Available at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history/hboral.html. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935. Congress made SSA responsible for the payment and administration of BL benefit claims filed under Part B rules through December 31, 1973 (with certain exceptions), with the Department of Labor (DOL) to take responsibility for claims filed under Part C thereafter (SSA n.d. b). Commissioner Astrue urged the states to exempt DDS employees and even enlisted Vice President Joe Biden to echo his plea, but some states continued the furloughs nevertheless (SSA 2009c). 109th Cong., 2nd sess. ———. Social Security Bulletin 28(3): 3–41. Available at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history/oasis/oasisnews3.html. Many of the local offices that were still able to operate extended their service hours and remained open throughout the Labor Day weekend. In 1978, SSA's newest computer was 14 years old. Regionally maintained records would have required a continual workload transferring volumes of records between regions and maintaining special controls to keep track of the transfers. Pressured by a few Congressmen representing coal mining districts, SSA put more and more resources into BL claims, creating a backlog of disability claims. McKinley, Charles, and Robert W. Frase. GAO/HRD-89-42. By the end of FY 1974, the DDSs had processed more than 20,000 of the estimated 27,000 DA&A-involved rollback cases. Hurricane Katrina: Activities of the Social Security Administration. ———. The Bureau of Old-Age Benefits was responsible for Title II of the Social Security Act, providing for an old-age retirement benefit. The Bureau of Research and Statistics, aided by the Field Organization Committee, improvised the initial training activities. These rules clarified and expanded factors that had to be considered in evaluating childhood disability and simplified and revised the functional equivalence rules (Harmon and others 2000). In 1935, the Social Security Board, predecessor of the Social Security Administration (SSA), started to plan the implementation of the Social Security Act. For SSI, the agency not only had to set up a new program from scratch, as with Medicare, it also had to bring 50 state programs—each of which had different eligibility criteria, standards, and payment levels—into a single system. Although SSA's productivity improved 16.1 percent between 1967 and 1972, the agency was strained. For these cases, field offices still filled out a paper form SSA-101 and sent it to the PSC for keying into the system (Casey 1977, 13). The first group of employees keyed information from the SS-5 into a master punch card for each individual. Old-age and Survivors Insurance after twenty years. SSA had received applications from more than 4.9 million beneficiaries, of which almost 850,000 were unnecessary (duplicates or applicant already deemed eligible), and had made determinations on 3.9 million applications, finding 1.7 million eligible. Available at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/pr/electronic-med-records-pr.htm. Shortly after the legislation was signed, SSA mailed a punch-card application form together with an information pamphlet to all Social Security, civil service annuity, and railroad retirement beneficiaries who were within 3 months of their 65th birthday or older. Philadelphia (a.o.) "5 For assistance, SSA turned to the Agricultural Extension Service of the Department of Agriculture and the University of Maryland. At the startup, the National 800 Number Network provided service to 60 percent of the country, comprising the 50 percent of the public previously covered by the local teleservice centers plus an additional 10 percent of the population who previously paid toll charges to reach SSA offices. Late enrollment would result in delayed coverage and a premium penalty. The payment center work regimen had become antiquated and unwieldy, and was not equal to the new demands (Bowers and Korycki 1970, 28–29; SSA 1996a). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. It is estimated that some 4 million people saw the film, and nearly 8 million of the pamphlets were distributed by Election Day (McKinley and Frase 1970, 357–358). The registration process was largely directed by the local postmasters. A poster informing the public about the 1939 amendments. A series of press releases outlined the procedure for assigning SSNs and carried sample Forms SS-4 and SS-5, as well as a Social Security card specimen. The Social Security Board became a part of FSA and was no longer an independent agency. In 2008, 50 percent of callers to SSA field offices received a busy signal, and 8 percent of those visiting a field office without an appointment—about 3 million visitors—had to wait more than an hour to be seen by staff. To develop the plan, a team of 35 SSA analysts interviewed over 200 managers and their employees to learn the agency's business processes and its information and computer support requirements. SSI marks 20 