MINUTES FO THE NESSMA ANNUAL MEETING

NESSMA ANNUAL MEETING<= /span>

SHERATON PORTSMOUTH HARBORSIDE HOTEL =

May 8, 2009=

Vice President Donna= Gordon began the meeting by introducing and thanking the Meeting’s sponsors from H= ello Direct, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, GEHA, The Federal Long Term Care insura= nce Program and Advance Business Machines.

President Paul Gilfi= llan then welcomed everyone to the meeting and went on to mention that back in 1= 988, NESSMA had their weekend meeting at the Sheraton and 21 years later we are = back at the same hotel. He introduced the Executive Committee: Donna Gordon, Vice President, Holly Howe Treasurer Lisa Chrabolowski Secretary, J= ean Landis Naumann, Grassroots Coordinator, Carla Martin, Immediate Past Presid= ent and Judy Bernstein, Executive Officer. He also introduced the Area Reps:

Area 1 – Paul Gilfillan, Rosie Zeller, Nancy Martel-Tully and Anne Garrahan.

Area 2 – Maril= yn Monderer, Tania Radziewicz, Karen Winfield and Betty Rada.

Area 3 – Holly= Howe, Donna Gordon, Pedro Ruiz and Lori Lancaster.

Paul then recognized= all the hard work that Lori Lancaster did in organizing the mee= ting. It has been an interesting y= ear for us in New England. Our association works very c= losely with the National Council and a lot of our members are on various committees. Paul stressed how important it is to volunteer to be on a committee and how the National Coun= cil has worked on various issues like VOIP, and the effect of iClaims on field offices. Paul then went on to= thank Manny, Susan and Mike for being supportive of NESSMA. He then introduced our Regio= nal Commissioner Manny Vaz.

Remarks by Regional Commissioner = Manny Vaz

Manny thanked us for= all we do, stating that we come through for them time after time. We pay 53 million people on time a= nd we have become the “cool” government.

The proposed budget = for 2010 is $11.6 billion which is an increase of 10% over the 2009 budget. This is good news for SSA. The President has said that we are indispensable to workers, seniors and survivors and he strongly opposes the privatization of Social Security. The President would like to see some reform by the end of this year. With this budget,= there will be an increase in staffing. The Commissioner is already preparing for the 2011 budget. We are getting ready to do a new s= et of Public Service Announcements with Patty Duke. These PSA’s will push filing= for Medicare only applications online. <= /span>

ODAR: Most of the hiring this year went = to ODAR to reduce backlogs. This= is the major priority. This year= they are currently ahead of schedule in reducing the backlogs. In the first quarter, they have re= duced their pending. They will have= 10,000 fewer pending by the end of the year. Boston’s ODAR is in the best shap= e in the nation.

AFGE: We are in the process of negotiati= ng a new contract. The union is lo= oking to go back to the way things were. Manny said that he feels we will never go back to the way things were but there will be some changes coming.

800 Number: The Commissioner is very concerned= with the 800 number performance and feels that it is deteriorating. Therefore, additional staffing wil= l be coming to the teleservice centers. &n= bsp; He also realizes that the phone systems in the field offices are not good.

Economic Recovery Payments: These payments star= ted going out the week of May 4^th and should be completed by the end= of the month. There has been som= e bad publicity especially with the cases involving the J1’s (Prouty) who received checks. We received = 300 work years of OT to process these payments and to answer questions. We will be getting audited on how = we are using this money. There will = be a survey and it is important for us to respond to the questions when contacte= d to do so.

New York and San Francisco are currently piloting the electronic 4641. This i= s a web application that will obtain verification from financial institutions.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> This process will automate the SSA= 4641 form and will eliminate the need to send a paper form.

Awards: There is still no agreement with t= he union on awards. Because we k= now you need at least a 4.0 to get a ROC, we know how many ROCS we will be givi= ng out. The union is looking for= a MOU but we will probably just follow what is in the contract. We should be seeing this money som= etime next week.

