The agreement extends to potential solutions. The same three proposals were ranked as the most popular approaches to strengthening Social Security among both Democrats and Republicans:
Increase taxes on higher earners to increase funding: 51% overall, including 56% of Democrats and 43% of Republicans
Increase funding through taxes paid by employers: 42% overall, including 44% of Democrats and 42% of Republicans
Reduce or eliminate benefits for individuals with incomes above a certain threshold: 38% overall, including 38% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans.
Since this is a slow news day I thought I would write about something of interest to me, regional differences in English usage.
I started hearing a few clients refer to me as Mr. Charles when I was in my 40s. This usage was not unfamiliar to me. I particularly remember a woman in my neighborhood growing up in Winston-Salem who was always referred to as Miss Pearl but she was not the only one who received this honorific, and, yes, it was intended as an honorific. I always understood this usage as one denoting increasing age, respect and affection. Miss Pearl qualified in every way. I was not completely happy being referred to as Mr. Charles since it indicated I was getting older but I knew I was being referred to with affection and respect so I couldn’t complain. I have no problem with it now.
I’ve always thought of this as a Southern thing and particularly common among African Americans but I’ve never known for sure. I do know it’s less common than it used to be but that may be because I now live in Raleigh, a community that has received a huge influx of people from other parts of the country and the world. As an example, Raleigh’s largest suburb is Cary. The joke locally is that Cary is an acronym standing for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees! The last person who called me Mr. Charles was a young woman wearing a hijab.
Anyway, I’d be interested in knowing if this is a usage you’re familiar with. Who uses it? How is it used? Is it as common as it used to be?
Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times, himself a big friend of Social Security, has a column out bemoaning John Larson’s defeat in the primary race to continue representing his Connecticut district in the House of Representatives. Larson has been the Chairman and now Ranking Member of the House Social Security Subcommittee. There is much to admire in Larson’s career. He has certainly been a huge friend to Social Security. However, while there are strong explanations, Larson has been quite ineffective in passing Social Security legislation.
The Social Security Administration is seeking information to examine “how to better leverage AI and agentic AI capabilities across SSA programs, workforce, and infrastructure.” There’s no additional detail about what they’re seeking so I have to think they’re at a very early stage.
This is consistent with past Republican, and sometimes Democratic, behavior — an eagerness to spend billions of dollars on contractors accompanied by a great unwillingness to spend money on personnel to make the system work.
A claimant who appeals a denied Social Security disability claim is assigned, essentially at random, to an administrative law judge (ALJ) within a hearing office. Using the Social Security Administration's public ALJ disposition files for fiscal year 2025, this paper measures how much that assignment matters. Among 1,023 judges who issued at least 100 decisions in a single office (317,462 decisions in total), allowance rates ranged from 8.8 percent to 92.8 percent. The disparity is not primarily geographic: 73 percent of the variance in judge allowance rates lies within hearing offices rather than between them, and in the median office the gap between the most and least generous judge is 32.6 percentage points. A simulation in which every judge in an office decides identical case pools shows that sampling noise can account for only about 5 percent of the observed within-office variance. Judge allowance rates are also highly stable across years (r = 0.93 between FY2025 and FY2026 year-to-date), which rules out one-off docket composition as an explanation. Office-level workload measures explain little of either the level or the spread of allowance rates, and a state-month panel of initial-level determinations from 2015 to 2026 shows only a small association between backlog pressure and allowance rates. The judge draw remains one of the largest observable determinants of whether a disability appeal succeeds, a decade after the agency's quality-review reforms. Includes full analysis code and the exact SSA public data snapshots used. …
I’m sorry that I was unable to approve comments on this blog for the last day. Blogger is quite reliable until it isn’t. For about 24 hours it professed not to know me. I’ll have something substantive to post tomorrow.
Social Security Adds 14 Compassionate Allowance Conditions
Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Dear Colleague,
Today, Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano announced the addition of 14 conditions to Social Security’s Compassionate Allowances list.
The Compassionate Allowances initiative is designed to cut through red tape and allows us to quickly identify claims where the applicant’s medical condition or disease clearly meets our definition of disability. Given the severity of these conditions, claims are often approved based on medical confirmation of the diagnosis alone, helping individuals experiencing life-changing diagnoses receive the support they need as fast as possible.
