Demystifying

We are now approximately half way through the month of January for 2022. The hangover of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays is slowly departing and many people are looking to get back to business as usual, well as much as business as usual during a pandemic can be, but it is likely going to take Social Security a while to handle the backlog of work accrued over the holidays and service times at the agency will likely be longer through the end of the month. Not only is Social Security dealing with work piling up over the holidays, but January is already a busy month for the agency. A portion of Social Security employees retire each year at the end of the year, which leaves the agency with less staff and many older Americans decide to retire and apply for Social Security retirement benefits when a new year hits the calendar increasing workloads at the agency even further. All of these types of things happen every year at Social Security so January can be a tough month for the agency, but adding to the pressure is the fact that Social Security has not received an appropriation from Congress for its Fiscal Year 2022 budget. Until that happens Social Security will be dealing with fewer funds and still has to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The new Omicron variant of COVID-19, which has caused missed time for many employees at Social Security, is not helping either. All of these circumstances create difficult times to obtain services from the agency. If you need to do business with Social Security and can wait on conducting that business for a while it would probably be a good idea to attempt to contact Social Security later in the year when things slow down somewhat.

Most people probably don’t give a lot of thought to Medicare unless they are approaching retirement age or they have been found disabled by the Social Security Administration, but those who do fit into those categories should be aware that Medicare open enrollment has begun. Medicare is health insurance for people 65 and older. Those approaching age 65 can sign-up for Medicare up to three months before turning 65, but older Americans are not the only ones who are eligible for Medicare. The program also is available for people who are younger who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Social Security disability recipients have to go through a waiting period before they are eligible for Medicare. After the waiting period they are automatically enrolled in Medicare unless they opt out. It is no easy task to qualify for Social Security disability benefits. A claimant must prove that they are unable to work at a full-time level due to impairments that will last at least 12 months or longer. Those who are receiving SSDI receive the same type of Medicare benefit as older individuals. There are also other types of Medicare programs that eligible recipients can choose from. Below is a description from Social Security of the open enrollment period that ends March 31, 2022. From January 1 through March 31, Medicare Advantage enrollees can switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another at www.Medicare.gov. Please encourage your clients to apply for Medicare online if they: Are three months away from age 65. Want to sign up for Medicare but do not currently have ANY Medicare coverage. Do not want to start receiving Social Security benefits at this time. Are not currently receiving Social Security retirement, disability, or survivors benefits. Let your clients know they can learn more about how Social Security and Medicare work together at www.ssa.gov/benefits/medicare, where they can also sign up for Medicare.

In a recent story published online by The Hill it was reported that federal government agencies are preparing to take steps against federal workers who still have not complied with the vaccine mandate set by President Joe Biden and his administration and those steps could lead to suspensions and even firings if federal workers do not comply. This includes employees at the Social Security Administration. Below is a portion of the story that explains the actions the federal government may take against unvaccinated workers. Federal government agencies are preparing to take increasingly harsh steps against unvaccinated employees in order to implement President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers.  Some agencies plan to send letters warning of possible suspensions to employees who have not complied with the mandate. Many are also prepared to fire employees who don’t follow the rule, though such moves would be further down the road. The rate of compliance is high across the federal government, and agencies say they do not expect the suspensions or firings to cause disruptions. There are not a high number of federal workers who remain unvaccinated, but there are still thousands of federal workers who remain unvaccinated who have not presented an appropriate medical or religious exemption from the mandate. According to The Hill, the White House and the Department of Education had reached full compliance with the vaccination mandate prior to January 10, 2022, but other agencies still have not reached full compliance with the mandate, including the Social Security Administration. The story reported that Social Security is doing pretty well with compliance. Close to 99 percent of employees have reached compliance with the mandate and close to a 92 percent vaccination rate, but that still leaves a significant number of Social Security employees who have not complied with the mandate as of yet as well as other employees throughout federal agencies. Considering that the Biden Administration announced the mandate months ago, and has since attempted to try and educate unvaccinated employees about the safety of the vaccines, it now appears the administration is growing impatient with employees who remain unvaccinated and soon could move rather quickly with suspensions or firings. Due to the high compliance rate for most government agencies it was reported by The Hill that any suspensions or firings would not negatively impact services the federal government provides. Below is a portion of the story that explains that changes in staffing are not expected to be a major disruption. This is probably not good news for those who have failed to comply with the mandate whose jobs now appear to be in jeopardy. Agencies have not laid out specific time frames for notifying employees of the suspensions, but experts expect them to move relatively quickly given that four months have passed since Biden announced the rule. When reached by The Hill, multiple agencies insisted they do not expect suspensions or firings due to the vaccine mandate to adversely impact critical government operations.  

