Government Peon
Metropolis, US
Female, 45
Sorry about that hiatus - I got sidetracked in life, but I'm back!
I work in the largest Social Security office in my area, working primarily with disabled individuals, but I have my hands in all aspects of what our agency does. Retirement, disability, survivors, SSN cards, the whole shebang.
I love what I do, and do my best to juggle the work which is far too much for one person to complete. I work with other hard workers, and some who are just taking up space.
That's a loaded question, because why does anyone DESERVE it? When you come right down to it, a person gets denied for only two reasons: 1) The person didn't pay the taxes required to be insured for benefits. 2) The person doesn't meet some other factor of entitlement, whether it be age, citizenship or lawful alien status, they weren't married long enough, they don't meet the medical rules for disability, etc. Yeah, I'm in the wrong line of work - I don't believe a person deserves to have the taxpayers support them simply by virtue of being poor. No, I don't think the system needs to be abolished, but if you don't meet all the rules, you don't "deserve" it. That said, one of the saddest things I see time and time again is people who are terminally ill, diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, 4 months to live, and they are denied because of their earnings. We don't even make a medical determination because they are still working SGA (see above for definition). Then when they quit, there is a 5 month waiting period and they're dead before they're ever due a payment.
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My apologies to everyone for taking so long to respond - last week was nightmarish in so many ways! I'm starting with this question because it is the easiest - YES - we are seeing more people applying than ever before! I still take my share of claims from people who seem to have very legitimate disabilities, but a lot more people are filing because "I may as well try" when they lose their job. The rules for eligibility haven't changed at all, so it's the same.
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Mandatory truth serum at each interview. Seriously, it's all in the people. Interfaces to verify information with other agencies are all well and good, but there comes a point where we are going to become Big Brother. So, I guess my honest answer is this: TRAINING to produce skilled claim interviewers who know what to look for and how to probe out the truth. And slowgrind - I'm not ignoring your question, I want to think on it a while longer. I'll get to you, I promise!
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I thought and thought and thought about this, then forgot about Jobstr and just now spent 15 minutes trying to remember my login, which email address I used, etc.
I still don't have an answer. I find all of it fairly appalling - people stealing from their fellow man is reprehensible!
One I recently heard about a woman who receives disability, her kids receive SSI (kid's welfare disability), she was working part time, getting paid by the State for being her mother's PCA - it turns out that she wasn't even living in the same state as her mother. They were both charged with multiple counts of fraud against not only SSA but the individual states as well as Medicaid fraud.
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First of all... I am taking my break, not answering on your (the taxpayers) dime. When someone files an application for disability, they go through a fairly lengthy interview - usually about 1 1/2 hours - gathering information from them about their work history, medical providers and treatments and finances to determine whether or not they meet non-medical rules. For instance, someone may be living with a very serious medical condition, however is able to hold down a decent job in spite of their health; this person may be denied without ever examining their medical decision. That's not what you asked though. Once we determine that "the claimant" meets the non-medical rules, we send their case to another office - this the state disability determination office in whatever area the claimant lives. That office is responsible for gathering the medical records from the doctors/hospitals/clinics which the claimant told us about during the interview. They then use the medical information, in conjunction with the claimants age, job history and educational background and to determine whether the claimant meets the criteria for disability or not. What is the criteria? That they have a physical or mental condition that prevents them from engaging in "substantial gainful activity" that is expected to last for 12 months or longer or result in death. Forgive me for any ignorant looking typos or other errors - I am also not typing this on govt. equipment, but on my phone.
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Ahhh, a brief afternoon break before I abandon my desk (and my phone, my mail and all of the other work waiting for me) to go work at the "front counter" to serve the walk-in public. It's all about the budget This particular office generally has 2 people answering the general information line, for a service population of 700,000+. If you're lucky enough to have someone's direct extension, they likely won't answer because they are busy filling in doing the job of someone who left and whose position was never filled. In the last 12 months we've lost (quit, transferred or promoted out of position) at least 8 employees whose vacant positions will not be filled.
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Health benefits are good, but vision & dental cost an arm and a leg. Thrift Savings Plan w/ 5% agency matching, FERS retirement system, Health Savings Account.. the basics. 4 hours of sick leave per pay period (2 wks), 3 tier annual leave - 4 hours per PP until you've been there for 3 years, then you get 6 hours per PP until 15 years, then you get a full 8 hours per PP. There are more things that I'm not well acquainted with because I haven't needed them, so I can't really say. I think it's a pretty basic federal benefit package.
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