The newly added Compassionate Allowances conditions are:
Adenylosuccinate Lyase Deficiency – Neonatal Form and Type 1
Aicardi Syndrome
Baraitser-Winter Syndrome
Beare-Stevenson Cutis Gyrata Syndrome
Bohring-Opitz Syndrome
CASK-Related Gene Disorders
Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma
Lafora Disease
Malignant Migrating Partial Seizures of Infancy (MMPSI)
OPHN1 Syndrome
Primary Cardiac Sarcoma
Primary Intracranial Malignant Melanoma
Uveal Melanoma – with Metastases
Warburg Micro Syndrome
I encourage you to share this important update with your members, colleagues, affiliates, and other interested parties.
Sincerely,
Nick Perrine
Chief Communications Officer
Think most readers of this blog realize that the Compassionate Allowance list is nearly meaningless. The list is comprised of very rare disorders so it affects few. Virtually all of them would have been approved quickly even without the Compassionate Allowance list. The list does allow for various Administrations to claim they’re doing something for disabled people even though they aren’t.
John Larson, the ranking member of the House Social Security Subcommittee, lost his Connecticut primary race to hang on to his seat in the House of Representatives.
Leland Dudek, who served briefly as Acting Commissioner of Social Security, is now Advisory Council Chair for Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD), a group founded not too long ago. ACRD is a rival to the much older National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR).
I am quite surprised to see Dudek linked in such a way to any Social Security organization that wishes to help claimants. I expect that Dudek sees himself as a friend to claimants and a supporter of Social Security but his tenure as Acting Commissioner was notable for his cooperation with DOGE and that permanently tarnished his reputation in the minds of most people who support the mission of the Social Security Administration.
Does anybody answer the phone at the **** OHO anymore?
We could not reach a person this afternoon, and apparently no one received the message I left.
Some gentleman called this morning saying he had a telephone hearing today, but he was late and when he tried to call the OHO no one answered or returned his call.
The ranking (Democratic) members of the House Ways and Means Committee subcommittees having jurisdiction over Social Security and SSI have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the agency’s decision to assume the role of continuing disability reviews (CDRs).
I’m not sure that I see anything sinister in what Social Security is doing but I don’t see how it makes sense either. It’s not like there have been problems with CDRs that I’ve been aware of, so why are they doing it..
The Social Security Administration has released a highly massaged set of statistics on agency performance. There are many aspects of agency performance not included. I wish things were getting better. They’re not.
Starting this month, families can open Trump Accounts for their children. Those welcoming new babies between 2025 and 2028 will qualify for a $1,000 federal contribution to seed the account. But for some families caring for disabled children — who will need savings the most as they come of age — the accounts could create big problems. That’s because once account holders reach adulthood, the money saved in their Trump Accounts will likely run afoul of the extraordinarily strict asset limits in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for low-income disabled people. If those savings exceed the cap — just $2,000 — it will lead not only to the loss of needed monthly income support from SSI, but could also jeopardize their eligibility for health care and community-based services through Medicaid. …
Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the looming depletion of Social Security’s Retirement and Survivors Trust Fund. Of course, you’d expect a serious nonpartisan discussion of the options. Right. The reality is that there were sharp divisions between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats favor a plan to remove the cap on wages subject to the FICA tax. Republicans thought that idea was terrible but had no plan of their own or at least not one they’ll release.
Actually, it’s fairly easy to figure out the Republicans plan. They will demand a plan that includes both benefits cuts and tax increases. However, the overwhelming majority of Republican legislators will vote against the plan. They will only supply the bare minimum number of votes needed for passage. Then, they’ll campaign against Democrats for cutting benefits and raising taxes. Jujitsu! I don’t think Democrats will fall for this but maybe they’ll never have control of both houses of Congress and the White House as well as the will to get past the Senate filibuster so they can do what they think needs to be done.
Apparently, Commissioner Bisignano had his photo taken with Pope Leo yesterday. I’d like to post the photo here but there are technical problems. You can see it at the link.
As part of our ongoing commitment to improving how we serve the American public, we recently announced an enhanced call-routing process for people applying for survivor benefits. To better support Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, we now route calls from people who need to change their address to specially trained representatives.
People who are desperately poor and disabled file claims with Social Security for Supplemental Security Income. If that claim is approved, they are categorically eligible for Medicaid, but that approval is unlikely to come until at least several months have passed and the wait can easily be far longer than that. How do they get health care in the meantime? Since the Affordable Care Act was passed, in most states, they’ve been able to get Medicaid because of their poverty. The Kaiser Family Foundation has a piece out about what’s in the process of changing on that front. The 2025 reconciliation act requires that as of January 1, 2027 those on Medicaid must meet work requirements. One exception to this work requirement is if the person seeking to get on or stay on Medicaid is “medically frail.” Those familiar with Social Security’s definition of disability know that the term “medically frail” isn’t part of that definition. To the best of my knowledge “medically frail” isn’t part of any definition previously used in any government program in the U.S. The reconciliation act defines “medically frail” to include “five categories of individuals who: are blind or disabled; have a physical, intellectual, or developmental disability that limits their ability to perform one or more activities of daily living (ADL); have a substance use disorder; have a “disabling” mental disorder; or have a “serious or complex” medical condition.” Again, for the most part, this is not Social Security terminology. Other guidance being given the states helps little.
Who in state government will be handling the workload of determining “medical fragility?” Probably the state disability determination services but they’re already overwhelmed with Social Security work. How long will it take them? It could easily be many months especially since the guidance they’ll receive probably won’t be great, especially at the beginning. The Trump Administration doesn’t have an abundance of Medicaid expertise. Many of the career employees who might have this sort of expertise are no longer working for the government. In the Trump Administration the political appointees who are supposed to be managing this may harbor considerable hostility towards poor people. They may be the sorts of people who naively believe that almost anyone can work and that mental illness is “all in your head.”
I don’t like how this may all sort out. There may be a lot of disabled people getting all their treatment at hospital emergency rooms? That’s bad for both patient and hospital. At least the hospitals will want a loose definition of “medical fragility.” They want to get reimbursement for the treatment they render and want to keep people who just need outpatient treatment out of their ERs.
But challenger Luke Bronin is criticizing Larson on his signature issue as they head toward the Aug. 11 Democratic primary in a competitive four-way race. Bronin recently highlighted that Larson was one of only four Democrats to vote in 2024 against the Social Security Fairness Act, which was later signed into law by President Joe Biden.
The measure expanded benefits for Social Security for more than 2.8 million teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public workers in an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 327 to 75. …
There are signs that Larson may be in trouble. Is it time for him to retire?
A southeast Missouri man who threatened employees of the Social Security Administration twice in 2025 was sentenced on Tuesday, July 28 to a year and a day in prison.
According to a news release from the prosecuting attorney, 57-year-old Timothy Wells Stevens will be on supervised release for two years after his release from prison.
Stevens is accused of threatening SSA employees in October 2025.
According to the news release, Stevens told one SSA employee in Pennsylvania that if he didn’t receive payments, “I’m comin’ gunning for you all.” …
Today is the 70th anniversary of the creation of Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits.
I don’t have a link handy but there’s no photo available of then President Eisenhower signing the bill. He had opposed it and signed it only reluctantly. He didn’t want a photo taken. Occasionally you see a photo of Eisenhower signing a bill on a news release or article about this anniversary but the photo is of Ike signing some different bill. Other than the creational of the interstate highway system the creation of Social Security disability benefits was probably the most consequential domestic legislation that became law during Ike’s presidency.
U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) announced the Committee will convene for a hearing entitled, “Exploring Process Approaches for Addressing Social Security Solvency” on Wednesday, August 5, at 10:00 AM.
Title: Exploring Process Approaches for Addressing Social Security Solvency
Witnesses:
Marc Goldwein, Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Washington, D.C.
The Honorable Charles Blahous, Ph.D., J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Chair and Senior Research Strategist at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Nancy A. LeaMond, Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer, AARP, Washington, D.C.
Rebecca Vallas, Chief Executive Officer, National Academy of Social Insurance, Washington, D.C.
