SSA

We realize it may be a stretch for ordinary people to want to keep up with the comings and goings of the Social Security Administration, but sometimes circumstances permit where someone does want to follow the latest news regarding the agency due to a possible retirement or disability interest. This blog is an ongoing piecemeal of recent stories that have involved Social Security. Some are tidbits and some are important things that should be known in the world of retirement or disability and others are just interesting stories and nothing more. No Time Limit on Acting Commissioner There has been some chatter about how long current Acting Social Security Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi can serve in that role without being nominated and confirmed as the Social Security commissioner. There was some concern that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act would limit Kijakazi’s stay as acting commissioner, but the Government Accountability Office said that Act does not prevent Kijakazi’s stay as acting commissioner because of the Social Security Act. Below is the decision from the GAO. DECISION This responds to a congressional request regarding the legality of Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi’s service as Acting Commissioner of Social Security at the Social Security Administration (SSA).[1]  As explained below, we conclude that Dr. Kijakazi is lawfully serving as the Acting Commissioner under section 702(b)(4) of the Social Security Act.  See 42 U.S.C. § 902(b)(4).[2]  Neither the Vacancies Act’s time limitations on acting service nor the restrictions on performance of the position’s functions and duties apply to Dr. Kijakazi.   In accordance with our regular practice, we contacted SSA to seek factual information and its legal views on this matter.[3]  SSA responded with its explanation of the pertinent facts and legal analysis.[4]  SSA also provided a copy of the President’s designation of Dr. Kijakazi as Acting Commissioner.[5] Biden Names Lewis to Social Security Board President Joe Biden recently nominated Sharon Lewis to the Social Security Advisory Board. Lewis, who currently works for Principal Health Management Associates working with clients on publically funded health care, served in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 2010-2016. Below is a short background on Lewis’ prior responsibilities. Lewis served in multiple leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from 2010-2016, including Principal Deputy Administrator of the Administration for Community Living, Senior Disability Policy Advisor to the HHS Secretary, and Commissioner of the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. At HHS, Lewis established initiatives to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities, championed efforts to develop alternatives to guardianship, promoted Olmstead enforcement and Medicaid policy reform to ensure community integration for older adults and people with disabilities, and sought to improve support for family caregivers, among other efforts. Lewis also served on the U.S. Department of Education agency review team during the 2008 Presidential transition. From 2007-2010, Lewis served as Senior Disability Policy Advisor to the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, and as a Joseph P. Kennedy Public Policy Fellow for the U.S. Senate HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families. Social Security Conducts Forum on Programs for LGBTQIA Communities Social Security’s National Disability Forum on equitable access to Social Security programs focused on programs for the LGBTQIA+ community in an effort to educate about the different types of programs the agency offers. The forum was held February 4, 2022. Below is a description of the event’s focus. The purpose of this forum is to learn from stakeholders, advocates, researchers, medical experts, and the public how SSA can provide equitable access to the LGBTQIA+ communities to our disability programs. The discussion topics are: Challenges gender diverse individuals face in finding and receiving healthcare; Challenges gender diverse individuals face accessing SSA programs; Self-attestation of gender markers; Challenges gender diverse individuals face in finding work or re-entering the workplace; and Issues gender-diverse children face.

In January of 2022 Social Security’s employee unions reached a deal with the agency to commence with a reopening plan to get employees back in Social Security offices by the end of March 2022. Negotiations are ongoing about the reopening particulars so no one really knows what Social Security’s reopening plan will look like. Below is the announcement from Acting Social Security Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi indicating the agency had agreed on a reopening plan with its employee unions. “I am very pleased to share that we have successfully reached agreement with our three labor unions on our reentry plan. This will be a significant step toward improving access to our services as we implement this plan. I want to thank our labor representatives for working with management to achieve this outcome, which will help us better serve the public. I also want to thank the public and our employees for their patience during this unprecedented time. I know the public will have questions about what this means to them. For now, you should continue to reach us online at www.socialsecurity.gov or by calling our National 800 Number or your local office. We will let you know when we are able to restore additional services.” Since March of 2020 Social Security offices have been pretty much closed to the public due to the COIVD-19 pandemic and no in-person service was available at field offices for two years, but hopefully that is going to change within the next few months. Employee union representatives are still concerned about safety protocols should all Social Security employees be required to return to the office on a full-time basis, but that is not likely as the agreement reached does provide for a portion of telework for most Social Security employees. Telework is the term Social Security used to refer to employees working from home. The Federal News Network recently reported the ongoing negotiations between the agency and employee unions. That story can be found here. In the story Social Security talked to Mark Hinkle, Social Security’s press officer who said the agency still plans to bring back employees to SSA offices at the end of March, but that plan is “dependent on the course of the pandemic.” Few people expect Social Security to return to business as usual and go back to operating prior to the pandemic. After all, the pandemic has not ended, although there are positive signs that it has been relenting for the past few weeks, but no one knows when another COVID variant might pop up. Either way, expect some pushback from employees who have requested that the agency include telework options within a reopening plan. In the article, Angela Digeronimo, a vice president of one of the employee unions said she understands the need for SSA to reopen, but safety of SSA employees need to be considered. “We weren’t really discussing meat-and-potato issues. What we want to talk about is health and safety, how are people going to go back into the offices and be safe, and also keep the public safe, especially in the field offices,” Digeronimo was quoted in the story.