Disability: We are now looking at clearances i= nstead of pending. Initial claims in= our region have seen a 11.6% increase which seems to= be consistent with the other regions. This includes a .5% increase in NH, and a 2.2% increase in RI. Nationwide, we could be up to 800,= 000 pending at the DDSs at the end of the year. Our processing goal was at 107 day= s and we were not meeting the goal. Th= e goal has been changed to 229 days and we are now meeting the goal. Staffing at the DDSs has become an= issue with some states talking about furloughs. The Agency is working with t= hese states. There is also a Disab= ility Process Branch in the RO which is helping out DDSs in this region. There are currently 4 people= in this branch. Disability is st= ill the main priority of the Agency. In MA they piloted the electronic transfer to records with Beth Israel. The average processing time to obt= ain the medical records for 528 cases to date is 48 seconds. In 26 of theses cases,= the system was able to get the records and and the examiner was immediately able to determine that the case met a listing and = it was immediately allowed. They= are working on expanding this procedure to other hospitals and DDSs.

The Agency is also w= orking on the Disability case processing system.&= nbsp; Each DDS currently has its own system. The Agency has decided that t= here should be one system for both SSA and the DDSs which will work all the way = thru ODAR.

Manny ended his rema= rks with a quote from Emerson: “The reward for a thing well done is having don= e it.”.

Remarks by Susan Harding, Deputy Regional Commissioner

Susan started off by= wishing us a Happy Public Service recognition week.

Staffing: Our region was able to hire 39 peo= ple last April. Hiring is current= ly at a 1 for 1 replacement. = Last year we had 1623 FTE and we currently have 1624.. There will be 20 temporary SIS hir= es per area. We need to be supportiv= e of the Commissioner’s initiative to recruit and hire people with disabilities. On the ov= ertime front, we can work as many hours as you can. We are expecting that we will rece= ive more hours in August.

Workload share: Workload shares play into the hiri= ng process. This region has form= ed a NEWS group to look into ways we can increase productivity. Justin Groshon is heading this gro= up along with members from each area. They are focusing on three areas.&n= bsp; The first will be WAC training for supervisors. The second will be technical training consisting of EDCS and the appeals process. With EDCS the feeling is that we received it in pieces and people are not seeing the whole picture or unders= tanding how EDCS works. This will be a train the trainer session. One person for each office will go into Boston for a train= the trainer session and then go back to the office to train. The third piece will focus on Supervisors and ADM’s and monitoring employees’ performance. Th= is will also be a train the trainer session for one non-bargaining unit person from each office. All o= f this training will be completed by the end of June.

Eclaims: In regards to internet services, w= e are doing a great job. There has = been a big increase in internet claims which are now at 26.4% region and 27.8% nationally. Rib claims are at= 31.7% nationally and at 29% for the region. Area 3 was at 32%. Dib Claims are a= t 22.9% nationally and at 22.1 % for the region. There are new goals for next= year: 37% for Ribs and 25% for Dibs. = The Agency realizes that there is a lot of recontact with internet claims but it does save time because you do not have to take the whole claim. The number one reason = for recontact seems to be with the earnings question. They are looking into ways to make= that easier to understand which will help with the MOE recontact. There are enhancements coming out = and there are 3 IVT sessions that your employees should look at in order to prepare f= or the MOE enhancements. You will still need to look at the claim. One of the IVT sessions is on leads. It is important to clean up any le= ads that are pending before the protective filing enhancements. Some of the other changes are the = release of Ready Retirement, MBR rewrite, enhancements to the automated 101, and no= tice changes in IRMAA. In August, = there will be another systems release which will include Medicare only claims.

RZ’s: The releases will start up again in June. Targets have not change= d and it is important to stick to these targets. We will see higher release numbers = for next year.

