Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that the agency is submitting legislation to Congress that would prohibit states, without the Commissioner’s prior authorization, from reducing the number of state personnel who make disability determinations for Social Security or the hours they work below the amount the agency authorizes.

“It is long past time that states end these unconscionable furloughs and hiring freezes that needlessly harm citizens with disabilities,” Commissioner Astrue said. “States realize no fiscal savings whatsoever from these actions and this legislation would prevent needless delays in the disability determination process. I am grateful for the President’s support and urge Congress to move quickly to help us make this provision the law of the land.”

More than a dozen states have implemented furloughs and hiring freezes that affect the federally paid state workers who make disability determinations for Social Security. The state agencies that employ these workers in their disability determination service (DDS) components receive 100 percent of their funding from the Federal government. Accordingly, states do not save any money by imposing furloughs and hiring freezes on federally funded employees. Rather, they slow benefits to some of the most vulnerable citizens – for example, furloughs in California in fiscal year 2010 delayed payment of over $11 million in benefits to more than 40,000 citizens with disabilities. State-imposed furloughs and hiring freezes also reduce state income tax revenue and increase unemployment in the state.

“The members of Local 1000 have always believed that furloughing federally funded positions doesn’t make economic sense and that has been proven in California during these past 18 months that Governor Schwarzenegger has imposed furloughs on state employees,” Yvonne Walker, President of Service Employees International Union Local 1000 said. “I applaud Social Security for initiating legislation that would prevent further bad economic policy from going forward. This provision will not only help DDS workers, but the claimants who rely on the services our members provide.”

“We commend the Commissioner for his forceful and dedicated leadership in taking this bold action,” said Susan X. Smith, President of the National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE). “Our members are witness to the impact the current economic recession has had for disabled citizens and we are working hard to meet the dramatic increase in claims for benefits. These furloughs further compound the problems faced by disabled citizens by creating unnecessary delays in the processing of their claims. NADE urges quick action with regards to this legislative proposal.”

I work full time with a very nice annual income and do not plan to retire for many years to come. I will reach the age of 66 in February of 2011 which is when I can start collecting at the 100% level. My dilemma is do I start collecting at age 66 or wait the four years when I am 70? I ask, as the difference in my monthly check is $800

In this consumer related video HaroldSays responds to a consumer's question as to why their disability claim was denied. He also share why consumers do not get answers to their questions or solutions for their consumer related issues or concerns from other government agencies or companies.

Harold: Well, greetings YouTube subscribers, followers and friends. Harold Cameron here, chief of helping people and consumer advocate with HaroldSays. I want to answer a question that I get asked a lot. And here's the question: Mr. Harold, why was my Social Security disability application denied? Or: why were my benefits denied? I applied for some type of government benefits, and I was denied. Or: I have a legitimate claim with a company, or an issue, and why didn't I get an appropriate response and get the help that I needed and deserved.

Well, with the issue of Social Security disability, I want to read a copy of a denial letter that was sent to someone who had applied for disability:

"We're writing about your claim for Social Security disability benefits. Based on a review of your health problems, you do not qualify for benefits on this claim. This is because you are not disabled under our rules."

They took into consideration the person's medical information that was provided. Then they state,

"Under the law, the applicant is responsible for furnishing evidence to support the claim. Although you have been requested to furnish additional evidence, you have not done so. Therefore, determination has been made, based on the evidence on file. The evidence does not show that you are disabled."

And then the individual stated why they thought they were disabled and unable to work; they listed the medical conditions.

"The medical evidence was insufficient to fully evaluate the severity of your combined conditions. We requested additional information from you, which you did not provide. A decision was made, based on the information available to us, which found your condition to be not disabling. If your condition gets worse and keeps you from working, write, call or visit any Social Security office about filing another application".

Here's the condition and terms for getting Social Security disability, SSI, which is a needs-based program, or SSDI, which is Social Security Disability based on what you paid in. You must be legally disabled, and disabled according to their policies and to what they determine and have established are terms of disability. And they have guidelines that they follow. So you must be disabled, you need doctors, evidence, written evidence, doctor's statements, as well as medical data, medical information to corroborate your claim that you are disabled, okay? That you are unable to work, that your condition will last for one year or longer, or that your condition will result in your death.

