COVID-19, Online Services, SSI

Letter to the Public on Service

March 17, 2021 • By

Reading Time: 5 Minutes

Last Updated: November 2, 2023

A photo headshot of SSA Commissioner Andrew SaulI want to update you about how things are going at the Social Security Administration.

About a year ago, I took the unprecedented step to close our offices to the public. I did this to keep our employees and you—the public we serve—safe.  As we enter year two of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines and other precautionary measures give us cause for hope. For now, we will continue our current safety measures as described in our COVID-19 Workplace Safety Plan. This plan is iterative, and we will update it as we receive additional government-wide guidance and information from public health experts in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Like many businesses and organizations, the pandemic has forced us to adapt. I want to thank our employees for their willingness to embrace innovative ways of working while we continue to deliver our mission. As we examine our work in a new light, we are asking which lessons learned could improve service beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

We understand that the public wants to engage with us on some matters in person, and our local offices are integral to our communities. We also know that not everyone can conveniently come to us in person and that when you do visit, you want the process to be efficient. For example, we may need evidence from you, but we do not need to interview you in person. We are currently testing drop box and express appointment options for the public to bring in documentation.

Often, you only need to know your Social Security number and do not need a physical Social Security card. However, if you do need to replace your card, we are testing video appointments if you need a new Social Security card but do not need to change any of the information in our records. Although ideas like these began as solutions during COVID-19, we are considering how they could improve service in the future.

Some of these concepts also allow us to consider how we might continue to use telework, something that most organizations and companies have depended on during the COVID-19 pandemic, to drive longer-term operational efficiencies like reducing space. We could use those savings to provide you more online service options and hire more people to serve you more quickly as well as to retain outstanding employees. We will continue to engage our managers, employees, and unions on ways we could use telework to improve customer service and other issues.

We often note that Social Security touches the lives of nearly every American. Be assured that as we continue to evolve, we are committed to serving everyone including our most vulnerable populations who often require in person assistance. We are working with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, claimant advocates, and other organizations to ensure our services are accessible to people with low income, limited English proficiency, mental illness, or facing homelessness. We recently added online tools and information pages to our website including:

As we contemplate the future, we are delivering now. To help improve deteriorating service, we have added over 6,000 frontline employees to help you. We decreased the average wait to talk to our 800 Number agents by one-third and reduced the agent busy rate by over 50 percent in the last two years, and our 800 Number agents handled 1.6 million more calls than they did a year ago.

During the pandemic, we shifted service to the telephone where local office employees answered 13 million more calls last year than they did in fiscal (FY) 2019. They answered your calls in under 3 minutes on average compared to an average wait of nearly 24 minutes in FY 2019.

For individuals who were denied benefits and requested an appeal, we quickly shifted to holding hearings by telephone at the start of the pandemic and then added online video hearings. During the pandemic, we have continued to reduce the number of people waiting for a hearing to 376,000 at the end of February 2021, the lowest level in nearly 20 years. We reduced the average wait for a hearing by over 9 months in the last two years. If you are still waiting for a hearing, please consider scheduling by telephone or video. You can find out more information about telephone hearings and video hearings.

The pandemic has significantly disrupted parts of our disability process, particularly at the state Disability Determination Services (DDS) that make disability determinations for us. We have provided the DDSs with additional hiring and overtime to help address a significant increase in pending initial disability cases. The DDSs have been able to reduce the number of people waiting for a decision on initial disability claims by about 100,000 cases since the height of the pending cases in August 2020. In order to make initial disability decisions as quickly as possible, and to reduce the burden on the medical community still stressed from the pandemic, we have focused our limited resources on completing initial requests for disability benefits and have reduced the number of continuing disability reviews we are conducting.

We have made some notable improvements to our online services:

  • Our redesigned Retirement Benefits Portal helps you prepare and apply for retirement benefits, with clearer, simplified information.
  • We improved our registration process for our online my Social Security account – more than one million people will register for an account this month.
  • Our Message Center allows people with a my Social Security account to access notices online instead of by mail.
  • We implemented an online payment option for people to repay debts to Social Security.
  • We expanded our online Social Security card replacement service to almost all states. If you need to replace your card, you can request a replacement through your my Social Security account if you:
    • Are a U.S. citizen age 18 years or older with a U.S. mailing address;
    • Are not requesting a name change or any other change to your card; and
    • Have a driver’s license or a state-issued identification card from one of 45 participating states or the District of Columbia. If your state does not yet participate in this service, check back soon. More states are added regularly.

The entire team at Social Security is working hard to serve you. We thank you for your patience during the COVID-19 pandemic and we look forward to welcoming you back in our offices when it is safe to do so. We also look forward to continuing to improve all of our service channels to provide you with convenient options to do business with us.

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About the Author

Andrew Saul, Commissioner, Social Security Administration

Commissioner of Social Security Administration (June 17, 2019 - July 9, 2021)

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Comments

  1. Daniel D.

    This is all well and good but since 2017 I’ve been trying to get an estimate of what my retirement benefits may be and have been unable to get it.