After the Social Security Administration finds a claimant disabled it is usually a relief for the claimant because the Social Security disability process is a long and difficult path, but it is important to understand that this will likely not be the last time Social Security makes a disability determination on the case. Social Security does not define disabilities as permanently disabling and after a few years Social Security is likely to review all the evidence available to determine if the claimant is still disabled and entitled to benefits. If Social Security makes a decision that the claimant has improved medically enough to no longer meet the agency’s disability eligibility the claimant will receive a cessation notice indicating benefits will stop because the agency has determined their disability has ended. At this point the claimant has the option to appeal this decision and can elect to continue to collect benefits during the decision process on the appeal, but if the claimant is not found disabled after the appeal process plays out Social Security can ask for all or a portion of the money received during the appeal process to be returned. Below is an explanation about how the cessation process works and identified by the Social Security Administration. Medical Disability Cessation You may write to us or complete a Form SSA-789-U4 (Request for Reconsideration Disability Cessation). You or your representative must ask in writing for reconsideration within 60 days of the date you receive the written notice of the initial determination. We consider that you receive a notice five days after the date on the notice unless you show us evidence it was received after the five days. Payment Continuation for non-medical initial determination and medical disability cessation determination: Non-Medical Initial Determination If you ask for reconsideration in writing within 10 days of the date you receive the notice, any payment we are currently making will continue until we make our reconsideration determination if you continue to meet all other SSI eligibility requirements. If you ask for a reconsideration more than 10 days after the date you receive the notice, but within 60 days of the date you receive the notice, your payment may decrease temporarily. However, we will restart any payment we are currently making once we receive and enter your reconsideration. You will continue to receive that payment until we make our reconsideration determination if you continue to meet all other SSI eligibility requirements. If you do not want to continue to receive payments, you can ask us not to continue payments by completing Form SSA-263 (Waiver of Supplemental Security Income Payment Continuation).

Many people who apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are not aware of the specific non-disability related rules. These are technical rules that limit eligibility for the program to people who are disabled or elderly with limited income and assets. Because Social Security’s rules can be confusing it is a good idea to learn what resources are counted and which resources are not to determine eligibility. Below are program rules for SSI set forth by the Social Security Administration. WHAT ARE RESOURCES? Resources are things you own such as: cash; bank accounts, stocks, U.S. savings bonds; land; life insurance; personal property; vehicles; anything else you own which could be changed to cash and used for food or shelter; and deemed resources. WHAT ARE DEEMED RESOURCES? Sometimes we “deem” a portion of the resources of a spouse, parent, parent’s spouse, sponsor of an alien, or sponsor’s spouse as belonging to the person who applies for SSI. We call this process the deeming of resources. If a child under age 18 lives with one parent, $2,000 of the parent’s total countable resources does not count. If the child lives with 2 parents, $3,000 does not count. We count amounts over the parents’ limits as part of the child’s $2,000 resource limit. WHY ARE RESOURCES IMPORTANT IN THE SSI PROGRAM? The value of your resources is one of the factors that determines whether you are eligible for SSI benefits.  However, not all resources count for SSI.  If the value of your resources that we count is over the allowable limit at the beginning of the month, you cannot receive SSI for that month.  If you decide to sell the excess resources for what they are worth, you may receive SSI beginning the month after you sell the excess resources. You may even be able to receive benefits while you try to sell the excess resources in certain situations. WHAT IS THE RESOURCE LIMIT? The limit for countable resources is $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. WHAT RESOURCES DO NOT COUNT FOR SSI? For SSI, we do not count: the home you live in and the land it is on; one vehicle, regardless of value, if you or a member of your household use it for transportation; household goods and personal effects (e.g., your wedding and engagement rings); life insurance policies with a combined face value of $1,500 or less; burial spaces for you or your immediate family; burial funds for you and your spouse, each valued at $1,500 or less (see the SSI Spotlight on Burial Funds); property you or your spouse use in a trade or business, or on your job if you work for someone else (see the SSI Spotlight on Property You Need for Self Support); if you are disabled or blind, money or property you have set aside under a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) (see the Spotlight on PASS); and up to $100,000 of funds in an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account established through a State ABLE program (see the SSI Spotlight on ABLE).

