Jay Barnes isn’t buying the claims that Social Security is pressuring its Administrative Law Judges to approve disability claims.

     We keep hearing that Social Security disability benefit payments are soaring. They’re going through the roof. It’s ruinous how rapidly disability payments are rising. Funny thing about that. It’s not happening, at least not anymore. Below is a chart showing Disability Insurance Benefits payments over the last two years. I know the chart contains some extraneous information but I couldn’t

     From a June 28 letter from Social Security’s Chief Actuary Stephen Goss to Senator Marco Rubio: I am writing in response to your request for estimates of the long-range financial effects on Social Security of Senate Bill S. 744, as reported out by the Judiciary Committee, amended, and passed by the Senate on June 27. … We estimate that enactment of this Bill would increase asset

     I’m hearing reports that Social Security’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) offices nationwide are experiencing telephone difficulties today. It’s not clear to me whether this is affecting other parts of Social Security as well.

     I wrote last week that Social Security seemed unprepared for the decision of the Supreme Court holding the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. Some agencies were prepared for this decision. See the memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued just a day after Social Security issued staff instructions to hold all claims filed by those in same sex marriages.

     There is a report of delays in direct deposits of Social Security benefits in the Wichita, KS area. If this report is accurate, the fault lies not with Social Security but with the Department of the Treasury which processes the direct doposits — but Social Security will get the calls.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has posted updated figures for the number of employees at Social Security.These figures do not show the effects of reductions in overtime at Social Security. March 2013 63,777 December 2012 64,538 September 2012 65,113 June 2012 65,282 March 2012 65,257 December 2011 65,911 September 2011 67,136 June 2011 67,773 March 2011 68,700 December

    I think this chart from a recent Urban Institute report is interesting. (DI = Disability Insurance):

     Social Security has sent out its first staff instruction on what to do with same sex marriages in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. The instruction is to “Take and hold all claims by individuals who are filing for benefits that are dependent upon the existence of a same-sex marriage.” This is not just for those who have moved

     From an AP piece: Driven to reduce a huge backlog of disability claims, Social Security is pushing judges to award benefits to people who may not deserve them, several current and former judges told Congress Thursday.  Larry Butler, an administrative law judge from Fort Myers, Fla., called the system “paying down the backlog.”  A former Social Security judge, J.E. Sullivan, said,

     Some excerpts from the written statements of witnesses at today’s hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee: Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Larry Butler (31% reversal rate): “The Social Security disability programs are bankrupt. … Is SSA managing the disability system for the primary benefit of genuinely disabled individuals and taxpayers or has the disability