This week, Donald John Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. We are now waiting to see who will helm the Social Security Administration ("SSA"). President Trump has indicated his top pick is Frank Bisignano, the Chairman of the payment processing company Fiserv.
Currently, we have a new Acting Commissioner named Michelle King. She is new in the role as of this month, but is sounds like she is not President Trump's long-term pick. Acting Commissioner King was previously the Deputy Commissioner for Operations. She was instrumental in embracing online technology to improve SSA, so President Trump might want to give her a shot to turn the ship around before handing the reins to an outsider.
Mr. Bisignano has never worked at SSA. He does have an extensive background in the financial and technological industries though. Mr. Bisignano has held leadership positions at Shearson Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan Chase and First Data Corporation.
Many naysayers are claiming Mr. Bisignano has no knowledge of the the intricacies of the SSA. That may technically be true, but that may be exactly what SSA needs. SSA needs to be modernized and run with the efficiency of a successful modern day business. The SSA system is broken, so bringing in outsider known for holding his employees accountable could be the fresh start that SSA needs. SSA has blamed their poor customer service on their backlogs and staffing issues, excuses that would only be tolerated in the public sector and are never tolerated in private sector. In the private sector, deadlines have to be met regardless of infrastructure challenges. Subpar employees get fired and dedicated employees get promoted. SSA should embrace those same philosophies.
Don't get me wrong....the Offices of Hearings Operations ("OHOs") have done an impeccable job with the work-from-home policy. We are getting hearings scheduled in record numbers and I frequently get calls from the OHO employees to confirm information about my clients. They are friendly and professional. My guess is they actually get more work done working from home because they are tasked with getting a certain amount of decisions out every year. They have built in accountability system because of the decision requirements.
We are having the opposite experience with the local SSA field offices, however. If, and I mean IF, you can get a SSA field office employee on the phone, it is like pulling teeth from a lion to get a status update. Many of the field office employees do not even want to look the claim up in the system. At first I thought the employee was just being difficult, but it happens so often that I have come to realize that the employee isn't at his or her work station, so the employee truly could not look the case up.
The only way we are making any progress with the local field offices is allowing our clients to file complaints with their local Congressional Representatives. I have to say that the majority of the Congressional Representatives, both Democrat and Republican, have been very helpful for our clients, so I highly recommend that if you are having a problem with your local SSA field office, get to know your local Congressional Representative. You can go to your local Congressional Representative's website and find the link entitled "Help With a Federal Agency." Only do this once you have exhausted all attempts to solve the problem with your local SSA field office and track all the attempts you have made to resolve your issue with your local field office. After all, you want your Congressional Representative to know exactly how your local SSA field office is failing.
We will see, if confirmed, whether Mr. Bisignano can get the SSA field offices back on track. He has the reputation of being a fixer on Wall Street and a fixer is exactly what the SSA field offices need. His financial and technological acumen would be direct skills that could help overhaul the SSA system. SSA has started to recently embrace technological advancements, including the expansion of online services, but SSA is still light-years away from where they should be in 2025.
I am interested in seeing what Mr. Bisignano does to bring SSA up to speed in the modern era. I do think former Commissioner Martin O'Malley had done an exceptional job in the year that he helmed SSA and I like to think that Mr. Bisignano will take up the mantle of making SSA a more efficient and accurate system. Only time will tell.
I am not political. I am unenrolled and not registered with any political party. I find most politicians to be nothing more than windbags who serve themselves rather than the people they were hired to serve. I just want to see this system fixed, so those who are disabled can get their benefits in an efficient manner. I simultaneously want to make sure taxpayers' money is protected and used responsibly. I am hoping that Frank Bisignano can balance those basic interests and improve SSA.
Lastly (I just need to get this off my chest), to that SSA employee at the field office in Seguin, Texas, who told my client who is in hospice that he needs to be patient about receiving his retroactive benefits that he was granted, you should be ashamed of yourself. You also should lose your job and I certainly hope you do.
Got a question about SSDI or SSI that you need us to answer? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with helpful information on our website that will allow you to successfully navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to email me your questions at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call me at (800) 459-3017 x 101.