Those who know anything about Social Security Disability Insurance benefits (SSDI) understand that if you have been found disabled by the Social Security Administration that disability benefits do not come close to providing all missed income due to an inability to work. People on SSDI would make more money if they were able to continue to work and many SSDI recipients struggle with making ends meet. A recent study, conducted by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, now shows that there is a connection with receiving disability benefits and food insecurities. The study looked at data from 2010 to 2019 to determine that food insecurity rates are higher in counties with high rates of disability beneficiaries compared to lower food insecurity rates when there are fewer disability beneficiaries. There are many more interesting insights gathered in the study. In addition to finding the food insecurity disparities between disability beneficiaries and non beneficiaries, the study also found that disability beneficiaries are more likely to live in areas that have fewer healthy food options. Identifying the problem is important, but solving it would be better. Below are some key points from the study. Following that is the conclusion summing up all the data the study produced. The paper found that: Food insecurity rates are higher in counties with high rates of disability and DI receipt than in those with lower rates of disability and DI receipt. The paper reports that counties with high rates of disability and DI receipt have lower average food costs, but more limited access to food sources than counties with lower rates of disability and DI receipt. The paper also finds that counties with high rates of disability and DI receipts have fewer food establishments. Furthermore, counties with high rates of disability and DI receipt also have a larger supply of unhealthy food options. Conclusion In this paper, we account for access to food—by measuring the availability and accessibility of food stores and restaurants within each county—in the relationship between rates of disability and DI beneficiaries, and food insecurity. In general, we find that counties having a large share of residents with disabilities or high rates of DI beneficiaries are also limited in their availability and accessibility to food establishments. Digging deeper, we find that these same counties also have a larger share of food establishments that likely provide unhealthy food options. These include small grocery stores, convenience stores, limited-service restaurants, pharmacies, and gas stations. We find a strong correlation between many of these types of food establishments and disability and DI beneficiary rates. Importantly, we find a strong correlation between disability and food insecurity even after controlling for access to food. Our results should not be interpreted through a causal lens, however, as they only indicate a correlation between these factors. Linked data, more geographically-specific data, and more information on specific types of disabilities would all be ways to extend this line of research.  

When it comes to signed forms Social Security has always been a stickler about its wet signature requirements on documents, but a new executive order from President Joe Biden will force the agency to limit its wet signature requirement to improve customer service at federal agencies. The move by the Biden Administration may not seem like a big deal, but Social Security’s wet signature requirement has made it even more difficult to apply for benefits and to obtain effective customer service. The need for this executive order was really highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused all of us to change how we operate in some form or fashion. Below is the portion of Biden’s executive order that addresses Social Security’s signature requirements on documents. (k)  The Commissioner of Social Security shall:             (i)    within 120 days of the date of this order, provide a report to the Director of OMB that analyzes all services of the Social Security Administration that currently require original or physical documentation or in-person appearance as an element of identity or evidence authentication, and that identifies potential opportunities for policy reforms that can support modernized customer experiences while ensuring original or physical documentation requirements remain where there is a statutory or strong policy rationale;             (ii)   develop a mobile-accessible, online process so that any individual applying for or receiving services from the Social Security Administration can upload forms, documentation, evidence, or correspondence associated with their transaction without the need for service-specific tools or traveling to a field office;             (iii)  consistent with applicable law and to the extent practicable, maintain a public policy of technology neutrality with respect to acceptable forms of electronic signatures;             (iv)   consistent with applicable law and to the extent practicable, revise any necessary regulations, forms, instructions, or other sources of guidance (to include the Program Operations Manual System of the Social Security Administration) to remove requirements that members of the public provide physical signatures; and             (v)    to the maximum extent permitted by law, support applicants and beneficiaries to identify other benefits for which they may be eligible and integrate Social Security Administration data and processes with those of other Federal and State entities whenever possible.

