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The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has published an 8-page policy brief titled "Top Ten Facts About Social Security" (link opens a PDF). 

The “Top Ten Facts” are:

  1. Social Security is more than just a retirement program. It provides important life insurance and disability insurance protection as well.
  2. Social Security provides a guaranteed, progressive benefit that keeps up with increases in the cost of living.
  3. Social Security provides a foundation of retirement protection for nearly every American, and its benefits are not means-tested.
  4. Social Security benefits are modest.
  5. Children have an important stake in Social Security.
  6. Almost half of the elderly would be poor without Social Security. Social Security lifts 14 million elderly Americans out of poverty.
  7. Almost half of the elderly would be poor without Social Security. Social Security lifts 14 million elderly Americans out of poverty.
  8. Social Security is particularly important for minorities.
  9. Social Security is especially beneficial for women.
  10. Social Security can pay full benefits through 2033 without any changes. Relatively modest changes would place the program on a sound financial footing for 75 years and beyond. 

The policy brief provides details for each of these 10 points, and is definitely worth reading.

Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize-winning economist and Professor at Princeton University, recently wrote a New York Times column about mass unemployment entitled “The Forgotten Millions.” He says:

bear in mind that we’re looking at millions of human tragedies: at individuals and families whose lives are falling apart because they can’t find work, at savings consumed, homes lost and dreams destroyed. And the longer this goes on, the bigger the tragedy.

Professor Krugman is right. And the excerpt above applies equally to the disabled, who are unemployed because they are unable to maintain employment due to physical or mental impairments. In addition to financial hardship, those applying for Social Security disability suffer debilitating symptoms from chronic illnesses.

The raising of the bar for disability benefits has taken a tremendous toll on tens of thousands formerly working citizens who have applied for Social Security disability and been denied.

The road for disability is not an easy one. All of my clients would prefer to be working, if they were able. Their tribulations should not be forgotten.

Every other Friday, I publish links to articles of note regarding Social Security disability and related topics:

It has been about a year since the SSA instituted a policy of not disclosing in advance of the hearing the identity of the administrative law judge assigned to a particular disability claim. The policy was aimed, it appears, at those declining video hearings with judges with a poor history of granting disability claims (an in-person hearing remains the perogative of the claimant).

I wrote about the new policy in a post called ALJ Unknown. At that time, I did not think the new policy would matter that much. I know my local judges, I wrote, and I can adjust to a particular judge on the day of the hearing. Well, a year of experience has proven me wrong. It really does matter, and the more experience one has with the local ALJs, the greater difference it makes.

Concern over the policy reached the Senate Appropriations Committee, which directed the SSA to evaluate alternatives to the policy, and report back on November 1, 2012. As far as I can tell, there has been no response to that directive.

The ALJ nondisclosure policy was at the direction of Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue. I think he has done an excellent job as Commissioner, particularly given the hand he was dealt during his 6-year term. But in response to criticism of this new policy, Commissioner Astrue just dug in.

Commissioner Astrue's term is up in January. He has clearly stated that he is not seeking another term. Maybe he is just done. Or maybe he is tired of what he views as carping by disability lawyers about the policy. But it is still surprising to me that there has not been a response to the Appropriations Committee.

I just want to do the best job possible of preparing a case for hearing. I can do that job better if I know who the judge will be. That is the extent of my concern over this policy. I hope the new Commissioner rethinks it.

Thanksgiving remains my favorite holiday. Here is a little reading for the holiday weekend:

Social Security field offices are starting to fall behind on their work. I am noticing it particularly with SSI payments, which are processed by the local offices. Some SSI claims are taking months to process.

There is a hiring freeze at local Social Security offices. So when an employee leaves due to retirement, promotion or other reason, that person cannot be replaced. The hiring freeze has been in place for a while, and it is due to budget constraints. It is starting to take its toll. Here in Maine, the Portland local field office, which is perhaps the busiest district office in the state, is not keeping up with the workload.

To allow more time to catch up on the backlogged work, the hours during which the Social Security field offices are open to the public have been reduced. Offices are closed to the public at 3:30 now, and beginning January 2, 2013 the district offices will close on Wednesdays at 12:00 noon. Same idea for this Friday, the day after Thanksgiving: the local offices will be closed to the public, but the staff will be working to catch up.

As stated by the press release announcing the change, many Social Security services do not require a visit to a local office. Routine matters can be handled online. Nevertheless, people expect government offices to be open during normal business hours. I hope these reductions are temporary.

Education that "allows direct entry to skilled or semi-skilled work" is one of the variables used in the medical-vocational guideines. It rarely comes up, but I had a case last month where the claimant recently completed vocational training for medical billing (apparently, a growing field). That education allows direct entry to skilled work. If that skilled work is within the claimant's RFC, that recent education can destroy an otherwise favorable result.

This rarely comes up for a few reasons:. 

  1. The education must be recent. Your 30-year old college degree or the cosmetology course you took after high school is not sufficient.
  2. The target skilled job must be within your RFC. So if you do not have the work capacity for the skilled work, then the education does not matter.
  3. The guidelines only direct a favorable result for those age 50 or over. For those under 50, the guidelines alone direct a finding of "not disabled" for claimants with physical impairments who can write and speak in English.

Nevertheless, a person without transferable job skills who would otherwise grid favorably at step 5 using the medical-vocational guidelines, can lose at step 5 due to recent education that allows direct entry to skilled or semi-skilled work. It is worth keeping in mind, because it does come up now and then.

Social Security must consider your combined impairments to determine whether or not you qualify for disability benefits.

At step 4 of the sequential evaluation process, Social Security evaluates your ability to do your past relevant work. At step 5, the SSA considers evaluates your ability to do other work. 

You can use different impairments for steps 4 and 5. This is particularly important for those claimants age 55 and over.

Social Security treats people differently depending upon their past work, or vocational background. Sometimes one specific functional limitation will preclude your past relevant work, but would not preclude other jobs.

For example, a limitation to simple instructions, as a result of anxiety or depression, precludes most office work or other semi-skilled work. Then at step 5, a person age 55 or over with physical impairments may be able to rely on the medical-vocational guidelines to demonstrate disability.

Just keep in mind that the limitations that rule out other work at step 5 may be quite different than those that rule out your past relevant work at step 4. That is why Social Security's duty to evaluate the combination of your impairments is so important.

Every other Friday I highlight articles of note regarding Social Security disability: