Letter to the Public on Service
Reading Time: 5 MinutesLast Updated: November 2, 2023
I 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:
- Online resources for People Helping Others access our services.
- Online Outreach Materials for Partner Groups.
- Updated information for Faith-Based and Community Groups including a new toolkit.
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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Tags: COVID-19, my Social Security, social security, SSI
See CommentsAbout the Author
Andrew Saul, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Commissioner of Social Security Administration (June 17, 2019 - July 9, 2021)
Comments
Comments are closed.
Tim K.
Where is SSDI AND SSI STIMULAS..NO UPDATED INFO..NO DATE..FIRE SAUL..FIRE SAUL..FIRE SAUL, MR. PRESIDENT..IMMEDIATELY
Vonda
Hi Tim, thanks for using our blog to ask your question. If you receive Social Security or SSI benefits, you may receive your payment sooner, or later, than another beneficiary you know because the IRS is sending payments first to anyone who filed a tax return or used its Non-Filer Tool to receive a previous payment.
The IRS has not determined when it will begin issuing payments to Social Security and SSI beneficiaries who did not file a 2020 or 2019 tax return or used its Non-Filer Tool to receive a previous payment. Use the IRS’ Get My Payment Tool to see when you can expect to receive your payment once determined by the IRS.
Phillip v.
Mr so called president,why have you not fired all the chump rollovers.you know they are sabotaging stuff intentionally for there daddy trump..wake up sleepy joe…
Surinder V.
It is high time Social Security fixes a MINIMUM MONTHLY
Payment which should get raised annually based on COLA. Why make mockery when Social Security payment is payable to a Senior Citizen provided an he/she has earned
atleast 40 points. We can surely reduce some work by rationalising this and it may largely benefit women folk and
Low paid workers, who cannot defend themselves.
o Earned 40 points – Minimum not linked to contribution
If contributions are meagre.
o For others , the existing system which is working
Satisfactorily may continue.
Rhonda H.
When will we find oút about the 3rd check. I’m about to lose my home and my land. When will we get help?
Vonda
Hi Rhonda, thanks for using our blog. You can find the latest information available from the IRS at https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus-tax-relief-and-economic-impact-payments. If you don’t see the answer to your question, you can call the IRS’ payment hotline at 1-800-919-9835.
The IRS, not Social Security, sends all economic impact payments. Unfortunately, our telephone representatives and social media team cannot answer your specific situation about payments.
The IRS is sending payments first to anyone who filed a 2020 or 2019 tax return, or who used the IRS’ Non-Filer Tool to receive a previous payment. Then the IRS plans to send payments to beneficiaries who had not filed.
If you receive Social Security or SSI benefits, you may receive your payment sooner, or later, than another beneficiary you know because the IRS is sending payments first to anyone who filed a tax return or used its Non-Filer Tool to receive a previous payment.
The IRS has not determined when it will begin issuing payments to Social Security and SSI beneficiaries who did not file a 2020 or 2019 tax return or used its Non-Filer Tool to receive a previous payment. Use the IRS’ Get My Payment Tool to see when you can expect to receive your payment once determined by the IRS. https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment
Larry L.
Your response fails to answer the critical question of WHEN. The first two stimulus payments seem to have been delivered quicker the this current one. Communication between the SSA and the IRS seems to have broken down considering the IRS previously had been given the information from the SSA. Picking and choosing which group gets paid first should be based on which group is hurting the most. I submit SS recipients who did not-file was because they didn’t make enough to file. Additionally, on the first two stimulus payments it was not widely advertised that non-filers had to register with the IRS. All I recall said was if you received that you didn’t have to do anything if you were on SS and you’d get a payment. Now the IRS is reporting you should have registered as a non-filer to get a payment.
WHY can’t the IRS give a date those in the SS/non-filers give a date? This frustrates people not knowing when to expect a payment. Not knowing, so people can plan is frustrating and causes undo stress on those who are hurting the most.
Vonda
Hi Larry, thanks for using our blog. You may want to use the IRS’ Get My Payment Tool to see when the IRS will send your payment. When known by the IRS, the tool will show when you can expect your payment and how or where you will receive it.
You should receive your payment from the IRS the same way you receive your monthly Social Security or SSI benefit, whether by direct deposit, Direct Express Card, or by mail.
Previously, some beneficiaries who do not receive their monthly benefit by direct deposit or Direct Express Card may have received a debit card for their payment from the IRS. This time, the IRS plans to mail checks.
Debra C.
STOP PASSING THE BUCK… today accross every news report it is SOCIAL SECURITY’S ADMINISTRATION ( actually lack thereof) as to the reason we are still waiting….the IRS requested updated info a WEEK BEFORE this last stimulus act was even passed…my 4 year old grandson can run his play kitchen and store better than anyone at social security can do their JOBS…our ‘so called ‘ social security that I’d earned enough credits to get before I was even 32..is a JOKE….FIRE EVERYONE AND HIRE/TRAIN PEOPLE WHO’VE WENT “””WITHOUT””…CUZ THEY MIGHT JUST GIVE A CARE!!!!! WORTHLESS AND A JOKE IS OUR SECUIRTY SYSTYEM that with just what I”ve put in invested i’d be getting a whole lot more than just $928.00 monthly…stinks
Damnit
Where’s my gotdam stimulous it’s very tufff and I thought biden was different same old shit ya all these lousy smokers wat pass corona a
Bonnie H.
