Social Security

We announced on September 3, 2020, a new option for people awaiting a hearing. In addition to telephone hearings, we will begin offering claimants the option to participate in an online video hearing using the Microsoft Teams platform. Beginning in December 2020, we will send special notices that explain hearing options during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our mailing will include a form where the claimant can agree to a telephone hearing, online video hearing, or both.

This new, free service will allow claimants and their representatives to participate in the hearing from anywhere they have access to a camera-enabled smartphone, tablet, or computer and access to the internet. This stable and secure online platform allows the administrative law judge to see and interact with claimants and their representatives just like an in-person hearing, while maintaining privacy. Other hearing witnesses, such as medical or vocational experts, may participate by phone only.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of finding new ways to serve the public,” said Commissioner of Social Security Andrew Saul. “For over a decade, the agency has used video hearings to get applicants their hearing decisions sooner. This advancement builds on that effort, making it easier and more convenient to attend a hearing remotely, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. To continue to ensure all participants’ safety, we expect online video hearings and telephone hearings will be the only two hearing options for the foreseeable future.”

Read the latest news about online video hearings at our Hearings and Appeals page. To learn more about hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic, visit our Coronavirus page.

my Social Security now offers a wider range of features and benefits for both beneficiaries and those not receiving benefits.

Beneficiaries will continue to get information tailored to them, and can print a benefit verification letter and SSA-1099, change their address and direct deposit information, request a replacement Social Security card, and more.

Someone not receiving benefits now has more reasons to use my Social Security. In addition to being able to request a replacement Social Security card, view their Social Security Statement, and find out if they are eligible to receive retirement benefits, they can now view the benefits they could receive based on their spouse’s record. If they are eligible to receive retirement benefits, they can also view their retirement benefit estimates at different ages or dates when they want to start receiving benefits, calculate the benefit their spouse could receive based on their record, and more. When they are ready, they can start the benefit application process online.

If they have a claim pending, they can also check their claim status with their personal my Social Security account.

Remember my Social Security is not just for people receiving benefits. We encourage you to plan for you future and manage your present by visiting my Social Security.

We have experienced delays in processing certain requests for reconsideration of initial disability cessation determinations (including age-18 redeterminations) during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We will accept this delay as a good reason to continue (or resume) benefits when your clients file a late request and the following apply:

• The determination notice ending your client’s disability benefits (notice of cessation) is dated on or before August 30, 2020; and
• Your client’s request for reconsideration of the cessation determination is still pending with us.

Visit our COVID-19 page to learn more.

You are invited to attend Social Security’s next National Disability Forum on COVID-19 and SSA Programs: Long-Term Health Effects. The forum is on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 and will be held via teleconference from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.

The purpose of this forum is to hear from medical experts and researchers about the medical impact of COVID-19, including special considerations for people with pre-existing medical conditions, multiple diagnoses, effectiveness and availability of treatments, gaps in access to treatments, recent developments, and the long-term impact of the virus on their ability to work and their longevity.

Please register online by Monday, November 16, 2020, if you wish to participate.

We hope you can join us and we look forward to your participation. To learn more, you may go to the National Disability Forum website.

We are making it easier for people who receive Social Security disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income payments to submit their Disability Update Report online. This form is completed periodically by some beneficiaries for their Continuing Disability Review (CDR). The law requires us to complete a CDR to determine if a beneficiary still has a disabling condition. Access the SSA-455 online form.

During the pandemic, Social Security has continued to provide service online and by phone while our offices remain closed for walk-in service. Our local office employees are busy answering calls to their office. While we offer many online and phone options to help you, we recognize that in-person assistance is sometimes necessary.

Though walk-in service is not available, we may be able to schedule an in-person appointment in certain situations. We have updated information on our Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) web page to explain situations involving help with benefits or a Social Security number when we may be able to schedule an appointment. If you believe your client qualifies for an in-person appointment, ask your client to call their local office. They can look up the phone number for their local office by accessing our office locator. Please note that appointments may not be immediately available, depending on local health and safety conditions and staffing. An in-person appointment may be possible if your client:

• Is without food or shelter, including utilities or is without medical care or coverage and needs to apply for or reinstate benefits.
• Currently receives benefits and has an urgent need for payment to meet expenses for food, shelter, or medical treatment, and cannot receive the payment electronically.
• Is age 12 or older applying for their first SSN card.
• Needs to update or correct their SSN information (e.g., name, date of birth, or citizenship) to obtain income, resources, or medical care or coverage, or other services or benefits (e.g., filing a tax return, applying for housing, seeking an Economic Impact Payment).

Please visit and subscribe to our Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) web page to keep up to date during the pandemic.

Today Social Security released a notice to more than 340,000 Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients between the ages of 14 and 17 (transition-aged youth) and their adult representatives to help them identify policies and other resources to assist youth in their transition to adulthood. These mailings include a notice introducing our annual informational publication, What You Need To Know About Your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) When You Turn 18 (Publication No. 05-11005). Caregivers are encouraged to review it with the child, if possible.

