An Interesting 4th Circuit Opinion

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down an interesting opinion last week in the case of Mascio v. Colvin. Here are a few excerpts:


Here,
the ALJ has
determined
what functions he believes
Mascio can perform, but
his
opinion is sorely lacking in
the
analysis
needed
for us to review
meaningfully
those conclusions.
In particular, although the ALJ concluded that Mascio can
perform

21 Month Sentence For Former Social Security Employee

From the Dallas Morning News:


A former Social Security Administration employee was sentenced Friday to 21 months in federal prison for accessing the agency’s electronic databases to steal government money, the U.S. attorney’s office said.



Carwin Shaw, 33, of Arlington, was also ordered to pay $78,165 in restitution for his role in the scheme. ...



He also caused unauthorized

White House Criticizes GOP Effort To Force Social Security Showdown

From TPM:


A top adviser to President Barack Obama on
Friday slammed a House Republican maneuver aimed at forcing a showdown
on Social Security as early as next year, signaling that it won't fly
with the White House.




"The House provision was un-constructive and at odds with how this
issue has been addressed time and time again in a bipartisan manner,"
Brian Deese, senior advisor

ALJ Sues Over Alleged Discrimination

From the Portland (Maine) Press Herald:


A judge who rules on disability cases for the Social Security
Administration has sued the federal agency, accusing her supervisors of
age and gender discrimination and retaliating against her for filing
complaints about her treatment.

Administrative Law Judge Katherine Morgan, one of seven judges in the
Office of Disability Adjudication and

New Regulations On Submission Of Evidence

Social Security is publishing new regulations in the Federal Register on the submission of evidence tomorrow. You can read them today.

Some Questions: What's the enforcement mechanism for these requirements? If there's no enforcement mechanism, is this anything more than precatory language? As vague as these regulations are, even if there is an enforcement mechanism, is it practical

Empty Threats

In the narrative explanation of its budget proposal, the House Budget Committee says that "There should be no
raiding of the Social Security retirement
program to bailout another, currently unsustainable
program." The "unsustainable program" it's talking about is Social Security disability which has its own Disability Trust Fund separate from the Retirement and Survivors Trust Fund. Since

Doesn't Seem Fair

From BuzzFeed:


Two legal nonprofit groups filed a class action lawsuit against the
Social Security Administration Tuesday for its treatment of married
same-sex couples after the Supreme Court struck down a federal law that
prevented the federal government from recognizing their marriages.

For almost a year after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of
Marriage Act as

New Ruling On Interstitial Cystitis

A new Social Security Ruling on the evaluation of interstitial cystitis in disability claims will appear in the Federal Register tomorrow but you can read it today. The Ruling replaces SSR 02-2p.

Social Security Offices To Be Open Four More Hours Per Week

From a Social Security press release:


Social Security announces as a result of Congress’ approval of the
fiscal year 2015 budget, the agency will expand its hours nationwide
and offices will be open to the public for an additional hour on
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, effective March 16, 2015. A
field office that is usually open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. will

Hiltzik On 60 Minutes Piece

Michael Hiltzik didn't think much of the 60 Minutes piece on the problems with Social Security's Death Master File (DMF). Here are a few excerpts from his column:



[60 Minutes] implied that it had turned up this scandal through its own
digging, so it didn't mention that errors in the DMF is a hardy
journalistic perennial, like reports on how bad the traffic is in your
town or

Hope This Works

Maybe my complaint about Social Security's ineffective process for notifying the public of office closings did some good. Here's an e-mail I received from the agency:
.ivanC14259149452600{position:absolute;visibility:hidden;}

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

This Should Be Fun

From The Hill:


Republicans in the House and Senate plan to release separate budget
blueprints this month, creating the potential for conflict as they head
into a new fiscal battle with President Obama. ...

