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.
Mark
It is not clear from the information above whether it is possible to get an in-person meeting. Trying to correct a name problem requires original document reviews, but sending in or even dropping off documents in a drop box means not having the documents needed to drive, travel, etc.
V.V.
Hi Mark, 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.
Yvette S.
On June 15th 2020 I summited a letter about my fictive mom Stella Davis being a victim to fraud. We reported the fraud through the necessary procedures. Also, as a mandated reporter I called APS and the Belair Office victimized my fictive mom by making statements like that maybe someone you know. I Stella Davis was unaware of someone changing her bank information or given anyone the permission to change that information. Well what’s going on now is due to the poor handling of Stella Davis case from the Belair SSA office. I had moved so as being Stella rep payee the Joppa SSA office has taken this case as an overpayment and garnishing her checks. I’ve been calling this office since I moved talked to several people ex. Ms. Auto and left messages on Ms. Floyds
V.V.
Hi Yvette, thanks for using our blog. We are sorry to hear about the difficulties you are experiencing. For your security,we do not have access to private information in this venue and ask that you continue to work with 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.
Kathleen M.
How do I get a replacement Medicare card?
V.V.
Hi Kathleen, thanks for using our blog. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions web page for details on how to get a replacement Medicare card.
Mary J.
I have used the online application system. It worked perfectly! I had 2 telephone follow ups with your team. Both were handled professionally and efficiently. I was most impressed. Well done to you and your leadership team!
V.V.
Thank you Mary Jean, we appreciate your positive feedback! Certainly, we’ll continue trying to provide the best possible service to our customers in all forums.
Diane
I happen to work for a Social Service Office for the last 16 years and work in a specialty department that completes SSI/SSDI applications for our long term disabled clients. I can honestly say that our clients applications are processed faster specially those willing to have phone or video hearing. Reconsiderations are very fast, and if there are new medicals to support the reconsideration those are processed even faster. I want to thank you for a job well done and say I do see the improved processes you put in place over this last year. Thank you again for seeing to the needs and changing processes during a pandemic.
V.V.
Thanks Diane, we appreciate your positive feedback! Certainly, we’ll continue trying to provide the best possible service to our customers in all forums.
Armando
Hey Fonda when are you clowns going to get us people on disability our 3ed stimulus irs says it’s in your corner to do your job..not that you care.
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Rob
When are you guys going 2 release the third stimulus to people on social security with direct deposit.? The IRS saids it’s in your hands.It been a week since the president sign it into law.
Robert T.
Because the government treats us as a burden
Scott J.
Where is my 3rd stimulus on my Direct Express. I received the 2nd check in 3 days. None of my info has changed. This is ridiculous.
Robert T.
How come you guys haven’t transferred to our records to the IRS so we could get third stimulus we’re living on fixed incomes we need this money you try living on a fixed income it’s hard we should have been the first and you guys are leaving us in the dark
Vernon W.
Very true
Ellen S.
I agree with you. I noticed they answer every question about something other than questions like this. Wonder why they can’t give the ones asking about stimulus checks an answer? Doesn’t make since to me.
Joseph L.
Although you made adjustments to the SSA system it doesn’t address the problems of US citizens living overseas. I am a American citizen, retired civil service and Army veteran. I applied for my benefits on 6 August 2020, received notification that they got my application and were beginning the process. Since that time I have not received my benefits or my Medicare card. I can’t open a “My Social Security” online account to follow the progress because they won’t allow foreign addresses to be used to open the account. Now I am totally in the dark and it’s going on 8 months since I initially applied. Can someone there please process my application so I can get paid! Also you should update the website to reflect how long it may take to start receiving benefits. It isn’t 3 to 4 months. It is much longer now like over 6 months. Allowing overseas US citizens to access the online program is also critical. Let us use our actual foreign living address.
Forgot to mention that since my initial contact in August 2020 representatives said they would contact me if they needed any additional information from me. I call almost every month and wrote an actual hard type letter to the SSA administration for overseas affairs and I never got an answer from them either. I hope that someone isn’t receiving my benefits and that I am waiting for nothing.
Regards.
US Civil Service Retiree and
Army Veteran
V.V.
Hi Joseph, thanks for using our blog. We are sorry to hear about the difficulties you are experiencing. We recommend that individuals living outside the United States contact the nearest Federal Benefit Unit in the area for any assistance related to Social Security programs and benefits. Also, our Office of International Operations home page provides more information to assist our customers living abroad.