THE PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
COVID-19 has forced many businesses and organizations, including the Social Security Administration (SSA), to close their doors to the public. By mid-March, local SSA offices across the country closed in order to prevent and minimize the spread of the coronavirus. Their employees could no longer come to work, which had a significant effect on people who needed their services. Normally, thousands of people in the U.S. go to SSA offices to get assistance with disability, retirement, and other benefits every day. Face-to-face meetings were conducted to help these people through the rather complex system and with the documents required for their needs. Now, these meetings are no longer taking place. This, however, did not stop SSA employees from working. The company Northrop Grumman helped over 50,000 SSA field office employees set up softphone access so they could continue to work from home by making calls over the internet. An article posted on Northrop Grumman’s website states that a softphone “not only ensures clear lines of communication, it also creates a sense of trust between the public and government workers. When a customer calls the 800 number for their field office, it gets routed to the appropriate SSA person, regardless of where they are. And when SSA employees need to make calls, they maintain the anonymity of using a government phone number rather than a personal phone number.” Through telework, the SSA employee union is trying to encourage the government to allow more work-from-home opportunities. In the past, some employees have had the ability to work from home, but shortly before the pandemic hit, the SSA started cutting back on allowing remote work. Of course, the pandemic changed this. YES, YOU CAN STILL APPLY FOR SOCIAL SECURITY Getting Your Benefits Despite Closed Doors At this point in this newsletter, you might be asking yourself, “If I want to apply for Social Security disability, can I still do so given that the offices are closed?” In the past, if you wanted to apply for disability, you could make an appointment and head to the Social Security office, where you would sit down with someone who would help you fill out the application. As you might have guessed, that’s not taking place right now. But, if you still want to apply, you can call the Social Security office at 1-800-772- 1213. They are taking applications over the telephone. However, applying online is even better (if you’re somewhat computer savvy or have family members who can help you). However, be careful to avoid fake websites. Sometimes, people go to a website they think is for the Social Security application when they’re actually giving their information to someone other than the Social Security Administration (SSA). Be sure to head to the right website: SSA.gov/benefits/forms. It’s vital to understand the filing process before beginning. The SSA now requires you to set up what’s called “My Social Security Account.” One of the challenges of setting up this account is that it will ask you a number of questions to confirm your identity. The questions they ask
Today, the employee union is claiming that employees are more productive working from home and the SSA should allow more options. In fact, the union has reached out to the SSA asking them to consider continued telework even as the country begins to open up to the public. This would lead to the closing of a majority of the SSA 1,300 field offices across the country. Ralph de Juliis, president of Council 220 of the American Federation of Government Employees states this would save hundreds of millions of dollars on facility costs. However, despite the boost in productivity the agency is experiencing, this could impact the individuals who need in-office guidance. I believe the result of this productivity boost may stem from the fact that Social Security Administration employees are not having to interact with the people who walk into the SSA office looking for assistance. In order to continue providing services to their clients, I believe Social Security employees must continue to work in-office. Being physically present for the people who need in-person meetings is very important and not something that should be brushed off. As we move forward from this pandemic, I fully believe all kinds of employees, not just those at the SSA, will be working both in-office and remotely. Hopefully, this will serve to help people even more in the future. are based on information found in your credit report. Prepare before you set up your My Social Security Account by getting a copy of your credit report, which you can access for free at AnnualCreditReport. com. During these times of COVID-19, this website is now offering free weekly online reports through April 2021. You should also be aware of two important questions that, if answered incorrectly, can cause problems. The first: “What is the date you became disabled”? Here, it is essential that you put the date when the symptoms became so bad you couldn’t work regularly, not the date you were first diagnosed. The second question is, “Have you or do you intend to apply for supplementing security income (SSI)?” Sometimes people will check “yes” to this question even though they don’t qualify, which slows the process down significantly. Make sure you meet the nonmedical requirements of the Supplemental Security Income program. For more information on those requirements visit SSA.gov/ ssi/text-eligibility-ussi.htm. If you’re thinking about applying, it’s beneficial to call someone, such as the team here at Gillette Law Group, to get advice and tips before getting started. You don’t have to tackle this alone.
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