Details about what will be in the budget plans are scarce, but
Republicans have stressed the need to cut the deficit and bring the
budget “within balance,” which will require

The Octopus

From an op ed by Daniel Hatcher in the Baltimore Sun:


Our state foster care agencies [in Maryland] are apparently so underfunded that they are taking resources from abused and neglected children. The agencies are taking control over foster children's Social Security benefits (when the children are disabled or have deceased parents) and using the children's funds to repay foster care costs

Improved Video Hearing Picture Quality

I don't know how widespread this is but in Eastern North Carolina, Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) has installed new equipment for video hearings which significantly improves picture quality. The new equipment doesn't take us to true hi-def. I'd say it improves picture quality from circa 1954 (or perhaps 1944) to circa 1990, which is a major

This Is Lame

The Social Security Administration has a website that promises information about office closings updated "every 10 minutes." This is what it says right now:


Due to severe weather conditions impacting the Mid-Atlantic and other
parts of the country, offices in New Jersey, Maryland, Washington D.C.,
Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Tennessee,
Kentucky,

I Think This Is New

An example added recently to Social Security's Program Operations Manual Series (POMS):


A 50-year-old claimant with a high school education and unskilled past
relevant work has an RFC [Residual Functional Capacity] for standing/walking 2 hours of an 8-hour day
and sitting approximately 6 hours of an 8-hour day. He is able to
lift/carry/push/pull 20 pounds occasionally and 10 pounds

Workers Comp Cuts Costing Social Security

From Linda DePillis writing for the Washington Post's Wonkblog:


There’s a good news/bad news situation for occupational injuries in the
United States: Fewer people are getting hurt on the job. But those who
do are getting less help. ...

“The cutbacks [in workers compensation] have been so drastic in some places that they virtually
guarantee injured workers will plummet into poverty,”

Average Retirement Age Has Gone Up

From a report by Alicia Munnell of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

This Is How Some Overpayments Happen

Social Security has created a "Work Site", a website that's supposed to encourage return to work but it includes no information on how a disability recipient is supposed to notify the agency if he or she has returned to work. You're supposed to call the agency's 800 number but given the wait time on those calls, many claimants get frustrated and give up.

I looked into this because

New Procedure For Some Blindness Cases

Social Security has finally devised a procedure for dealing with claimants who are working and who allege that they have become statutorily blind while already on disability benefits without regard to blindness. Different standards apply to work activity in blindness cases. I had a case like this some years ago. Everyone conceded that a different standard applied to those who are

Guilty Plea In New York

From the New York Times:


A Long Island lawyer who led a huge scheme to defraud the Social Security Administration pleaded guilty on Friday, receiving a reduced sentence in return for promising to help federal investigators find other people cheating the disability insurance system, prosecutors said. ...



He faced a maximum sentence of 25 years on the top charge of grand larceny, had he

What's In A Name?

The Institute of Medicine is recommending that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), be renamed as Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease because "the term “chronic fatigue syndrome” can result in stigmatization and trivialization." CFS leads to a fari number of Social Security disability claims. I doubt that a new name is going to reduce the stigma

If These Are Your Best Arguments, You're In Trouble

Andrew Biggs, who was Deputy Commissioner of Social Security during part of the George W. Bush Administration, has written an article for the National Review giving reasons why the cap on wages covered by the F.I.C.A. tax that supports Social Security shouldn't be raised. Here are the arguments and my take on them:

There's always been a cap on wages covered by F.I.C.A. So what? Full

Online Social Security Card Replacement Coming

From today's Federal Register:


We propose to revise our regulations to allow applicants for a
Social Security number (SSN) card to apply by completing a prescribed
application and submitting the required evidence, rather than
completing a paper Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card.
We also propose to remove the word ``documentary'' from our description
of certain

Mutually Exclusive Goals

I watched today's hearing before the House Social Security Subcommittee on the impending shortfall in the Social Security Disability Trust Fund. I noticed that Republican members were insistent on two points. One was that Social Security disability recipients should know that Congress won't allow their benefits to be cut. The other was that there must be no transfer of funds from the

You're Not Likely To Get What You Want When You're Afraid To Even Say What You Really Want

Here's the witness list for the 2:00 hearing today before the House Social Security Subcommittee on "the financial status of the Disability Insurance (DI) and Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Funds, and the available legislative options to ensure full DI benefits continue to be paid":