Remarks by Michael Bertrand, Assi= stant Regional Commissioner (MOS)

TSRP/VOIP: In December we had 3 offices pilot= ing the VOIP, Dorchester, Norwood and New Britain. It became clear at that point that= there were a number of issues going on with VOIP. It was not an easy transition; the= re was a learning curve involved, and glitches to work out. The process in place to fix glitch= es was much too long. In this region= , it was decided rather than wait for a site survey; we could talk to our manage= rs beforehand to let them know what is involved in the installation. Since December six more offices ha= ve been installed. Central= Office is getting a lot of feedback regarding this system. There is no question that we need = new phone systems in our field offices and we have a long way to go before VOIP= is installed in every office. There will be another 20 offices installed by the end of this year. We do have = a way to go in making this process as efficient as it can be. Some of the issues are with the MAC process which can take up to 30 days to make a change. This process need to be shorter. Other issues are with the call flo= w, voice quality, voice mail retrieval, and MI (what managers need to look at = and what reports are available). The training occurs during the week of installation. When your offic= e is scheduled for an installation you should make sure that during that time you are working with the installation people to explain to them what you need a= nd that your employees get the proper training.

Barrier Walls: There= are currently two models for barrier walls.&nb= sp; One involves installation of barrier walls in the FEI with employees= maintaining a separate desk in the back of the office. This model is referred to as the hybrid configuration. The sec= ond model is a complete barrier wall office. Everyone would have just one workstation. This is a new concept for our region. We have not had any i= nstalls as of yet. Malden will be a hybrid configuration, meaning it will have the FEI barrier and each employee will still have their own workstation. Saco we are looking at the complete barrier wall concept. Nationally there are 73 offices wh= ere all workstations are at a barrier wall and 439 with just FEI barrier walls. We are moving to this configuration because of security,, service deli= very issues, increased interviewing flexibility, and more privacy for our clients. There is= also a cost savings over time, with fewer computers, phones etc. This does not mean we are looking = to change existing offices. As an office comes up for a move, the region will be looking at the barrier wall configurations. S= maller offices tend to have the entire barrier wall where larger offices tend to go with only FEI barriers.

The RC, DRC and ARC-= MOS then opened the floor to questions. The first question was in regards to Workload share and if the decrease in our medical CDR had an impact. Ma= nny said that decrease affected all the regions, not just Boston..

The next questions a= sked if past and future age 18 redeterminations will be selected in June. Susan replied that all RZ categories will be coming out in June.

James P. McNamara Award Presentat= ion

Donna Abbott present= ed Erin Fitzpatrick with the James P McNamara award for outstanding community service. The award nomination reads:

Erin has over the past several years has run the Boston Marathon in honor of a young patient with a debilitating disease.

"The Kids at Heart Marathon team was an am= azing experience for me. I have run lots of races and competed in many competitio= ns, but nothing compared to running for Children's. The best part of the Boston Marathon had to be turning onto Boylston and having the large Children's cheering section go nuts and knowing what a difference we can make in children's lives."

RO Employee of the Year

Lisa Chrabolowski pr= esented the award for the RO Employee of the Year to Steve DeLosh. This award recognizes an RO employ= ee for superior field support..

Treasurer’s Report

NESSMA Treasurer Hol= ly Howe reported that the current health of the treasury is strong. Our treasury balance as of 03/31/09 stands at $31,660.19. Our membership currently stands at 204. Our membership last year at this time was 184. Despite considerable membership lo= sses due to retirements during the last few years, we have been able to maintain= our membership totals with the assistance of our Area-Vice Presidents who take = an active part in recruiting new members.&nbs= p; The treasurer’s report was accepted.

By Law Changes<= /b>

Carla Martin reporte= d that there was one by law change submitted.   The by law currently reads: <= o:p>

ARTICLE II - PURPOSE OF ORGANIZATION

&nbs= p;

Section 1  &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;       To cooperate constructively with all responsible officials of the Social Secur= ity Administration in the furtherance of the Social Security Program; We wholeheartedly endorse the "Social Security Administration of objectives”.

The bylaw change was accepted. The new language is= as follows:

ARTICLE II - PURPOSE OF ORGANIZATION

&nbs= p;

Section 1  &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;       To cooperate constructively with all responsible officials of the Social Secur= ity Administration in the furtherance of the Social Security Program; We wholeheartedly endorse the Social Security Administration Mission.