Each year there are slight adjustments to Social Security disability programs. There are typically annual increases in pay for disability beneficiaries, based on the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), which is the annual program change most people are interested in, but there are also adjustments to the technical rules Social Security employs to determine beneficiary eligibility. The COLA increase for Social Security beneficiaries is 5.9 percent, which is one of the largest pay increases for beneficiaries in quite some time. There were also adjustments to the maximum taxable earnings amount, and new guidelines for working while applying for Social Security disability and for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Below is a list of some of Social Security’s more significant changes in 2022. SSI The SSI program is a federal income supplemental program designed to assist the elderly and disabled who have limited income and assets. In 2021 the maximum allowable monthly benefit amount for SSI was $794, but that increases to $841 a month in 2022. For married couples who both receive SSI the calculations are a bit different. A married couple that receives SSI restricts a total monthly benefit amount to $1,261, which is an increase of $70 per month compared to the previous year. SGA Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) is a term Social Security uses for a claimant when the claimant is earning work income. The agency puts limits on how much money a claimant or beneficiary can make and meet the technical rules of the program. In 2021 that was $1,310 and will increase to $1,350 in 2022. This is the gross monthly work income limit amount. If a worker earns this amount or more they will likely not qualify for disability programs based on income even before a medical determination is made. Disability Average The average disabled worker, who is receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, will receive $1,358 per month. This is an increase from $1,282 in 2021. An SSDI beneficiary’s benefit rate is based on their previous earnings while they were working. A higher wage worker will have a higher monthly benefit mount. Taxable Earnings Social Security relies on employee and self-employment taxes to fund its programs. The tax rate for benefits in 2022 will be 7.65 percent, but only the first $147,000 a person earns is subject to Social Security taxes. All income earned over that amount would not be eligible to be taxed by Social Security. Quarter Coverage To be eligible for SSDI a worker has to earn enough income to earn work credits. A certain amount of work credits are needed based on a worker’s age, to meet the technical requirements of SSDI. In 2021 a worker needed to earn $1,470 in a quarter (a three-month period) to earn a credit’s worth of coverage. In 2022 it will be a bit more difficult to earn a work credit as the amount will increase to $1,510. Keeping track of annual Social Security changes is important because it can impact eligibility. For a complete list of the 2022 Social Security changes click here.  

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program is a need-based program for the elderly and adult disabled individuals who have limited fiancés, but it also serves minor children who have been found disabled. When a disabled child reaches the age of 18 Social Security will conduct a redetermination for those children to determine if they are still disabled. It is a good idea to understand the process prior to this happening. Below is a description of the redetermination process for SSI when a child turns 18. Children eligible for SSI payments in the month before they reach age 18 are required to go through the redetermination process. SSA’s field offices collect disability and functional reports—including the names and addresses of medical sources for the previous year—and work, education, rehabilitation, and support services received. Completed case files are forwarded to a state agency (the disability determination service, or DDS), charged with making the initial determination for SSA. The DDS obtains evidence and makes the determination whether the individual’s condition satisfies the adult definition of disability using SSA’s rules. If an individual could not be contacted by the field office and insufficient medical information has been collected to make a decision, payments can be ceased for failure to cooperate (FTC). Regardless of what decision Social Security makes, it does not have to be the final decision on the matter. If Social Security decides the child is no longer disabled and entitled to SSI benefits the claimant has a right to appeal that decision. Many newly 18 SSI claimants are denied for benefits on the redetermination, but are eventually successful if they appeal and continue the case. If you are interested in a more comprehensive look at the redetermination process click here.

