On October 30, 2009, Commissioner Astrue announced that Academy Award winner Patty Duke and David Kessler, M.D., former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, have teamed with Social Security to launch a flu prevention public service campaign.  Ms. Duke and Dr. Kessler are featured in a new public service announcement letting people know some simple steps they can take to prevent the spread of the flu, as well as the fact that most business with Social Security can be done online by visiting www.socialsecurity.gov.

On September 17, 2009, Commissioner Astrue released a statement regarding the extension of funding for return-to-work programs to assist people with disabilities.  These programs provide critical return-to-work supports and advocacy services. Additional funding will enable them to keep helping disability beneficiaries find, obtain, and maintain employment.

On August 7, 2009, Commissioner Astrue announced the availability of $24 million in contracts to provide the agency with electronic medical records to improve the efficiency of its disability programs.  Through a Request for Proposals available on www.fedbizopps.gov, Social Security is looking for health care providers, provider networks, and health information exchanges to participate in its Medical Evidence Gathering and Analysis through Health Information Technology (IT) program.

On July 29,2009, Commissioner Astrue was joined by Marie A. Bernard, M.D., Deputy Director of the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, and other Social Security officials, to hear testimony from some of the nation's leading experts on early-onset Alzheimer's disease and related dementias about possible methods for identifying and implementing Compassionate Allowances for people with early-onset Alzheimer's. See press release for more information.

On November 18, 2008, Social Security held a third disability hearing on Compassionate Allowances. Click here for the press release.

On October 26, 2008, Commissioner Astrue announced that  SSA is rolling out Compassionate Allowances nationwide. This groundbreaking initiative allows us to identify rare diseases and other medical conditions that are certain to be approved under our disability rules and fast track those cases for quick processing.

On May 20, 2009, Commissioner Astrue announced that the Social Security Administration once again ranks as one of the “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government,” according to The Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation.  In achieving its ranking, the agency scored exceptionally high in the areas of teamwork, skills-to-mission match, and effective leadership.

Other Information

On November 3, 2008 the latest quarterly ratings of the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index for Federal Websites, the Social Security Administration's new online Retirement Estimator ranked as the best in government. The Retirement Estimator debuted with a score of 90, the highest score in this survey and the second-highest score ever received by a government website. Several other Social Security online services also are rated among the government's top performers and equal to the highest caliber private sector sites, such as Amazon and Google.

"It's great to be recognized as the best, but we're not resting on our laurels," said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security. "We will have a series of new services in the coming year, and we are also improving some of our already successful online services."

The new Retirement Estimator is available at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator and gives the public the opportunity to run accurate, personalized scenarios for Social Security retirement benefits in a user-friendly way.

Click here for original press release.

On September 24, 2008, Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, released the agency's new Strategic Plan. Using the motto, "Social Security Benefits America," the plan identifies the challenges the agency faces and the steps needed over the next five years to meet those challenges. Click here to see the 2008-2013 Strategic Plan.

On October 10, 2007, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction in AFL-CIO, et al. v. Chertoff, et al. (N.D. Cal. Case No. 07-CV-4472 CRB). The preliminary injunction enjoins and restrains the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration from implementing the Final Rule entitled "Safe-Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter." As a result of the pending litigation, SSA did not issue employer no-match letters, also know as Educational Correspondence or EDCOR, for tax years 2006, 2007, or 2008.

On October 7, 2009, DHS published a Final Rule rescinding the "Safe-Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match letter." This Final Rule is effective November 6, 2009.

Effective October 1, 2007, the Social Security card included new security features. These changes are the result of recommendations made by the Interagency Task Force that was created as part of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), P.L. 108-458. SSA further strengthened and safeguarded the card from counterfeiting, tampering, alteration and theft by implementing the task force recommendations.

Recent changes to Medicare law have required SSA to undertake a number of additional Medicare-related responsibilities. Detailed information about SSA's activities are available here.

Current information about the status of Social Security totalization agreements with other countries. Also available: a Fact Sheet and Press Release on a Totalization Agreement with Mexico.