Social Security has asked the Office of Management and Budget to approve posting the proposed regulations described below in the Federal Register. The public can then comment on the proposal and the agency must formally consider those comments. Social Security would then have to ask OMB to approve posting final regulations. Unless this is rushed it probably won’t be finalized until the end of the Trump Administration, if not beyond.
Title: Rescinding the Burdensome Use Restrictions of Dedicated Accounts
Abstract:
Dedicated accounts are financial accounts (separate from those in which one’s regular monthly payments are received) required for representative payees of certain disabled children under age 18, usually eligible for certain past-due payments covering more than six months at the current benefit rate. Use of funds deposited in dedicated accounts is significantly restricted.
The complicated nature of these restrictions discourages recipients and their representative payees from ever using the funds and places unnecessary burdens on accounting. Accordingly, we propose to revise our regulations to allow representative payees (and recipients if placed in direct pay) to use dedicated account funds for the recipient’s current maintenance. The benefit of deregulation would be reducing burden on payees.
On July 30th, whistleblowers, whistleblower advocates, and government officials will gather on Capitol Hill for the U.S.’s annual National Whistleblower Day celebration. This year’s National Whistleblower Day marks the 248th anniversary of America’s first whistleblower law. …
Expanded Support for Customers Seeking Survivor Benefits
Date:
Dear Colleague,
We are pleased to share recent improvements we have made to better serve customers seeking Social Security survivor benefits.
To better support customers applying for survivor benefits during a difficult time, we have enhanced our National 800 Number call routing process. Callers reporting a death or seeking to apply for survivor benefits are now connected more quickly to employees trained to assist with these requests.
As part of this effort, we established a dedicated queue of trained agents to take and adjudicate survivor claims. We have enhanced support for this queue to improve our capacity and reduce delays. These changes help ensure that customers receive timely, specialized assistance while reducing wait times and minimizing the need for in-person office visits.
Since launching this dedicated queue last July, we have helped over 60,000 survivors without them needing to visit an office.
Looking ahead, we will continue refining our call routing and staffing strategies to further improve customer service.
Thank you for your continued partnership and support.
Sincerely,
Nick Perrine
Chief Communications Officer
Great but it also means others wait longer. “Dedicated queue”? What’s that?
Democratic candidate Lauren Reinhold decided to run for Congress in Kansas after the Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Government Efficiency — better known as DOGE — eliminated her federal position. …
Reinhold and Colin McRoberts, both Lawrence attorneys, are challenging each other for the Democratic nomination in the state’s 1st Congressional District in the Aug. 4 primary. The Democratic nominee is likely to face an uphill battle against Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann of Salina, who is seeking a fourth term in a district he has handily won since 2020. …
A group of Senate Democrats on Tuesday demanded information on how staffing shortages and reassignments are impacting the Social Security Administration’s ability to keep its 1,200 field offices open to the public.
Last year, after years of chronic underfunding of SSA’s administrative functions already brought its workforce to a 50-year low, the Trump administration shaved the agency’s headcount by another 7,500 employees. According to OPM data, SSA had around 49,500 employees as of May. Bisignano has also reassigned more than 1,500 employees from the field offices and other subcomponents to man Social Security's 1-800 customer service line.
Earlier this year, Bisignano wrote in a private letter to Warren that he would “keep every field office open” and ensure they are “providing better and high-quality service.” But over the last several months, dozens of field offices have been listed at various points either closed entirely or only offered services via telephone. As of Monday afternoon, 16 field offices across the country provided no or limited services.
In a letter to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and three other Democrats requested information on these temporary closures and the underlying reasons for each shuttering.
“Many of these offices were reportedly closed to the public due to maintenance needs or other operational issues—which may be a valid reason,” the lawmakers wrote. “But several offices appear to have been effectively closed due to staffing shortages, and some of these offices have allegedly remained ‘temporarily closed’ for an extended period of time.” …
… On Saturday, July 25, 2026, Upload Documents will launch the first batch of forms utilizing a new conversational approach. With this method, form items will be presented as questions to the customer in a more easily understood, conversational style. Similar to previously introduced dynamic webforms, conversational forms will not necessarily ask questions in a linear sequence that mirrors the paper form. Instead, customer responses will determine which additional questions appear. All questions are pre-developed and presented in standardized language. As with dynamic forms, certain information fields will be required, and customers will not be able to submit forms unless all required fields are completed.
