California Erred in Publishing Thousands of Social Security Number Online

In just five months following its first security breach, the State of California has again erroneously published thousands of Social Security numbers online.

According to recent news reports, California’s Department of Health Care Service officials admitted that it mistakenly posted online some 14,000 Social Security numbers belonging to Medi-Cal providers working for In-Home Supportive Services from 25 counties in California.

The Medi-Cal providers’ personal social security information have been available to anyone on the state’s Medi-Cal website for nine days until the mistake was discovered and eventually taken down.

In its statement quoted below, the Department of Health Care Services’ spokesperson said:

“This was inadvertent and we sincerely regret this has happened.”

Incidentally, last July, the same incident occurred when a database breach by the Department of Social Services put around 750,000 providers’ personal information at risk.

During that time, the state offered to provide free credit monitoring for several months and then pledged that the problem would never happen again—until this recent glitch.

Consequently, many owners of the Social Security numbers exposed online are now concerned about becoming victims of identity theft. In addition, the second incident of security breach has created a dispute regarding the state’s ability to safeguard sensitive information like Social Security numbers.

For the second time around, the state’s Department of Health Care Services again pledges to take some very strong action to help deal with the problem. It can be remembered that the agency did the same action before, when it offered additional year of free credit-monitoring service and some precautionary steps to protect such information more diligently.

However, in a statement released by a Los Angeles permanent disability lawyer, he claimed that it cannot be always that way that whenever the state committed such mistake, it would simply make a pledge. The same lawyer stressed that something must be done at once to avoid such leak of confidential information. “People need action and not promises,” he added.

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SSA Adds another 35 Conditions to Compassionate Allowances Program

Following the modest addition of a single condition of the Social Security Administration (SSA) in its Compassionate Allowances Program last July, the federal agency recently announced its generous addition to the program which is composed of 35 new conditions.

In its recent press release, SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue announced that the agency added 35 more conditions to its Compassionate Allowance Program currently  in effect.

Consequently, the total number of conditions in the accelerated disability process reached 200.

Apparently, the agency’s program is purposely designed to quickly identify diseases and other medical conditions that could make a person eligible to receive disability benefits. The program is intended to speed up disability decisions to ensure that Americans will receive their benefits within days of filing their application, instead of months or even years. Existing conditions listed on the program include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and a number of rare medical conditions that generally affect children.

Since the agency began the program in 2008 until present, the disability benefits applications of approximately 200,000 people with severe disabilities over the country have been promptly approved in less than a couple of weeks, Astrue proudly revealed.

Incidentally, the conditions included in the program are so severe to the point that they do not have to be fully developed for the agency to make a decision regarding the applicants’ employment history. Consequently, the agency slashed out a certain part in the application process for people who have a condition enlisted on the program.

For details of the newly added conditions, a Los Angeles social security disability lawyer herein quoted the same below for readers’ ready reference:

1.    Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
2.    Adult Onset Huntington Disease
3.    Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome
4.    Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma
5.    Aplastic Anemia
6.    Beta Thalassemia Major
7.    Bilateral Optic Atrophy- Infantile
8.    Caudal Regression Syndrome – Types III and IV
9.    Child T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma
10.    Congenital Lymphedema
11.    DeSanctis Cacchione Syndrome
12.    Dravet Syndrome
13.    Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma
14.    Erdheim Chester Disease
15.    Fatal Familial Insomnia
16.    Fryns Syndrome
17.    Fulminant Giant Cell Myocrditis
18.    Hepatopulmonary Syndrome
19.    Hepatorenal Syndrome
20.    Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome
21.    Leiomyosarcoma
22.    Malignant Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor
23.    Malignant Germ Cell Tumor
24.    MECP 2 Duplication Syndrome
25.    Menkes Disease - Classic or Infantile Onset Form
26.    NFU-1 Mitochondrial Disease
27.    Non-Ketotic Hyperglcinemia
28.    Peritoneal Mucinous Carcinomatosis
29.    Phelan- McDermid Syndrome
30.    Retinopathy of Prematurity - Stage V
31.    Roberts Syndrome
32.    Severe Combined Immunodeficiency - Childhood
33.    Sinonasal Cancer
34.    Transplant Coronary Artery Vasculopathy
35.    Usher Syndrome - Type I

For further details regarding the complete list of the Compassionate Allowances Program, you could visit the agency’s official webpage, www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

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Disability Benefit for Veterans, Survivors Up Slightly

The newly re-elected president has some good news for veterans and survivors alike.

As recently reported, President Barack Obama signed a bill on Tuesday which would increase the disability benefits received by veterans as well as survivors of war casualties.

Apparently, said effort is to match the benefits received by the disabled veterans into the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) paid to Social Security recipients and military retirees.

Incidentally, about 4 million veterans and their families are set to benefit from the increase. Also, it is expected to involve other benefits such as disability compensation and benefits for surviving spouses and children, according to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. John Tester (D-Montana).

Through his statement, Tester explained his side that he understands how the veterans fought hard for the country, which is why they deserve some increase in their benefits. 

Accordingly, disabled veterans and dependents will eye an increase of $500.00 a year or a 1.7 percent increase per year. Incidentally, although the increase took effect last December 1, it is expected to be visible with January payments.

Unfortunately, veterans’ disability and survivor benefits is far different from social security and military retirement payments since the latter are automatically raised each year while the former still must be approved by the Congress each year.

At present, officials are seeking ways on how to eliminate the need for the yearly approval and instead switch to an automatic annual raise.

Generally, disability benefits, also known as Title II benefits, are given to individuals who are unable to work due to a disabling condition. Therefore, homecoming veterans who incurred injuries that led to disability from the previous wars are absolutely entitled for the benefits, as well as the survivors of the less-fortunate veterans who did not survive the war, noted by a Los Angeles long term disability lawyer.

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