This publication helps youth prepare for the transition from school to adult life. It provides information about SSI work incentives primarily affecting youth, as well as information about common programs, services, and supports that parents, guardians, and youth may find helpful.

Specific programs covered include:

• Student Earned Income Exclusion;
• SSI Continued Payments (Section 301);
• Vocational Rehabilitation Programs;
• Department of Education’s Parent Centers; and
• Medicaid -- including the importance of keeping health insurance and having a primary care provider.

The publication can be obtained from the agency’s publication website in both English and Spanish versions.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is leading a multi-agency effort to understand how the services the federal government provides are part of a broader customer journey.

The OMB disability survey is open to individuals with a disability and those who help them. OMB invites participants to share what they have found most helpful, frustrating, and moments that made a difference in their family’s journey.

The survey is anonymous, though you have the option to share an email address if you are interested and willing to arrange an interview to discuss further. You can visit 2020 Federal Customer Experience Journey Mapping Projects to learn more about this important project, including how OMB will use the information participants provide.

In 2021, monthly Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income payments for approximately 70 million Americans will increase by 1.3 percent.

Visit our blog for more details about the COLA increase.

On October 5, 2020, we published a Notice in the Federal Register on the requirement for representatives who request direct fee payment to submit all evidence electronically to the Office of Hearings Operations or Appeals Council for disability cases that have an electronic folder. We will apply the notice beginning on November 4, 2020, 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

The requirement eliminates the need for our staff to process evidence manually and associates it with the correct claims folder, promotes administrative efficiency, reduces the amount of paper evidence that requires physical handling and processing by our employees and contractors, and minimizes errors that may occur through manual processing. While we planned to issue this new requirement prior to the current COVID-19 national public health emergency, pursuing it now is even more critical because contactless transmission of evidence limits the need to handle documents manually.

This requirement will not apply directly to claimants or to representatives who are ineligible for or do not request direct fee payment- they may continue to submit evidence via non-electronic means, but we strongly encourage all parties to use electronic methods for efficiency reasons. The requirement for direct pay representatives constitutes an affirmative duty under 20 CFR 404.1740(b) (4) and 416.1540(b) (4). We may investigate to determine if representatives have violated this duty if they fail to adhere to this requirement. However, we will not reject or delay a claimant's hearing or process a claim differently if the representative fails to comply.

There may be a few situations where case characteristics, our systems, or other limitations preclude a representative's ability to submit evidence electronically. In these situations, we will consider the representative's individual circumstances.

Starting September 19, 2020, we added the ability for Appointed Representatives (ARs) to access their cases pending at the initial and reconsideration levels, including continuing disability review cases. ARs can now view these documents in the Disability Related Development and Medical Evidence sections of the eFolder. These are sections E and F, respectively.

Since 2011, Appointed Representative Services (ARS) has provided the ability for ARs to access their clients’ electronic folders (eFolders) for cases pending at the hearings and appeals levels.

ARs already enrolled in ARS have immediate access to their initial and reconsideration level cases. If an AR cannot access a case at the initial and reconsideration levels, it is likely their SSA-1696 (Appointment of Representative) is not yet processed. They will have access as soon as the field office processes their SSA-1696. As a reminder, ARS will suspend a user’s account when they have attempted to access 10 SSNs in a 24-hour period for which they are not the representative of record (i.e., cases where the 1696s are not processed). ARs who have been blocked from their account should contact the Electronic Records Express (ERE) Helpdesk to have their account unblocked. We strongly recommend ARs keep this limitation in mind when accessing initial and reconsideration cases.

The Office of Hearings Operations will continue the current process of enrolling ARs who have cases pending at the hearings or appeals levels. ARs who only have cases pending at the initial and reconsideration levels are not eligible to enroll at this time.

Please remember ARs have a responsibility to protect the data and information in claimant folders. This includes information about the claimants and their evidence providers (i.e., EIN/TIN).

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we took unprecedented measures to protect both the public and our employees.  These measures included closing our more than 1,400 field and hearing offices to in-person service; allowing our employees to work remotely; and pausing certain actions that could have resulted in a continued reduction, suspension, or termination of benefits or payments under titles II, VIII, or XVI of the Social Security Act (Act).

Beginning on August 31, 2020, we resumed these workloads, including certain hearings-related workloads that had been paused since mid-March, including:

• Continuing Disability Reviews (CDR) and Age-18 Redeterminations hearings and decisions; and
• Non-disability hearings and decisions.

At the same time, we continue to recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic may give rise to circumstances that may constitute good cause for missing an appeal deadline or failing to appear at a scheduled hearing.  On August 31, 2020, we provided guidance to hearings offices that administrative law judges may resume issuing dismissals for late-filing of a hearing or failure to appear at a hearing.

To ensure hearing offices are appropriately issuing these types of dismissals (late filing or failure to appear at a hearing), hearing offices will now develop the record for good cause by issuing a Request to Show Cause for Late Filing or Failure to Appear notice. 