The Social Security Administration recently updated its Program Operations Manual System (POMS) in an effort to improve customer service for transgendered individuals. These are the types of things Social Security used to be slow to respond to, but with many changes made over the last decade in regard to gender identity and same sex Social Security benefits it was time for the agency to adapt. Below is the announcement from Social Security regarding customer assistance to transgendered individuals. Transgender Identity All individuals have a gender identity, which is an internal sense of being either male or female. A transgender individual has a gender identity that is different than the sex identified in his or her original birth certificate. Gender Transition Gender transition is the process by which an individual stops living as his or her sex, as identified at birth, and begins living as his or her self-identified gender. Some transgender individuals seek medical treatment while transitioning (e.g., counseling, hormone therapy, electrolysis, reassignment surgery); however, not all transgender individuals take the same steps as part of their gender transition. Policy For Interviewing Transgender Individuals Our policy is to provide meaningful access to all of our programs, provide sensitive service to all individuals, and treat them with dignity and respect. Procedure For Interviewing Transgender Individuals Transgender individuals contact us for all of the same reasons other people do. During and after any interaction with a transgender individual, be mindful to: Protect the confidentiality of each individual; Always treat the individual with dignity and respect; Ask only questions that are necessary to complete the transaction; When speaking to or calling a person, use the name and pronouns appropriate to the individual’s self-identified gender, even if the person has not changed his or her name or updated his or her records; and Be aware that the individual’s gender transition is a personal matter. Questions or comments regarding a person’s medical treatment and appearance are inappropriate.

There are some people who decide to file for Social Security disability benefits without knowing what they might be eligible for if they are found disabled by the Social Security Administration. This is fine to do, but to better understand how and why a person is eligible for a certain amount, or not eligible at all for a type of program, it is going to be helpful prior to filing for benefits to understand some basic things. Below are some of the things claimants may like to know before they decide to apply for disability benefits. PIA The acronym PIA stands for Primary Insurance Amount. This is the monthly amount of benefit a disability claimant is eligible for if they are found disabled by Social Security. The PIA is based on years worth of earnings of the claimant and if found disabled they would be eligible for the PIA amount on a monthly basis. The claimant may also be eligible for backpay, depending on when they are found disabled, and the backpay is calculated at the same monthly amount. DLI A claimant’s Date Last Insured (DLI) is a key date in the disability process to be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Benefits. When a worker is paying into Social Security a consistent work history is typically needed to be eligible for SSDI benefits. A worker earns credits to be eligible for SSDI should they become unable to work due to illness or injury and the general rule is that a worker has to have worked at least five out of the last 10 years to have enough work credits to be eligible for SSDI benefits. There are just some simple guidelines to be aware of before applying for Social Security disability benefits. For more understanding of these rules visit the Social Security website at sss.gov.  

Annually the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) conducts studies on customer satisfaction in regards to services provided by different federal agencies and the 2021 report shows that just 64 percent of people were satisfied with the service Social Security provided. Each of the agencies likely went down in customer satisfaction in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic when many agencies closed and moved to working from home. The report indicated that customer satisfaction was down close to 3 percent in all areas compared to a year ago. A portion of the report follows explaining the different scores each of the federal agencies received in relation to customer satisfaction. The complete survey can be found here. The ACSI federal government citizen satisfaction score represents an aggregation of citizen experiences with dozens of widely used programs and agencies that are part of different citizen-facing federal departments. Some provide benefits or free/low-cost services experienced by citizens, while others are predominantly regulatory by nature, monitoring citizen compliance with federal rules, regulations, and laws. Given this, citizen satisfaction tends to differ widely across federal departments. The significant variance among federal departments is largely explained by the nature of their missions. In 2021, the Department of the Interior (77) leads the way in citizen satisfaction and is the only federal department that exceeds the economy-wide national ACSI average (73.7 as of the third quarter of 2021). Four other departments—the Department of Health and Human Services (71), the Department of Agriculture (70), the Department of Commerce (70), and the Department of Defense (70)—score in the 70s but significantly below the national ACSI average. The remaining departments come in well below this mark. Perennial laggard the Department of the Treasury (54), which interacts with citizens primarily through its inherently unpopular tax collection mission, places dead last.