So you need...

1. medical information, medical validation.
2. you need to be able to prove that your disability will last for a year or longer.
3. that it will result in your death if not just being a disabling condition, but it's a terminal condition.
4. as a result of your disability, you cannot work.

You need to provide all necessary documentation. They will send you forms, as many government agencies do. Complete all those forms in a proper and timely manner, and return them.

But what if you don't understand some of the questions? Ask for help; call and politely ask someone. If you have a caseworker or an adjuster, someone you're working with, call them and ask them for help. You should get the help you need. Be polite, be corteous.

If you find that you're not getting the help you need, the answers that you need, then politely ask to speak with a supervisor. But don’t hower and don't be mean and nasty to these people that work in these government agencies, these are dedicated civil servants. Some people have said to me, "Well, they get paid to do that, that's their job." Their job is to serve you as a citizen or as a consumer. But their job is not to be abused or to be maligned, or howled at or screamed at or sworn at by you as a consumer or citizen. You may be mad or frustrated, and that's understandable. But remember, you get back what you put out. If you're mean and nasty and negative, that's what you're probably going to get back. So be polite, corteous and positive, get people's names, get their information, and make sure that you complete all the required paperwork and you go through all the processes required to get whatever it is you're looking for, whatever issue resolved your disability claim determined and settled.

You know, whether you're working with the IRS, the SEC, the FTC, you know, any government agency, cash-assistance officers, make sure that you do what you're asked to do within the time frame that you're asked to do it in. And if you cannot, or if you don't understand what you're being asked to do, then ask for help.

Now, if you're denied, appeal. Go through the proper appeal process; whether it's asking for a review or reconsideration or appealing. But always get the names and information of the people you're speaking with. And when you get positive results, you get help from that person, that dedicated civil servant in a government agency or a company, write, fax or email a letter appraised to them and to their superiors, to their manager, boss, as well as to the president or CEO of the company or the director of the agency.

Listen, you were really assertive and aggressive in going after your claim to get what you thought you were entitled to. I mean you called, you faxed, you wrote, you did it all. Well, if you get the help and you're treated politely, professionally, and courteously, then you should be as aggressive in letting people know how well you were treated.

If you have any questions or concerns or issue with a government agency or a company, and you don't know where to turn, you don't know what to do, you need help, Google search me at HaroldSays and you'll see all about me on Google. Or email me at harold at haroldsays.com, or go to my blog at www.haroldsays.typepad.com. Reach out to me and I'll respond to you and help you. And if you have a legitimate claim, a legitimate issue or concern with a government agency or a company or corporation, I will help you. We'll work together till we get the appropriate resolution.

I'm here to help you; I love you. I want you to be successful. So if you are entitled to any kind of government benefits or any kind of help from a company, and your complaint is justified and you're not getting where you want to get to and the results you desire, reach out to me and I'll help you. I don't charge, I don't ask consumers for anything, I don't rent, trade or sale or give out any private information. All information you give me is only used to the purpose to which you've given me approval to use it. And that's it.

So, reach out to me, I'll be delighted to help you if I can. Three things I want you to know in closing. 1) God is love. 2) Love always wins, and 3) I love and care about you.

Alright, I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope you're having a great day today.

44 million Americans are carrying in their wallet or purse something that makes them more vulnerable to identity theft: their Medicare card. Apart from the Social Security card itself, the Medicare card is the most frequently issued government document containing a person's Social Security number and displaying such information on Medicare cards unnecessarily places millions of individuals at-risk for identity theft.

In 2008, the House of Representatives passed without objection Rep. Lloyd Doggett's bill, the Medicare Identity Theft Prevention Act, which requires Medicare to take steps that private companies and other government agencies have already taken to protect the identities of seniors by removing the display of Social Security numbers on Medicare cards. Unfortunately, this important step to protect America's seniors has not been taken.

Certified Financial Planner (CPF) Alan Leitson talks about the history of Social Security and Pension Plans.