In July of 2020 members of the U.S. House Social Security Subcommittee asked Social Security’s Inspector general to conduct a review of Social Security’s phone service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report was not issued until November 29, 2021. The study, portions of which can be found below, contains some data that was prior to March 2020 when shutdowns occurred due the pandemic, but some of the data does show how woeful phone service at the agency has been during the pandemic. Each time the OIG conducts a study of Social Security practices recommendations are given to Social Security as a way to improve programs and services, but don’t expect any major changes coming to Social Security phone service any time soon. Below is the description of the objective of the report, the background and the results. Objective To review the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) telephone services, especially as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. Background On July 21, 2020, John Larson, Chair, and Tom Reed, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Social Security, requested we answer a series of questions related to SSA’s telephone services during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this review, we obtained SSA’s telephone service data for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 (October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020). We compared SSA’s performance data from October 2019 through March 2020 with the data from April through September 2020, when SSA limited in-person service. We also compared SSA’s FY 2020 performance to other Federal agencies’ and industry performance and to SSA’s telephone service performance in FYs 2010 through 2019. In addition, we obtained information on changes in staffing and workloads, including steps SSA took to strengthen telephone services and better track and evaluate callers’ experience and satisfaction in FY 2020. Finally, we identified changes SSA made in response to COVID-19, their effect on telephone performance metrics and customer service, and lessons SSA learned during COVID-19 related to telephone services. Results In FY 2020, SSA received over 151 million calls at its field offices and the national 800-number. SSA handled over half of those calls through a combination of calls answered by SSA employees and addressed by automated services. SSA’s telephone services shifted to more calls to field offices in FY 2020 when the Agency limited in-person service and provided the public with more field office telephone numbers. The increase in field office calls resulted in increased busy messages and wait times toward the end of FY 2020. SSA adjusted national 800- number operations during the pandemic to reduce wait times and the number of callers who received a busy message. National 800-number performance began to decline toward the end of the FY, though it was still better than pre-pandemic performance. When comparing SSA to 13 customer service call centers from 10 other Federal agencies, SSA had a higher call volume in FY 2020 with similar or better performance. To reduce wait times, improve caller experience, and ensure more calls are handled, SSA hired additional 800-number staff, modified automated service options, and plans to implement a new telephone system.

A Hearing on Social Security legislation was announced for December 7, 2021. The hearing, conducted by the U.S. House Social Security Subcommittee, will be to discuss the Social Security 2100 legislation that is intended to strengthen Social Security and extend the solvency of the program. The legislation was championed by U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut. Unfortunately the bill is pretty much dead on arrival during the current political climate and considering mid-term congressional elections are just around the corner, but it does give Congress a starting point in which to tackle Social Security’s issues. Considering Larson is the architect of the plan, it would be valuable to learn the bullet points of the legislation being offered according to him. Below are the highlights of the Social Security 2100 plan as identified by Larson on his website. Sooner or later Congress is going to have to deal with Social Security, something current legislators seem unwilling to do. How do we do this? First, we ask individuals making more than $400,000 a year to contribute into Social Security in the same way as the rest of us. Currently, those with earnings above $118,500 no longer have to pay into the system. To put it another way, LeBron James has made his yearly contribution to Social Security by about lunchtime on New Year’s Day. Second, we slowly introduce an increase to the contributions both workers and employers make. Over the span of 25 years, it would mean an additional 0.05 percent each year. A worker making $50,000 a year would pay an additional 50 cents per week each year to Social Security. With those two provisions alone — for less than a cup of coffee each month and by asking the top 0.4 percent of earners to pay into the system — we can keep Social Security solvent though the end of the century.