IMPORTANT: Although form questions will be presented in a new conversational manner, the resulting PDF generated after submission will be identical to the paper and fillable PDF versions of the form. Customers will be presented with a preview of the final PDF prior to submission to see how their responses to conversational form questions are reflected on the form, and to observe how form items corresponded to the conversational webform questions on screen. Customers will have the opportunity to edit any responses prior to submission. …
From Howard Gleckman writing for Forbes about Congressional ideas for commissions to come up with plans to address Social Security’s long term funding problems:
… [T]he reality is, these sorts of bipartisan commissions only work when a president throws his full weight behind them and Congress really wants to fix a problem, rather than find an excuse to continue to do nothing. …
Nobody needs a panel of experts to develop ideas. We’ve known for decades how to fix the system. Congress instead needs to find the political will to act. …
The history of past commissions is clear, and depressing. My bookcase is filled with high-minded proposals made by expert panels, mostly to address budget deficits. Many included excellent suggestions. None went anywhere. …
Who thinks there’s any will in Congress to actually do something about this now or any time soon? Without that any commission plan is bound to fail.
I understand that Social Security has indefinitely suspended advanced leave. This is advanced leave, not advance leave. It’s leave granted in excess of what has already been earned that is to be made up later. Let’s say you have worked at the agency for a few years and are injured in a car wreck. You need to be out of work longer than the amount of sick and annual leave you’ve earned so far. I guess you now have to go on leave without pay rather than being advanced some leave to help you over a rough stretch. This directive doesn’t put some limit on advanced leave. It just summarily ends it. Of course, there was no negotiation with the employee unions over this. I’m sure they’ll sue.
From a press release from the House Ways and Means Committee:
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) delivered the following statement during debate in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Removing Barriers to Work for Disabled Americans Act (H.R. 8884):
As prepared for delivery.
“I rise in support of H.R. 8884, the Removing Barriers to Work for Disabled Americans Act, introduced by our colleague from Georgia Representative Austin Scott.
“Many Americans that are living with disabilities want to enter the workforce and seek gainful employment. In fact, an estimated 60 percent of Americans who receive benefits under the Social Security Disability Insurance program have stated a desire to return to work. And yet, less than 1 percent leave the DI program each year for a job. That is a gigantic gap between the number of disabled Americans who want to work and the number who successfully return to work.
“The Removing Barriers to Work for Disabled Americans Act seeks to shrink that gap by simply restoring the Social Security Administration’s authority to test drive solutions that can empower more of our fellow Americans to get back to work. Up until 2022, the SSA had such authority to run demonstration projects on improving work outcomes. With that authority expired and with so many disabled Americans still unable to successfully navigate the current program, we have to find a better way forward.
Sure, they want to return to work. They never wanted to be disabled to begin with. They have hazy ideas in their minds about getting better. The truth is that very, very few of them get better. The 12 month duration requirement to get disability benefits weeds out almost all of those who were going to get better. If you haven’t gotten better after 12 months, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever get better. You’ll probably get worse over time.
Social Security ran return to work demonstration projects for decades. They were all dismal failures. It’s a waste of money. It’s chasing a mirage,
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service announced the successful implementation of a new government-wide payment verification process that helps stop federal payments from being sent to deceased individuals …
Since President Trump issued Executive Order 14249, Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse, on March 25, 2025, Treasury has significantly expanded government-wide efforts to detect and prevent fraud and improper payments through the Do Not Pay program and new payment verification tools.
To date, Treasury has screened over 885 million payments totaling approximately $2.77 trillion as part of the new payment verification process. The screening has identified more than 4,900 payments worth approximately $99 million that were associated with deceased payees. …
Remember that claim from the Commissioner of Social Security that $100 million had been saved by identifying deceased payees, a claim that mystified us? I think we now know what he was talking about. That $99 million in alleged savings was throughout the federal government. Probably little of it was at Social Security. It’s not clear where it could have been saved since Social Security’s Death Master File has been used for many years throughout government to prevent improper payments. Perhaps the $99 million was nothing more than the sort of thing that was already being detected and prevented. It was certainly nothing that Bisignano should have been claiming credit for. Note that he only claimed credit for this on the Bannon podcast. Not much fact checking there.