On Social Security

"Alan Leitson, certified financial planner, helping you by putting the odds in your favor.

Social Security is a program that was developed originally for people to receive some sort of payout when they stop working. And when our great grandparents and grandparents and some of these folks initially started with the program - this sounds sort of ghoulish - but when they started in the program, generally speaking, work was tough, it was a lot more physical and the benefits for Social Security typically started at age 65.

(continued below)

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Life expectancies were not going to go much beyond that. Now, I don't want to say you work, you work, you work and then one day you die and hopefully you've gained some benefit. But in theory, average life expectancies might have been in the range of 75 years old when the programs were first running. So, again, no problem. In a 10 year payout you'd receive the benefits of getting a check when you weren’t working. And in theory you contributed to make all this work during the working years that you did.

Now, Social Security has gotten a lot more complicated in the subsequent years. There are a lot of benefits and programs that have been built on to Social Security. One very, very important program is Medicare. And Medicare is part of your paycheck too. If you ever look at it, there is a section that goes out for Medicare. And what it is for is healthcare after you're 65. In addition to the government realizing that they needed a program that had some income coming in to people once they stopped working, there was also the feeling in roughly 1964-1965, in the mid 1960s, they came up with the idea that in addition to Social Security, they needed this healthcare coverage. That is a quick definition of Medicare. So there is a program in pace for where you receive healthcare that's covered, not just sending you, per se, a check, but when you go to a doctor after you're 65, in a sense, it's a government provided program. So that's Social Security and Medicare in a very, very short picture."

Understanding Pension Plans

"Alan Leitson, certified financial planner, helping you by putting the odds in your favor. You know, today I'm talking about pensions. Pensions are an amazing thing. They were come up with the same concept as Social Security way back when in the industrial era, back in the 1930s and 1940s, it was recognized that if people stopped working they still needed to receive some sort of income. So pensions were developed as a way for the average person. Companies would, if you worked for the employer, they would put money aside each year, and it would be set up in your account, one specifically designated for you. And it would be there and it would grow over time and it would pay you a certain amount.

The great thing about pensions, in addition to the fact that they just pay you money when you are not working and retired, is that most of them were called traditional pension plans, and basically all the risk was on the plan. It's not like investing in the stock market or doing other things. It was going to pay you a set amount when you retired; no risk. And this was what you were going to get paid.

Well, in fact, they worked exactly like they were supposed to. Many people in large corporations through the many 50 years looking back, and through public sectors such as school teachers and public employees, they get pensions; a set amount every month when they've stopped working.

Well, the problem is that - I say problem because somewhere in the realm of 40% of the people in America receive some type of pension benefit. They get a check every month while they're not working, relatively no risk in that process, and it's great they have these well protected benefits."

What's the problem? Well, it's back to the bucket example. The pensions that were projected, even though you have a specific account for you, if they didn't put in enough money to pay that and it ran short, that could be one issue. Now in most cases pensions were properly funded and they will pay out. But somewhere along the way in the 1990s and in the 2000s pensions became very expensive because of funding and other issues. And private companies quietly, and for various reasons, maybe good business reasons, discontinued them.

What does that mean to you? Well, if they discontinued them, you may not have that out there, you are not going to have the benefit that, say, 40% of people have today who are retired. So when you get to be 60 or 65 and you want to retire, if you don't have this predictable income stream coming to you, what does that mean for you today? It means that you need to save more and more diligently, because if you can't count on that item that was a benefit to your grandparents and parents, then you're going to have to basically create your own pension.

Hello, the subject I'm talking about is Social Security. It is so hard to get Social Security, it might take you years just to get your Social Security. You work all these years and they turn you down. For all that money put in Social Security, you get turned down. They say, "You're not disabled enough".

Why can't you get your own money that you worked for for years. How can the government control your money like that? They take it out of your paycheck real fast when you work, but you have to go through a lot of hell to get your Social Security.

And then you have the people who get Social Security that shouldn't be getting Social Security. I don't know their situation, but they look in good health, they're out there washing cars, doing exercise. I'm telling you, the American people getting Social Security are not the ones who really need it. I know some people that say, "How in the heck are they getting Social Security?" They get it, they got it real quick. But you got people who really need it who got back problems, mental problems, and they cannot get their Social Security, they get turned down.