    Since I have a mySocialSecurity account I no longer get the annual statement.

    When I try to get it online there is a problem that says it cannot be provided until someone at SSA speaks with me and I need to contact SSA.

    When I call, for 4 years now, not one person is ever familiar with the online message I get and cannot tell me why I get it.

    I am told I need to speak with someone at my local office and I should go in or call them – but they are closed and calling the “local” # gets me a national call center, where they are not familiar…

    See where this is going?

    I even downloaded a form, and completed it and mailed it in requesting a statement.
    I got a reply that it cannot be provided until SSA speaks with me so I must contact SSA.

    On my calls I’ve been told a few times they’ll forward my info to the local office to have someone there call me.

    Only once I received a callback, back in 2019.
    But as luck would have it they called me on a Saturday while I was at work so I couldn’t answer it.
    They left a message to call them back and I did, within a half hour, and reached a recording that said they’re not open Saturdays and Sundays.

    Everyone I’ve spoken with has been great, just unable to help.

    I’m going to file for S.S. in a few months, but I’m afraid the online process will get stopped because they need to talk to me and I’ll be instructed to call. Then be informed they are not familiar with…

    See where this went?

    Now what do I do?

    • V.V.

      For your security, Daniel, we do not have access to private information in this venue. We ask that members in our Blog community work with our offices with specific questions. You can call us at 1-800-772-1213 for assistance or you can call your local Social Security office. Please look for the general inquiry telephone number at the Social Security Office Locator. The number may appear under Show Additional Office Information. Please be aware that our call wait times are longer than normal. We hope this information helps.

  2. Kathie

    It seems to me that the government doesn’t care at all about the elderly. It seems to only be about unemployment. I personally know of several people on unemployment that are getting 800.00 a week and food vouchers, and are not planing to go back to work until they absolutely have to. Yet my monthly check can’t even keep groceries in the house. I have not received my stimulus payment yet. My husband who is also retired has been out of his diabetes meds for two weeks because we can’t afford rent utilities and food . Yet everyone else has received their stimulus money but we are still waiting! The elderly are on fixed incomes, but as usual we are the last to receive our stimulus checks! Don’t get me wrong I am thankful we will be getting the stimulus. But we both worked all our lives paid our taxes and only collected unemployment once in my life and yet we are the last to be considered for financial aide. This country’s political representatives should be ashamed of themselves! We the elderly have already paid it forward !!!! I am very disappointed with all these two faced senators that can’t come up with one original thought of their own. Like Bilachek said DO YOUR JOB!!! You have no problem collecting your pay check.

  3. Angela e.

    when are SSI getting their 3rd stimilus check?

  4. Chanel H.

    I agree and they want to count your every dollar they don’t want you to live they give you crumbs and we feed the doctors and pharmacies and stores so sad while other states live better

  5. Cynthia B.

    Why is it that my husband is on SSDI and we are in the low and I mean low income bracket, did we only receive the first stimulus check and haven’t received any of the others ? The Get My Payment keeps saying, “ Not enough information “ or “ you don’t qualify to receive the stimulus payments “ This makes no sense when we are below $ 15,000.00 a year now isn’t that below poverty ?

    We Could Really Use The Help

  6. Kristy b.

    I sent in all of my documents money order and filled form and everything was sent back to me but the form. No note, nothing! That was three months ago. Jobs are requiring the as card now so what do I do?

    • V.V.

      Hi Kristy, thanks for using our blog. The Social Security Administration does not charge for a replacement social security card. We recommend you only obtain a replacement if you need one. You will rarely need to show it. Knowing your Social Security number is what is important. However, if you must get a replacement card, check out our Social Security and Coronavirus web page for details on getting help with your Social Security number. We hope this helps!

  7. Steve n.

    I’m sure the commissioner, sleeps well at night, knowing he’s done such a wonderful job. I’m absolutely sure he would not have any problem getting disability, should it ever come to that. Hopefully it doesn’t. My wife has been waiting over 3 years. Her health has deteriorated. We have been homeless. Nobody has anything to say. I’ve called state representatives, nothing. The standard answer from disability is, nothing has been determined yet. I’m so glad, he feels so good about how things are going.

  8. John p.

    Windfall yes after contributing over $80.000 to the fund then 15% of my pay for over 30 years I am penalized 1k a month for my efforts as a retired firefighter my so called pension is a windfall I was a grunt yup kicked in the door put the fire out only upper management got all the perks me and men like me pay the penalty so now I have to work every day till I die how nice

  9. Norma V.

    Well why we have to suffer for people that abuse the system why not make them suffer for their inappropriate behavior. Or make them work .to make the social security better. For the future of our kids. Tx Norma V Martinez
    tequilasunrise627@gmail.com

  10. John C.

    I’ve never got a stimulus check not in the mail or checking account

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