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)

Comments

  1. Steven D.

    Wares my eip?

  2. Deborah M.

    To Whom This May Concern:
    I have Quite a few things I have already “aired My outlook “ to your Administration about, but FYI no one is Listening and/or just don’t give a Real damn about Good Legitimate People who Deserve the Respect and Attention we All so Proudly Deserve…💟
    Example: Granted Diisability by a Court Hearing only to be later Notified Denial by an Out of State Judge who wasn’t at the Hearing and also Denied by my State and Not Social Security Administration ( so State Statistics could look 👀 good obviously?!)
    I personally Thank Kim Reynolds for being on the ball for that!…(Not)
    No Stimulus Money because I was being Helped to Survive by My kids even though my SSI barely helped me for myself and was claimed as a Dependent – which I was – while trying to make ends meet….
    What was Really going on in This Country is a Shame and at No Fault of President Trump because if he was being “Backed “ by All of his Government Officials- as he “Should’ve Been “ instead of trying to “Sling Mud” or “Tar and Feather 🪶 “ him I am sure this Country would be Great again and “Not a Big Disappointment “ because of “Other People’s Personal Gains “…..
    Sorry if I “Wasted” Your Time, but Mine has been Also…
    “Have a Beautiful BLESSED Day -to Your Health and Safety: May GOD BLESS !!!….”

  3. Pamela A.

    I’m on ssi when will I get my stimulus check on my direct express card

  4. Marilyn d.

    All of my dealings with SSA by telephone have been great. Was on hold a really long time but the workers were pleasant, helpful, and did the job well. Thanks to all of them.

  5. D

    Me too! When those stimulus checks going out? I’m on SSI.

  6. day m.

    When will we get a stimulus ck if you are on SSI and only get 783$

  7. Shonda H.

    My check was stopped in December was told that I owed almost 10 thousand in overpayment ,mind you that all my paper work that sent me stated I owed 0,right before they stop my check they send me a letter stating that I was overpaid almost 10 thousand,in the middle of a pandemic on trying to live on my 113 unemployment. I was working only 24 hours a week at 8.25 an hour which is way below what they say I’m allowed to make it, damn same that they dont care that you become homeless they still get a paycheck and not have to worry about bills late,loosing their home or food on their table, I’ve have 3 storkes and a foot of my intestines taken out since December. So not far . I want to know where you came up with this

    • V.V.

      For your security, Shonda, 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.

  8. Robert T.

    Hello, are you looking for extra money? Try ySense.

    https://www.ysense.com/?rb=59429643

  9. Contina P.

    When is the 3rd stimulus checks coming?

  10. Sandy H.

    You have a lot of social security people looking for answers on when we are getting our third stimulus check.. it’s really disappointing that you don’t inform us maybe you don’t want people who are not are not on it to know I don’t know ? But it’s wrong you could send the one on it a message on when so we don’t have to be looking for answers..! Thank You

Comments are closed.