And they're nearly homeless because they got no stable people, family members, they live in homeless shelters. But you give people who don't even need Social Security. I don't know everybody's background, but I know a lot of them are milking the system, just like you milk any other kind of system. I mean, it's out there.

Congress needs to cut down the backlog, pass a law to help Social Security out to push these cases through and be fair. Because some of the judges of Social Security are not fair. They think they're fair, but they don't know, they do not live in the house you live in, they don't know what you do day by day. Are they in your body? And they can tell you if you aren't disabled? You get people who are disabled who can't even get Social Security, and some that don't even look disabled, they're in good shape.

So I hope President Obama comes up with a plan. I hope that he sees this video, I hope somebody passes this video on to him. But right now everything is bad out here. I mean, the United States is in terrible shape. Not only is the economy getting bad, but if you look at unemployment, terrorist problems, people trying to blow up the United States, everything is bad. And it's sad.

But my subject right now that I'm talking about is to take care of the people who really need Social Security and get rid of the freeloaders. These people who have never worked in the life get Social Security. Never worked in their life getting Social Security. But you got the ones who worked all their life who can't even get their Social Security. So it's just backwards, every government program is backwards.

So please comment on this video. But you freeloaders, you know who you are, you get Social Security and I feel for you. They just need to watch themselves because the government is watching you. I mean, if you're not supposed to be out there washing your car, cutting grass, better watch yourself. I'm just saying, because they are out there to watch you.

But I feel for the disabled people, things are going to get better. Hopefully they will get better. They got to get better. We're already down right now, all we can do is go up. So please comment on this video. Thank you.

by Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas-21

A recent Rasmussen Reports survey revealed that voters remain concerned about Social Security and whether the system can deliver what the government has promised. According to the survey, 58% of U.S. voters lack confidence that the Social Security system will pay them their future benefits.

Advocates for amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants like to claim that amnesty will "save" Social Security. They also claim that dramatically increased immigration levels will safeguard our retirements and those of our children because more people will pay into the system.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true.

During the last Congress, I asked the Social Security Administration (SSA) to calculate the value in today's dollars of the payroll taxes paid by typical illegal immigrants and their employers as well as the value of their retirement benefits should they receive amnesty. Not only the typical illegal immigrant but any low-skilled immigrant will affect the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund.

Illegal immigrant workers, often with false identities, can't avoid paying into Social Security but are not eligible to receive retirement benefits for their illegal work. But if they receive amnesty, they can qualify for Social Security retirement benefits based on their earlier illegal work. And those benefits will amount to much more than what they paid into Social Security!

A single male illegal immigrant who works for very low wages and is now 25 years old will receive (at today's value) $15,596 more in Social Security retirement benefits. A similar female illegal immigrant will receive $20,936 more in retirement benefits.

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Hawaii is just one of many states where seniors are being forced to take early retirement due to the acute lack of jobs.

The Honolulu Advertiser reports:

Older Hawai'i workers who have lost jobs in the recession are exhausting unemployment benefits, spending down their nest eggs and turning to Social Security early in a trend that could threaten their long-term financial security and shows how tough the job market is for seniors.

New Social Security figures show that the number of Hawai'i residents who signed up for early retirement last year — in many cases after being unable to find new jobs — was up 36 percent from 2005. Meanwhile, state figures show 22 percent of all claimants for unemployment benefits are over 55.

Barbara Kim Stanton, state director of AARP Hawai'i, said older workers are being hit particularly hard in the recession and are struggling to compete with younger workers for fewer jobs. She said the downturn is forcing many to make tough choices, such as opting to draw Social Security early, which means they'll get smaller monthly checks, reduced by about 25 percent.

"They're compromising their retirement," Stanton said.

The financial pressures on older workers could have widespread implications for the graying population of baby boomers who are living longer than their parents and in some cases are ill-prepared for retirement because they didn't save enough or their savings shrunk in the financial meltdown.

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