Social Security in the President's 2011 budget

[ProSense]

Social Security Administration

The President believes that all Americans should be able to retire with dignity, and is committed to protecting Social Security as a reliable source of income for American seniors. In 2009, more than 51 million retired or disabled workers, survivors, and their families received over $659 billion in benefit payments. Nearly 8 million Americans received SSI benefits totaling $49 billion. The Budget will:

Provide an 8 Percent Funding Increase to Provide Services Faster and Reduce Backlogs

• $12.5 billion for SSA, an increase of $930 million, or 8 percent, above the 2010 enacted level.
  
  
  • Includes resources to increase staffing in 2011 and allow SSA to provide services faster with a focus on key service delivery areas, such as processing initial retirement and disability claims, and disability appeals.
    
    
  • Funds targeted to lower the initial disability claims backlog below 1 million by processing more than 3 million claims and lower the appeals hearing backlog.

Significantly Increase Program Integrity Efforts

• $796 million for SSA program integrity, including a 9 percent increase in the level of medical Continuing Disability Reviews over the prior year. SSA’s program integrity efforts are part of a strong framework for making sure the government is spending tax dollars efficiently and that benefits are paid only to those beneficiaries who are eligible and are paid in correct amounts.

Restructure the Federal Wage Reporting Process

• Proposes to restructure the Federal wage reporting process by reverting to quarterly wage reporting. Currently, wages are reported to the federal government once a year. Increasing the timeliness of wage reporting would enhance tax administration, improve program integrity for a range of programs, and facilitate implementation of automatic workplace pensions. The Administration will work with states so that the overall reporting burden on employers is not increased.

High-Priority Performance Goals

The Administration is committed to building a transparent, high-performance government capable of addressing the challenges of the 21st century. As part of developing the budget, every department identified high-priority performance goals (along with the strategies and in-house resources to achieve them) that each will work to accomplish over the next two years. Highlights of this department’s goals are:

• By 2012, SSA will achieve an online filing rate of 50 percent for retirement applications.
  
  
• SSA will work towards achieving the agency’s long-term outcomes of lowering the disability backlogs and accurately processing claims. In 2011, SSA’s will process 3.317 million out of a universe of 4.316 million initial disability claims and 799,000 out of a universe of 1.456 million hearing requests.
  
  
• SSA will improve program integrity efforts by minimizing improper payments and strengthening the agency’s efforts to protect program dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse. In 2011, SSA’s will process 359,800 out of a total of approximately 2 million medical continuing disability reviews, an increase of 9.4 percent over 2010.

To see the Department’s full set of performance information, please visit: www.socialsecurity.gov/asp.

More Department Fact Sheets

[onenote]

1. This is the budget the President proposed in Feb 2010

I have no idea what the President will propose with respect to Social Security in the new budget he will be proposing after the first of the year. But its a bit misleading for you to post this without clarifying that this is not the new budget that people are talking about, but rather the budget that was proposed last year.

[ProSense]

2. Maybe

you don't understand: "But its a bit misleading for you to post this without clarifying that this is not the new budget "

No, the 2011 budget is for the fiscal year that begins October 2010 through September 2011. The budget is always proposed months before the beginning of the actual fiscal year.

[onenote]

3. I understand fully what this is

There have been threads, in which you have participated, about reports that the president will propose changes in Social Security in his 2011 state of the union address. Those changes, if proposed, will be reflected in his proposed budget for 2012, which will be released shortly after the SOU. Whether or not the President will propose changes in Soc Sec and what those changes might be is not known and reports about what he will do.. and will not do.. are mere speculation at this point.

However, in the context of what he is going to be proposing in his SOU in early 2011, a thread entitled "Social Security in 2011 Budget" is misleading to those who might think that this somehow answers the question of what the President intends to do.

It may not have been your intent to be misleading, but the way you framed your post, in the context of what has been discussed here as of late was in fact misleading.

[ProSense]

4. So you

expect me to put stock in speculation?

There have been threads, in which you have participated, about reports that the president will propose changes in Social Security in his state of the union. Those changes, if proposed, will be reflected in his proposed budget for 2012, which will be released shortly after the SOU. Whether or not the President will proposed changes in Soc Sec and what those changes might be is not known and reports about what he will do.. and will not do.. are mere speculation at this point.

However, in the context of what he is going to be proposing in early 2011, a thread entitled "Social Security in 2011 Budget" is misleading to those who might think that this somehow answers the question of what the President intends to do.

It may not have been your intent to be misleading, but the way you framed your post, in the context of what has been discussed here as of late was in fact misleading.

There is nothing misleading about the post. It states specifically that this is the 2011 budget. If you understand that, why is it misleading?

The 2012 budget will cover the period from October 2011 through September 2012. This post has nothing to do with speculation.

What exactly are you upset about?

[onenote]

9. Not upset. Just pointing out that in the context of the soc sec discussion taking place

your post is misleading insofar as it doesn't make clear that this is old news not anything new.

A question for you: what exactly was the point of posting information about what last year's budget had in it?

[ProSense]

10. "the context of the soc sec discussion taking place"

How the hell does pointing out the 2011 budget impact the one and only debate you think is ongoing?

"A question for you: what exactly was the point of posting information about what last year's budget had in it?"

It's not last year's budget. It's the current budget, and you seem upset that I posted it. Why?

[Clio the Leo]

11. oh good grief. nt

[Peregrine Took]

5. I agree its very misleading. n/t

[vaberella]

7. How? n/t

[ProSense]

8. No, it's not misleading.

Maybe it's upsetting to see that Social Security wasn't cut, but increased in the 2011 budget, but stating a fact about the 2011 budget is in no way misleading.

[vaberella]

6. Goalposts will be moved. Cuts will start in 2012 Prosense.

Why do you like pissing on the hater's parade. Obama is supposedly cutting SS, we're all supposed to dislike him equally.

[jtown1123]

12. Obama is not done with his new budget. He is releasing it a week late this year

Obama's Budget Delayed a Week-WALL STREET JOURNAL. The spending blueprint for fiscal 2012 could be momentous. Mr. Obama has promised spending cuts that will embody the "shared sacrifice" he says is needed to tame the $1.3 trillion budget deficit. It is also expected to launch broader debates about reshaping the U.S. tax code to make it simpler and to bring in more revenue. It also is likely to refer to changes the administration says need to be made to Social Security to secure the system's long-term solvency as the nation's population grows older. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203731004576045931795150202.html