National Council Prospective, Greg Heineman, NCSSMA President

Paul introduced the = National Council President, Greg Heineman by saying that he is in his second term as= President and he has worked hard to represent us.

Greg began by thanki= ng some of our members who have had roles in the National Council. He thanked Bethany Paradis who has = held the office of Vice- President, and who is currently responsible for the revitalization of the Front Line. He thanked Judy Bernstein who is the past secretary and has been called on to = fill the role numerous times.   He thanked Carla Martin, past NESSMA president who continues to give great ide= as to the Association. He also t= hanked Donna Gordon who is Chair of = the Membership Committee; Paul Gilfillan, Chair of the T2 Committee; and Sylvianne Haldiman, = past chair of the Automation Committee.

Greg told us that he= has seen a solid contribution from NESSMA.&nbs= p; There is always room for involvement in the Association. There are a lot of people who have= been dedicated to the Association for a long time, but we need new people with n= ew perspectives.

TSRP: Greg reiterated our concerns about TSRP. Many of the TSRP issues have already be= en discussed, and the National Council (NC) continues to raise concerns with the DCO.   Everyone wants TSRP to succee= d with the potential that we know it has. The bottom line is that it has to be implemented but managers need to be educated on the process. There is currently a workgroup on = TSRP which is sponsored by OP and led by the Area Director in the Atlanta Region. The NC has one representative on t= hat workgroup and another NC treasurer is also on the workgroup.   The two prospectives they are working on are what a manager needs to know before and after implementation= .. He to= ld us that if there is anything you would like to see the NC brings up to this workgroup you need to NESSMA know about it. He feels the Agency is on track= in terms of understanding what is important, but they need to figure out what = we need to do to make this process the best it can be. This is what NCSSMA will be workin= g for.

Classifications of Mangers: The NC is focusing on the classifications of Supervisors. An OS is respons= ible for making personnel decisions, appraisals, leave approval and assignment o= f work, including that of GS12’s. The OS position is paid straight time for OT and bargaining unit GS12’s get time and a half for OT. NCSSMA believes there is a strong business case to pursue upgrades for the OS to as GS 13. During NCSSMA’s meeting with= the Transition Team, the issue of upgrading the OS came up. As a result, Greg brought this= up with the Commissioner and DCO, as well as Agency classifiers..   The NC we currently has a workgroup analyzing the issue and putting a case together.

Legislative Activities: = Our current representative on the Hill is Rachel Emmons from the Greystone Group. She is a tireless work= er for us. In the 2008 budget SSA got = more money than the President had proposed.&nbs= p; We exceeded the Presidents budget number for the first time since th= e Clinton Administr= ation. In the 2009 budget, we again got an increase in the budget. We also got money to upgrade the Na= tional Computer Center (NCC) in Balti= more as well as additional money for backlogged workloads. 2008 and 2009 has now set the stag= e for the 10% increase that we are hoping to see in the 2010 budget The contacts made by our members on their own time do serve a real function in seeing these numbers.. NCSSMA has and will continue to ad= vocate for the Agency on the Hill and we have also seen some improvements in field offices due to the increases in the budget.

FERS Sick Leave: There is currently a bi= ll that is part of the tobacco bill that would treat sick leave for FERS emplo= yees in a similar manner as it is for CSRS employees. CSRS employees get credit when the= y are retiring toward their years of service for unused sick leave. FERS employees do not get anything= for unused sick leave at retirement. This is a government wide issue.&nb= sp; This bill did pass the House but did not get consideration in the Se= nate last year. This year the Bill= has already passed the House and the Senate needs to take action on this Bill.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> NCSSMA’s argument in favor o= f this change is that the amount of productivity gained with people stay at work w= ill outweigh the money spent when someone retires.

Greg ended his remar= ks by thanking us for inviting him to our meeting.

Members open forum: We discussed the 2010= Annual Meeting format. The consensus= was that we have a one day meeting centrally located so everyone would be able = to commute to the meeting. Anoth= er suggestion was to have the meeting later in the summer which might encourage a better turnout for families.

Paul then adjourned = the meeting.