Over the past year, the newspaper The Oregonian, Portland and Oregon’s local paper, has been running a series carefully documenting the devastating delays at the Social Security hearing offices, putting a human face on this non-comedy of errors and underfunding. Brent Walth and Bryan Denson of The Oregonian have just won the prestigious Bruce Baer Award for Investigative Reporting, for uncovering the enormous backlog of disability claims in the Social Security system. The articles showed that while claims management is a nationwide problem, Social Security Administration’s Portland office has one of the slowest case-completion rates in the country. The reporters found several cases in which claimants died while waiting for a benefits determination from the office: On average, it takes nearly two years for the Portland office to handle the appeal of a case.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer today notes that “if you or a loved one is on Social Security or Supplemental Security Income and that $250 stimulus payment for each beneficiary has not arrived by check or direct deposit, visit socialsecurity.gov online or call 800-772-1213. Start inquiring on June 4.

Medicaid patients in nursing homes may keep their $250, which will not be counted as income for Medicaid purposes. Hang up on anyone calling to help you get the payment. Don’t spend it all in one place.

Second, you may have heard that the government has decided inflation is so low that for the first time there will be no Cost of Living Adjustment or COLA (increase) in Social Security benefits for the next two years. Former Deputy Social Security Commissioner Andrew Biggs says this news is not all bad because benefits will remain the same while the cost of living is less, which means many beneficiaries will still be ahead. However, many retirement experts have suggested the cost-of-living index for older people should be higher than the rest of the population, in large part because of out-of-pocket medical and drug costs.

Barbara Kennelly of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare says that “zero COLAS would also mean no Medicare Part B premium increases” for most beneficiaries, for, by law, Social Security benefits may not decrease for current beneficiaries. However, new and affluent beneficiaries will be subject to the higher Part B premiums. And Part D premiums, which are expected to rise by 11 percent, she said, will continue to shred the already-tattered budgets of many older Americans.” Link to story here:

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For impact on the overall Social Security system, this new statistic is significant for several reasons. It impacts the maturity of the workforce, it demonstrates the desperation of people who are exhausting their unemployment benefits. But more importantly for disability claimants, it adds one more factor to the delays already plaguing Social Security,
The LA Times reports today: “Instead of working longer as the economy worsens, more Americans are calling it quits before age 66. The ramifications could be profound for the retirees, families, government and social institutions.

Reporting from Washington — Instead of seeing older workers staying on the job longer as the economy has worsened, the Social Security system is reporting a major surge in early retirement claims that could have implications for the financial security of millions of baby boomers.

Since the current federal fiscal year began Oct. 1, claims have been running 25% ahead of last year, compared with the 15% increase that had been projected as the post-World War II generation reaches eligibility for early retirement, according to Stephen C. Goss, chief actuary for the Social Security Administration.: See full article here:

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Us News and World Reports joins a host of papers today reporting “impending” doom for the Social Security Trust Fund. Of curse, the economy has taken its toll, but all in all we are OK for three decades out - then the dreaded out-of-funds date has only been moved up two years.

US News says: “The annual hair shirt report of Social Security trustees was released on Tuesday. To no one’s surprise, our national retirement and health benefit programs are headed for perdition even more quickly than they were last year. Due to the recession, the effective bankruptcy date is 2037 for what’s technically called the Old-Age and Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds. That’s four years earlier than the forecast in last year’s report — no mean feat in only one year. Program expenses exceed revenues beginning in 2016 — that’s only seven years away, folks — and all assets are exhausted 21 years later.

And this, sadly, was the good news.

As the trustees said, “Medicare’s financial status is much worse.” It’s hospital insurance component (HI) already pays out more than it takes in, and is busily eating away at its assets as we speak. That tasty meal will be done in only eight years, at which time HI reserves will be zero,nada, zilch. The Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI ) Trust Fund operates closer to break even, which is good, because it doesn’t have much in the way of assets. The bad news is that the only way it comes close to breaking even is by levying annual increases in rates that are growing faster than the economy and the incomes of the people who rely on the fund to pay for their doctors and prescription drugs.” See article here:

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Today’s San Jose Mercury writes that “the Social Security Disability Insurance system (SSDI) is crumbling under the pressure of a substantial disabled population, shrinking budgets and a wave of agency retirements. Social Security employees work as hard as they can to help people who deserve care, but their best efforts aren’t putting a dent in a hearing backlog of 765,000 disabled Americans — including 62,031 Californians — waiting months or years to receive their rightful benefits.

The recession is making things even worse. Commissioner Michael Astrue recently told the media the SSA is facing an unanticipated 10 percent increase in its disability claims caseload. That’s 250,000 additional cases the SSA needs to review, further bogging down the system.” See San Jose Mercury article here:

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AARP has provided a great summary of Social Security disability benefits. For most U.S. workers and their families, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) provides protection against a key source of economic insecurity-the loss of earnings due to disability. Today, 9.3 million Americans-disabled workers, their spouses, and dependent children-rely on SSDI to replace lost wages. This primer provides an overview of the SSDI program, including who is covered, what benefits they receive, how the program is administered, and how it is financed.
Download the full document here:

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The New York Times joins the chorus of voices rising about layoffs by state governors. The governors need to slash budgets, but some of the jobs cut impact people on or applying for disability benefits:

“The nation’s top Social Security official says benefits for tens of thousands of people with severe disabilities are being delayed by furloughs and layoffs of state employees around the country.

The official, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of Social Security, said Sunday that “governors are hurting their own states, their own citizens, and increasing the backlog of claims” by furloughing workers who make disability decisions. State officials have announced furloughs, layoffs and hiring freezes to help balance budgets battered by the recession.

“The states’ response is completely illogical,” Mr. Astrue said. See his remarks and story here

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Today’s Portland Oregonian reports that despite an infusion of $148 million and attention at the highest levels, the Social Security Administration has made little progress reducing an enormous backlog of disability claims for the nation’s sickest and most vulnerable people, a House subcommittee heard Tuesday.

The hearing into the agency’s record came amid rising criticism for the bulky and overloaded system that often forces aged, blind and disabled Americans to wait three years or more to learn if they qualify for disability payments that average $492 a month. See Oregonian story here:

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Social Security has apparently been using the records exchange protocols described in this article for over a year. The program can receive electronic records frommedical providers – unquestionably this has been a huge bottleneck. Our offices can wait months for records after they are requested, so any inprovements along this line are welcome.

Fox News reports: The Social Security Administration (SSA) today announced a first-of-a-kind electronic records exchange system to help speed the process of granting disability benefits for millions of Americans. Through the use of new software and services, the SSA shaved the amount of time to process requests for medical records needed to evaluate disability benefits from months to minutes.

The project, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Nationwide Health Information Network began just 14 months ago and represents the first health information exchange between a regional health information organization and a U.S. federal agency. The new system uses IBM’s not only reduces processing times, but hopes to also improve claims accuracy and reduce costs. See full story here:

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US News and World Report says that almost half of half (48 percent) of the baby boomers surveyed in 2007 planned to collect Social Security after age 62. Thiose plans were altered by the economy and also unexpected disabilities.

Since 2007, the majority of these survey respondents (80 percent) have not changed their plans. However, 17 percent indicated that they will now collect Social Security benefits later than originally planned, many because they are still working. Only 3 percent of the baby boomers indicated they would collect Social Security benefits earlier than originally planned. Top reasons include a disability (28 percent), health reasons (18 percent), and because they want to (8 percent). See story here:

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