Trying to obtain a reasonable level of customer service at the Social Security Administration over the last two years has been extremely difficult. The reasons for this are completely identifiable, but the solutions not so much. Since March of 2020 Social Security’s doors have remained mostly closed to the public. Prior to March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced all sectors of society to figure out how to continue to operate while allowing employees to work from home, Social Security offices were extremely busy with customers looking for assistance. Since March 2020 customers have had to rely on online or phone service rather than face-to-face service and customer satisfaction dropped drastically. Although Social Security offices remain closed, there is some hope that employees might return to the office in the near future after the government reached agreement with Social Security employee unions, but that will not solve all of Social Security’s customer service issues. Social Security is extremely understaffed and underfunded, which is a huge roadblock to providing better customer service. In a recent online article posted here a former Social Security employee, who worked for the agency for more than 30 years, takes a look back at how customer service used to be at Social Security and what it looks like now. Below is portion of that article. Complaints about poor service can be partly explained away by COVID-19. Dealing with the virus, and having so many agency employees working from home, has obviously put a huge strain on the agency’s ability to deliver services. Social Security offices around the country remain essentially closed, with only a skeletal, and mostly managerial, crew on duty. The SSA says it can only handle the most critical issues via an in-person appointment in a local Social Security office. Everyone else is encouraged to take care of their Social Security business either online at www.socialsecurity.gov or via phone by calling 800-772-1213.

When we think of the word disability it can mean very different things to different people so when a claimant applies for Social Security disability benefits it is important to know exactly what is Social Security’s definition of disability. Some people attempt to apply for Social Security disability benefits while they are still working. A possible rationale for this choice would be the worker is struggling to maintain full-time employment due to either physical or mental impairments and hopes to continue to work until they are approved for disability benefits, but this method does not work when it comes to Social Security disability benefits. Below is the strict definition of disability according to Social Security. The Social Security definition is an inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity (SGA) by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. A worker is engaging in SGA, according to Social Security, if they earn $1,350 or more in monthly gross income from work related activities. A person who attempts to apply for Social Security disability benefits and is still working at a full-time level will usually be denied for benefits based on their work related income. In fact, a claimant who is earning more than the SGA monthly gross income amount of $1,350 will not even be medically reviewed on a claim because the claimant does not meet the technical rules of the Social Security disability program. Deciding to apply for Social Security disability benefits is the first step of the process, but learning about the rules of Social Security’s programs is crucial to understanding how the process works. The basics are that impairment must keep a worker from working above a certain income level due to their impairments. If this requirement is met Social Security will conduct a medical review. For a FREE CONSULTATION about a disability claim please click here https://www.greemantoomey.com/contact-us/

We finally received some news on a definitive date in which the Social Security Administration will execute a reentry plan for employees to return to the office. This is not the end of telework for Social Security employees, but a new telework schedule will be offered to most employees. This is good news for anyone who felt they needed in-person service at a Social Security office, but have not been able to get it. Since March of 2020 Social Security closed all of its offices to visitors. At that point, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses moved to allowing employees to work from home, including at Social Security. Most businesses have moved to bring back employees to their place of work, but Social Security has not and will have another two months to work on the reentry plan that is expected to take action at the end of March. Last week Acting Social Security Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi sent a message to all Social Security employees regarding the reentry plan. One of the big sticking points for executing the reentry plan was the agency’s need to come to an agreement with the three different labor unions that represent Social Security employees. It appears that all sides are in agreement with the plan, but Kijakazi did not offer many details, only that an agreement was reached and telework is a part of that agreement. Below is the message the acting commissioner sent to employees on January 21, 2022. A Message to All SSA Employees On Wednesday, I shared that we reached agreement with our three labor unions.  I have additional updates to share about timing. We are planning reentry and the implementation of new telework schedules for most employees on March 30, 2022.  This date allows us to ensure that the necessary measures are in place to keep you and the public safe, is consistent with our union agreements, and gives us time to provide you with appropriate notice of return. I appreciate your patience while we continue to work through the reentry process.  In early February, your managers will talk with you about telework eligibility and the days for your position, as well as explain next steps including when and how to request telework. We anticipate that field offices will restore increased in-person service to the public, without an appointment, in early April.  As we expand the availability of in-person service, we will continue to encourage the public to go online, call us for help if they cannot complete their business online, and schedule appointments in advance.  Customers who walk in without appointments may encounter delays. We will begin limited in-person hearings in March with our management judges and plan to expand in-person hearings in the spring and early summer based on required notice to affected claimants. Please plan according to the dates above.  We will continue to monitor the course of the pandemic, and our reentry plan allows us respond to changing pandemic conditions. I will continue to share updates as we move forward with our preparations for reentry. Kilolo Kijakazi Acting Commissioner