Has the Easton Social Security office instituted drop boxes yet?
I have paperwork to drop off but don’t trust the postal service to deliver it in a timely fashion.
Vonda
Hi Bonnie, thanks for using our blog. Please call your local Social Security office. 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.
Delores P.
When I need to mail something back to SS I send it with a the green postal card when they receive it must get signed and I get the green card sent back to me. Yes I have to pay the postage but it’s worth every penny knowing the SS Office has received my mailed on Documents.
Hope this helps.🙏🏾🙌🏾❤️
Michelle B.
When will we get our third stimulus money? People on social security and disability, don’t get a regular weekly check like working class, people are drowning and need this money like the average american, help us, we also need this money.
Jacqueline M.
I agree. I got the $600 deposit on January 4..9 days after Trump signed the bill.
Eleven days later we’re apparently waiting for the SSI date to be “announced”.
I’m a widow. My husband was a dispatcher for a trucking company. His social security was over $2,000. I worked in the home and was his bookkeeper and office manager…he talked on the phone and I did all the paperwork. No pay, of course..so $794 of ssi in Idaho and the price of everything is going up.
I pray they hurry.
Vonda
Hi Michelle, thanks for using our blog. The IRS is sending payments first to anyone who filed a 2020 or 2019 tax return, or who used the IRS’ Non-Filer Tool to receive a previous payment. Then the IRS plans to send payments to beneficiaries who had not filed.
If you receive Social Security or SSI benefits, you may receive your payment sooner, or later, than another beneficiary you know because the IRS is sending payments first to anyone who filed a tax return or used its Non-Filer Tool to receive a previous payment.
The IRS has not determined when it will begin issuing payments to Social Security and SSI beneficiaries who did not file a 2020 or 2019 tax return or used its Non-Filer Tool to receive a previous payment. Use the IRS’ Get My Payment Tool to see when you can expect to receive your payment once determined by the IRS.
Peter S.
This response is unacceptable. Myself and millions of others as seniors, have worked and paid taxes into social security. We must not be left uninformed. We see money once a month. And there’s so many others have mentioned we are drowning. I insist that social security be more transparent and answerable to the public. If I had put all the money I have paid into social security for the past 50 years into a private pension fund, I wouldn’t have this minimal pension barely enough to exist on which would have become an income that I can live comfortably on
Celeste V.
Agreed. Not receiving the 3rd stimulus payment like everyone else did on March 17 is a slap in the face. The 2nd slap in the face is the fact that they don’t even have a date or estimated time frame for when we will!
“Date to be announced shortly” my ass! Most people like me do not get that much from Social Security as it is. Why we were all left out makes no sense at all.
Diane C.
I would like to commend the SSA for their service during this time. We have all been affected in one form or another by this Covid, it has destroyed lives and did not pick Race, Sex, Age…I need not go on.
We do not know when or it it will ever stop as mutated forms now have reared their ugly faces.
At any rate people you mustn’t kill the messenger, think of the stress they must endure, having to hold the grief and sorrow they suffer and struggle with when they leave work.
They may have their own personal grief or issues, who do they get to vent to…🤔
All I’m saying is it’s one person to hundreds of applicants, they are only human show some empathy and support. SSA civil employees your doing a Great Job!!! 🎉👍🥇⚖️🌷🌻🇺🇸
Bob
Thanks for providing a timely update. This is very useful and make me feel that our opinions are valued.
https://www.opinionsly.com/
Patricia H.
I never received my stinulus 1st and se cond either
Tim K.
Where is SSDI AND SSI STIMULAS..NO UPDATED INFO..NO DATE..FIRE SAUL..FIRE SAUL..FIRE SAUL, MR. PRESIDENT..IMMEDIATELY
Carol
I am not alone. Many Senior women lived my story. I worked 34 years at low paying pink collar jobs. FT to PT jobs every year, from 1972-2008 with exclusion of 2 yrs off for FT College. I accumulated the work credits. I raised 2 wonderful children. I was wife, mother, worker. Due to severe long term disabilities, I finally could no longer work. Permanently disabled. Divorced. I recieve SSI/SSD. I am 64 years old. And based off my 34 year work record, the combined total of SSI/SSD is $813 a month. That is my sole income. Thank God for sub standard income based housing and Medicare/Medicaid. This is how I survive. Way below federal poverty guidelines. This is not just my story. When will elderly disabled women who worked, women who raised their children, ran their homes, divorced or widowed, when will we be compensated? When will we be raised above poverty levels? Why do we get so much less than a man who worked 30+ years? My brother worked 40 years menial construction; he gets $2200 SSD. And stimulus $$? Helps a wee bit but not the long term solution to elderly poverty.
Diane
Hi Carol, my name is Diane, life sure is crazy, I have MS and several other medical issues. I worked when I was able as I was a divorced mother of three boys!
It wasn’t easy but I loved every good and sad moment as they were my life.
As they flew the nest and MS said it’s time to rest, same as you not enough credits so SSI for me. $850 in 2021 for a income, are you kidding me!
Thank God for SNAP and Section 8 or I would be dead.
It’s unbelievable. It’s no wonder depression rates are so high and people lose Hope and Faith. I wish you the best Lady Bug 💕