroit:


Federal
investigators say Daniel Norton is a dangerous man who may have been
planning a mass murder and escape into the wilderness.

The
Ypsilanti man was out on bond for making violent threats against
workers at an Ann Arbor Social Security office. Then, on Wednesday,
Homeland Protective Services looked in the trunk of his car and found an
arsenal of weapons

Read More

Information Sharing Missions Which Support Homeland Security?

     Social Security is advertising two Intelligence Operations Specialist jobs in Woodlawn, MD. According to USAJobs:


This position [actually positions] is located in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Budget, Finance and Management (DCBFM), Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness (OSEP), Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP). Once selected for this important position at SSA, the

Read More

Anonymous Contact Form Functioning Again

     The anonymous contact form for this blog is functioning again. It had gone down when the service I had used previously suddenly went belly up. It's working again with a new service.

Read More

Allegation Of SSI Fraud Involved In Cleveland Kidnapping

     From some television station in Cleveland that doesn't post its call letters on its website:


Sources confirm a federal probe is underway into thousands of dollars
in social security income that may have been illegally obtained while
Cleveland kidnapping victim Michelle Knight was held hostage.

The
social security income is  most likely in the form of supplemental
security income

Read More

Replace "Mental Retardation" With "Intellectual Disability"

     From a notice in the Federal Register posted today by the Social Security Administration:


We are replacing the term ``mental retardation'' with
``intellectual disability'' in our Listing of Impairments (listings) ... This change reflects the
widespread adoption of the term ``intellectual disability'' by
Congress, government agencies, and various public and private
organizations.

Read More

Op Ed Says Social Security Disability Is A "Monster"

     From an op ed in the East Valley Tribune:


Social Security Disability Insurance is
turning into a monster. It has experienced exponential growth, much like
other big government entitlement programs. As a consequence, it
threatens to run out of money by 2016. Worse, it weakens our economy and
has become yet another dark cloud over our financial future. ...

Some of the growth can be

Read More