This added step provides one more opportunity, beyond our COVID-19 emergency procedures, for claimants to provide good cause for failure to meet filing deadlines or to appear at their telephone hearings.  In addition to this added step for late-filing/failure-to-appear dismissals, we have temporarily expanded our traditional in-line quality reviews of hearing dispositions to focus on ensuring that dismissals are policy-compliant. 

Please join us and our partners TODAY, SEPTEMBER 15, for a Social Media Day of Action to raise awareness about the IRS’ extended September 30 deadline for Social Security and SSI recipients to enter their child’s information in the IRS’ Non-Filer Tool to receive the $500 Economic Impact Payment (EIP) this year. For your convenience, here is the content we plan to post on our social media channels.

IRS Extends Deadline to Ensure People with Children Receive $500 Economic Impact Payments. Learn more

We hope you will join in sharing this urgent message with the public. The extended deadline is fast approaching and applies to people who:

• Receive Social Security retirement, survivors, or disability benefits, or SSI payments;
• Did not file a 2019 or 2018 tax return;
• Have a qualifying child under age 17; and
• Who did not already enter information in the IRS’ Non-Filer Tool for themselves and at least one child.

If your client already entered information in the IRS’ Non-Filer Tool before and even after the IRS’ previously announced deadlines (April 22 for Social Security beneficiaries; May 5 for SSI recipients), your client does not need to do anything for those children. However, you may need to file a tax return next year, please visit the IRS website to learn more. The IRS will automatically make a payment in October based on the information your client provided.

Most adult Social Security and SSI beneficiaries should already have received their $1,200 individual EIPs. Beneficiaries who do not usually file taxes can use the Non-Filers tool – but they must act by October 15, 2020, to get their payment this year.

The IRS plans to issue electronic EIPs on November 4, 2020 and to issue paper check EIPs on November 6, 2020 to Social Security and SSI beneficiaries who started receiving their monthly benefits on or after January 1, 2020. If, however, they used the IRS’ Non-Filer Tool and have not received their EIP yet, it will likely arrive in October.

Please note that Direct Express cardholders who use the IRS’ Non-Filer tool will not receive their $1,200 payment on their Direct Express card. They will receive both their $1,200 payment and each child’s $500 payment on a non-Direct Express bank account they provide the IRS, or by mail if they leave bank information empty. If they do not use the Non-Filer tool, they will receive their $1,200 payment on their Direct Express card.

We encourage you to read the latest information from the IRS, and share this information with your members, colleagues, affiliates, and other interested parties. Tell them to act now to receive their Economic Impact Payment this year.

We cordially invite you to participate in Social Security’s next National Disability Forum on COVID-19 and SSA Programs: Serving Our Beneficiaries Through Unprecedented Times. The forum is on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 and will be held via teleconference from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET with an hour lunch break from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET.

The purpose for this forum is for us to learn from a diverse group of third parties that help people access our services on how they’ve adapted their service models during the pandemic to continue to provide needed assistance and what we can do to help them be successful. In addition, we will hear from government agencies on how they have modified their operations to provide services during the pandemic. There will be two sessions.

Morning Session 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET

The Advocate Experience: Best practices and lessons learned for connecting seniors, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations to benefits and other critical services during the pandemic.

Afternoon Session 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET

The Governmental Agency Experience:
Adapting policies and procedures to continue to serve the public during the pandemic.

Please register online by Friday, September 18, 2020 if you wish to participate.

We hope you can join us and we look forward to your participation. To learn more, please visit the National Disability Forum.

Andrew Saul, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced the addition of five new Compassionate Allowances conditions.

Compassionate Allowance is a program to quickly identify severe medical conditions and diseases that meet Social Security’s standards for disability benefits.

When a Social Security or Supplemental Security Income claim involves a Compassionate Allowance condition, we can often make a decision quickly and minimize the time required to begin paying benefits.

Please see our press release for more details.

For more information about the program, including a list of all Compassionate Allowances conditions, please visit our Compassionate Allowances page.

The Council on Economic Mobility (Council), a new federal interagency effort, is seeking input through a request for information (RFI).

The Council seeks to build an integrated federal strategy to promote economic recovery and resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The information gathered in response to the RFI will help inform the Council’s priorities, working group activities, stakeholder engagement, and federal programs.

The RFI is open for comment until October 2, 2020; however, we encourage early submissions.

We are making it easier for people already enrolled in Medicare to conduct business with us! 

To assist beneficiaries who have stopped working and are seeking immediate enrollment into Medicare Part B, we have developed an online option to complete and submit their enrollment forms.

Medicare beneficiaries can now apply for Medicare Part B, complete CMS-40B and CMS L564-Request for Employment Information, and also submit evidence of Group Health Plan or Large Group Health Plan online.

Please visit How do I sign up for Medicare Part B if I already have Part A? for more information.

Today, the Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds.

The combined funds are projected to become depleted in 2035, with 79% of benefits payable after that time. The DI Trust Fund is estimated to become depleted in 2065, with 92% of benefits still payable.

To learn more, please visit www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2020/#4-2020-5.