FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-9263
June 7, 2000
No. SS-18
Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr., (R-FL), Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the processing of attorney fees by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The hearing will take place on Wednesday, June 14, 2000, in room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include representatives of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), SSA, and individuals affected by the procedures for processing attorney fees. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
Individuals seeking Social Security benefits may choose to have attorneys or other individuals represent them in their claims. The Commissioner of Social Security through regulation establishes a limit on the amount of the representation fee that may be charged and approves each fee charged by any representative. In favorable decisions, the Commissioner withholds the attorney's fee from the claimant's past-due benefits and payment is made directly to the attorney. Prior to 2000, the costs associated with the processing, withholding, and approving direct payment of attorney fees were absorbed in the administrative budget for the SSA.
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-170) requires the Commissioner to cover the costs of paying attorney fees directly to attorneys out of the fees collected. Attorneys are prohibited from recouping this cost from their clients. Effective February 1, 2000, the assessment for calendar year 2000 is 6.3 percent of the approved attorney's fee. For future years, the assessment will be set at a rate to achieve full recovery of the costs of determining, processing, withholding, and distributing payment of fees to attorneys, but it may not exceed 6.3 percent. The legislation also eliminated a 15-day delay before attorney fees could be paid and directed a study by the GAO of a number of issues related to representation and payment of attorney fees with a report due by December 2000.
Increasingly, many attorneys have expressed concerns about long wait times for attorney fee payments. For many small practices, these delays have caused serious financial setbacks, resulting in attorneys giving up their practice representing Social Security applicants.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Shaw stated: "People wait a lifetime to be able to claim Social Security benefits. They shouldn't have to wait again to get the benefits they are entitled to. That the Social Security application process is so complex people feel obliged to hire an attorney to help them is in itself a serious problem. It is especially troubling given the expected rapid growth in the number of applicants and beneficiaries with the aging and eventual retirement of the Baby Boomers. Much work remains in the area of simplifying the application process, which will benefit applicants, the SSA, and ultimately taxpayers. For now, though, a good start would be finding a better way to pay claimants' representatives and to have SSA process this workload as quickly and efficiently as possible."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will focus on the timeliness and accuracy of SSA's processing of attorney fee payments, the impact of recent legislation on this process, and recommendations for additional changes to improve the process.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Wednesday, June 28, 2000, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Social Security office, room B-316 Rayburn House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities.
If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or
202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is
requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general
(including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be
directed to the Committee as noted above.