Millions of Social Securityrecipients are facing longer waits to secure claim appointments as the agency struggles to recover from historic staffing cuts. The delays affect how quickly retirees, disabled Americans and low‑income beneficiaries can access critical income and identity services. …
Internal agency data show that only 64.6 percent of initial claims were scheduled within 30 days as of July 6, down from 78.1 percent a year earlier. In some regions, the rate recently fell below 45 percent, underscoring how widespread the delays have become. …
Social Security Administration Announces New Online Tools and Notices for Disability Claims Agency enhances online platform to expand service for disability cases
Baltimore, MD – The Social Security Administration (SSA) today announced major enhancements to mySocial Security, expanding self-service options and the notices available to individuals navigating the disability claims and appeals process. The new tools will provide individuals with greater visibility, faster access to information, and more efficient case processing throughout the lifecycle of a disability claim.
“Our digital-first approach to service is now extending to disability through the Claim Status Tracker, expansion of digital notices, and online document submission, enabling SSA to deliver better outcomes for the American people,” said Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano. “By making more tools available online, we are empowering claimants to stay informed and manage their Social Security benefits with greater ease and confidence.”
“These digital tools will streamline operations and empower claimants to stay informed and promptly respond to important developments throughout the hearing process, eliminating the need for hearing offices to make outbound calls and instead, focus on reviewing cases in a timely manner,” said Chief of Disability Adjudication Jay Ortis.
Enhancements to mySocial Security
Submit Disability Adjudication Forms Online: Individuals can now complete and submit disability adjudication forms directly through their personal mySocial Securityaccount, including:
Form HA-4631, Recent Medical Treatment;
Form HA-4632, Medication Information; and
Form HA-4633, Work Background.
Online submission helps ensure adjudicators receive information quickly and supports more efficient case processing.
Track Disability Claim Status Online: Individuals with a pending disability claim, appeal, or recently adjudicated claim can now view the status of their case online at the Hearings and Appeals levels. The Claim Status Tracker provides real-time updates, processing time estimates, and key milestones throughout each level of adjudication. Features include:
Notification when the hearing office receives a Request for Hearing;
Status updates as the hearing office reviews information and prepares the case for hearing;
Status updates when a hearing decision is issued; and
Appeals Request for Review status updates, receipt of review requests, and completion of actions.
Access Proffer Letters Securely: Individuals can securely access proffer letters in the mySocial Security Message Center. A proffer letter is a notice sent when new evidence is added to a case after a hearing, allowing claimants to review and respond before a decision is made.
Access 26 Additional Social Security Notices in mySocial Security Message Center: Individuals can view electronic copies of their hearing-related notices by logging into their personal account. The following notices are now available for digital release to accountholders:
Notice of Hearing
Request for Good Cause for Late Filing
Request to Withdraw a Hearing Request
Please Contact Us
Postponement of Hearing
Amended Notice of Hearing
Notice of Continued Hearing
Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing
Request for Hearing Acknowledgement Letter
Notice to Show Cause for Failure to Appear
Response to Request for Expedited Processing
Good Cause Found to Reschedule Hearing
Transfer Request for Hearing
Claimant Questionnaires
Waiver of Timely Written Notice
Time to Submit Evidence
On the Record Notice
ALJ Approval of Fee Agreement
ALJ Disapproval of Fee Agreement
Important Notice About Representation
Notice of Closing the Record
Notice Regarding Substitution of Party Upon Death of Claimant
Congressional Letter
Letter Template
Claimant Restriction Letter
Case Status Letter
Notice of Hearing Reminder
Proffer Letter
Claimants may opt to receive email or text notifications when new documents are available. Paper notices will continue to be mailed to claimants and their appointed representatives. This enhancement supports faster case processing and timely communications.
SSA continues to increase the functionality of mySocial Security to ensure that the more than 100 million Americans with accounts have a seamless experience when accessing their personal information. With an account, individuals have 24/7 access to their personalized retirement benefits and 1099 forms, can receive tailored notifications, request a replacement card, manage benefits or estimate future benefits, request replacement documents, check the status of pending applications, and conduct other services anytime, anywhere, without needing to visit an office or wait on the phone.