Charles P. Blahous III, Ph.D., Public Trustee, Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees
Ed

Spending Too Much Time Reading POMS

Laurence Kotlikoff has a list of 10 Social Security Rules That Are Insane, excerpts from Social Security's Program Operations Manual Series (POMS):

“Even if we caused the (benefits) overpayment, you must show that you are without fault.”
Cash benefits for disabled workers end “the month before the month you die.”
“The lump-sum payment cannot be paid on the earnings record of a worker
who

Binder And Binder Struggling To Stay Afloat Even In Bankrutpcy

This is an article on Law 360 dated February 11:


Social security disability firm Binder & Binder LLP asked for
approval of a new $6 million loan on Tuesday as it navigates through the
Chapter 11 process, claiming that its existing lenders would rather see
the company liquidate than allow it to restructure.

Binder & Binder ... says that its existing loan
has hamstrung its ability

Class Action On Old Overpayments

From Accounting Today:




A group of plaintiffs are suing the Treasury Department, the Social Security Administration, and the District of Columbia, claiming the federal government is continuing to hold onto their tax refunds to pay for supposed overpayments of Social Security benefits decades ago. ...

The Legal Aid Society and the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge brought suit against

Institute Of Medicine Reports Forthcoming

The newsletter of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR), which is not available online, reports that the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a division of the National Academies of Sciences, is working on three "consensus reports" for Social Security which may be coming out later this year. These will deal with:

Psychological testing, including symptom

Some Info On ABLE Accounts

The Social Security Administration has released the following set of questions and answers to help its staff in dealing with inquiries about the new ABLE accounts:


A. Purpose of this EM [Emergency Message]

This EM provides important information regarding the
Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act (P.L. 113-295) and ABLE
accounts. Specific guidance on how to treat ABLE accounts

Class Action On Consultative Examinations In Bay Area

From a press release:


A class action lawsuit was filed today in federal district court in San
Francisco against the Social Security Administration (SSA) by three
plaintiffs who were deprived of disability benefits because of SSA’s
continued reliance on medical reports from a doctor who has been
disqualified. The grossly deficient reports were based on cursory
examinations (often

Appropriations Hearing Scheduled

The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee has scheduled a hearing for February 26 at 10:00 on "The Vital Responsibility of Serving the Nation's Aging and Disabled Communities."Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin is scheduled to testify.

"To Ensure Full DI Benefits Continue To Be Paid"

A press release from the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee:


U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security announced today that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing focused on the financial status of the Disability Insurance (DI) and Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Funds, and

Netherlands No Model For U.S. On Disability Benefits

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities gives a primer on why the Netherlands probably won't be a model for the United States when it comes to disability benefits. Here's the gist as well as a chart:


Even after reforms, the Netherlands spends far more than the United States on disability benefits. ...



Until the mid-1990s, the Netherlands spent six to eight times
as much on

Where's The Outrage?

From the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) newletter (not available online) this is a report on Social Security hearing office processing time as of the end of January. Note that the "fastest" office is processing requests for hearings in 295 days while the slowest is taking more than two years. Tell me again how Social Security is using video

Cutting Social Security Disability Will Be Tough

The "Monkey Cage" at the Washington Post details some of the reasons why "reform" of Social Security disability, if "reform" means cutting, will be almost impossible. Maybe the most important reason listed is that there's no constituency lobbying for cuts in Social Security disability. The only ones lobbying for cuts are a few "scholars" at "think tanks" and the right's Social Security "

Rep. Johnson Introduces Bill

Sam Johnson, the Chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee, has introduced a bill that would prevent a person from receiving both unemployment insurance benefits and Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits at the same time. The President has included the same proposal in his budget for the next fiscal year. That sounds great to many people. However, there are a few problems.

Consultative Examinations Still Suck

A very small diabetic foot ulcer. Not my client's foot.

Social Security recently sent one of my clients for a consultative medical examination. She's a diabetic. At the time of the examination she has an ulcer on one of her feet. The consultative doctor records this fact that she told him about the ulcer. The claimant was and is complaining more than anything else about her feet, not