![3D"Social](3D"http://www.socialsecurity.gov/newsletter/images/logo-update.gif"=20){kind=logo} |
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July=20
2011 |
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In This=20 Issue: |
Budget Cuts Force = Reduced=20 Public Hours
"While agency = employees will=20 continue to work their regular hours, this shorter public window = will=20 allow us to complete face-to-face service with the visiting public = without=20 incurring the cost of overtime for our employees," said Michael J. = Astrue,=20 Commissioner of Social Security. "Congress provided our agency = with nearly=20 $1 billion less than the President requested for our budget this = fiscal=20 year, which makes it impossible for us to provide the amount of = overtime=20 needed to handle service to the public as we have in the = past." Most Social =
Security services=20
do not require a visit to an office. For example, anyone may visit =
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This month,=20 Commissioner Astrue announced 12 additional Compassionate = Allowances=20 conditions involving severe heart diseases, bringing the total = number of=20 conditions in the expedited disability process to 100. Compassionate=20 Allowances are a way to quickly identify diseases and other = medical=20 conditions that, by definition, meet Social Security's standards = for=20 disability benefits. "We have reached a significant milestone,"=20 Commissioner Astrue said. "We have an obligation to award benefits = quickly=20 to people whose medical conditions are so serious they clearly = meet our=20 disability standards. We are now able to do precisely that for 100 = severe=20 conditions." This year,=20
the agency expects to fast-track nearly 150,000 cases. To find out =
what=20
the new conditions are, read the recent press release For more=20
information on Compassionate Allowances, visit |
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![3D"Work](3D"http://www.socialsecurity.gov/newsletter/images/work.jpg") Social=20 Security, Congress, and the President share the goal of = encouraging people=20 who receive disability benefits to go to work. However, the = existing work=20 incentives can be confusing, which results in payment = errors. In response=20 to this, the FY 2012 President's budget includes the Work = Incentives=20 Simplification Pilot (WISP) legislative proposal. Under the pilot, = work=20 would no longer be a reason for terminating disability benefits. = Social=20 Security would continue to pay cash benefits for any month in = which a=20 beneficiary's earnings are below our established threshold, but = would=20 suspend benefits for any month in which earnings are above the = threshold.=20 To learn more=20
about this pilot, read Deputy Commissioner Carolyn Colvin's =
congressional=20
testimony from earlier this year Visit |
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Security. Now you can too. When it comes to news and information =
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