I recently received the message reproduced below. I'm sure that other attorneys who represent claimants have received the same message.
It sounds as if I and my firm need to file new forms SSA-1694 (registration of law firm or other entity) and SSA-1699 (registration of individual attorney or representative) and need to start using a new form SSA-1696 (appointment of representative). The thing is that when I look online for these new forms, all I find are old versions of the forms. Does Social Security intend to issue new versions of these forms? Why would they send out a mass e-mail like this when they haven't completed the new forms yet?
When I think about the "changes" that have been announced, I can't figure out why new forms would be required anyway since the "changes" seems to amount to little more than lip service to a federal court decision.
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Changes to Rules for
Claimant Representation and Provisions for Direct Payment to Entities
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On August 21, 2024,
we published a final rule, Changes
to the Administrative Rules for Claimant Representation and Provisions for
Direct Payment to Entities, in the Federal Register. We’ve made changes to our
regulations to allow representatives of Social Security claimants to assign
direct payment of their authorized fees to an entity with which they are
affiliated. We will implement this final rule in two phases. To learn more
about both phases, including requirements for representatives and entities,
please visit our webpage: https://www.ssa.gov/representation/2024NewRule.htm. Here are some key changes:
- Starting September 30,
2024, anyone who has not previously registered with us and who wants
to be appointed as a representative must register with us using Form
SSA-1699 (Representative
Registration) before we will recognize a new appointment request.
- Starting December 9, 2024,
representatives must use Form SSA-1696 (Claimant’s Appointment of a Representative) for
new or updated appointments.
- Starting December 9, 2024,
consistent with Marasco & Nesselbush,
LLP v. Collins, 6 F.4th
150 (1st Cir. 2021), we will directly pay authorized fees to a
registered entity when a representative assigns direct payment of
their fee to that entity.
Generally, for direct
payment to an entity:
- The entity must register
with us using our revised Form SSA-1694 (Entity Registration and Taxpayer Information).
- The representative must
register with us and affiliate with the entity using Form
SSA-1699 (Representative
Registration).
- The representative must
assign direct payment of the fee to the entity using the revised Form
SSA-1696 (Claimant’s
Appointment of a Representative).
- The representative and the
entity must both be eligible for direct payment.
Please share this
information with other interested parties. We appreciate your support.
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8 comments:
“ Why would they send out a mass e-mail like this when they haven't completed the new forms yet?”
lol it’s almost like you’re an employee. Management is aloof and often announces policy changes before even notifying employees or sending out guidance about changes to employees. Not sure why this surprises anyone.
The document under the "learn more" link is quite clear. The new forms will be up on 9/ and in December, respectively. If you used the current forms, you won't have to re-submit.
They sent out the email to provide you with advance notice of the upcoming change. They didn’t wait for the new forms because, as the email clearly explains, they won’t be needed until a later date, and won’t be needed in cases where the current 1696 and 1699 forms have already been submitted.
I other words, you’re getting mad at them for trying to give you more notice.
I'm an attorney with a firm for years, and we never got this email
Uh, it isn't effective until 09/30/24. As a result, the new forms probably aren't yet available.
It's the Maresco ruling. Currently, if you've got a firm with 20 attorneys, all 20 attorneys have to register themselves and appoint themselves and SSA has to pay them all separately. It's a mess, you have claimants with 8 reps all from the same firm. This allows SSA to pay the firm instead of each individual rep, which they couldn't do before. Thus, new forms for the new situation. Forms which haven't gone into effect yet, which is why they're not available. This is an advance notice of a change, such means you're ahead of most of SSA operations in that you're finding out about it before the month after it happens. Then again, your confusion almost justifies that communication strategy...
Reps have been pushing for this for years, and now they are getting exactly what they asked for.
I am just happy. This means I won't be getting a bunch of 1099s at the end of the year from SSA detailing how I received 7200 bucks for representing a bunch of claimants when the money went to the firm. It has always been a problem.
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