years: 'The greatest challenge (SSA) has ever had.' 94-202 instituted an annual wage reporting (AWR) system effective with reports of wages paid in 1978, excluding state employment (SSA 1976, 55). SSA hired a contractor to test the scannable version on 2,050 potentially eligible individuals to ensure that it was easy for applicants to use. At its zenith, SSA's tape library contained nearly 700,000 reels—enough magnetic tape to stretch to the moon and one-third of the way back. However, SSA would stumble in the 1970s as it attempted to implement SSI. 1970. Social Security announces new enhancements to online Retirement Estimator. Imbalances developed, especially in clerical jobs, resulting in uneven quality of services provided (OTA 1986, 96; SSA 1969, 16; House Ways and Means Committee 1973, 3). SSA also recognized the need to improve the quality and consistency of the decision process between the hearing offices and the state DDSs (SSA 1982a, 6). That morning the new arrivals lined down the stairways and out around the building. Caseloads were extremely large in all states, delays were lengthy, and both were growing. The answer was to use a train-the-trainer approach. Normally, SSA would have to publish new regulations in the Federal Register, request public comments, and wait for the comments before applying the revisions and reevaluating the cases. While the PSCs struggled, BDI was drowning. Available at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/childhood_statement.html/. Starting in September 1941, a claims representative in a district office not only took the claim, but also completed an SSA-101 award determination form reflecting the findings of fact and decision, although this did not authorize payment. Field offices pitched in to help the payment centers. OASIS 40(1): 2. On January 31, 1940, Ida M. Fuller became the first person to receive an old-age monthly benefit check, in the amount of $22.54. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. The offices also got lists of employers to contact from state unemployment offices (SSA 1975b). As of 2 years later, SSA had processed 5,629 benefit claims from 2,281 families, and was paying ongoing benefits to 3,228 survivors and 498 individuals disabled during the attacks (Szymendera 2005, 5). SSA added new fields to the application after 1 year of use to improve the accuracy of the information (Disman 2007). MCS also provided a Workload Management System (WMS) to keep track of pending claims and produce management information. Although a few compromises were made, the Board generally held fast against hiring those deemed unqualified (McKinley and Frase 1970). Lowrey, Perrin. The biggest of these was tackling an entirely new program—Medicare. Standing room only. Hiring workers to supplement the staff inherited from other agencies was another challenge. The index occupied approximately 36,000 square feet of floor space, one city block long on one side of the floor and one-third block long on each end of the floor (SSA 1952a). SSA implemented Medicare so successfully that, a few years later, the agency seemed a logical choice to administer a federal program providing aid for the aged, blind, and disabled with limited income and resources. Use of technology to improve public benefit programs (April 5). Available at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history/oasis/january1994.pdf. X-rays required two or three readings by examiners who had received special radiology training. The cost of moving from "survival mode" to a modern system in 5 years was estimated at $479 million (SSA 1982b, 5). ———. Many automated services offered an interactive speech format, enabling callers to provide more information to SSA. The Board had to decide whether its records should be centralized in a single location. Social Security annual report to the Congress for fiscal year 1981. Available at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2008/index.html. GAO relented, deciding that "it was not required to object." Field assistants (later renamed field representatives) had vast experience visiting employers to resolve wage-reporting problems and determine employer-employee relationships. SSA offered several additional automated services, allowing callers secure access to personal data. Eliminating agency payment errors (January 31). Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin, 2008. Also starting in 1942, BOASI took on a "Civilian War Benefits" program that paid benefits to families of civilian war casualties such as American construction workers in the Pacific islands. However, even when field office claims representatives were authorized to trigger payments, technological limitations still required manual handling in the payment centers—which by 1976 had been renamed program service centers (PSCs). So that most future requests for SSNs for children would not require field office visits, SSA devised an automated process called Enumeration at Birth. 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