There is no institution that has not been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and one of them is Social Security, one of the most important organizations for millions of Americans.
The coronavirus has altered the way many aspects of human life are conducted, things that before were probably unthinkable or seemed far removed.
“As with many companies and organizations, the pandemic has forced us to adapt,” said Commissioner Andrew Saul in a press release issued a few days ago.
“As we examine our work from a new perspective, we ask what lessons learned could improve service beyond the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
One of the most notable changes was virtualization, that is, the virtual meetings that have been held with Social Security beneficiaries, a measure that, according to Saul, appears to have come to stay.
Although he concedes that there are cases that still need to be handled in person, for example, document submission: for this, the SSA (Social Security Administration, for its English acronym), is testing drop boxes and urgent appointments to allow people to send the papers that are necessary.
If what the beneficiary needs is to replace a Social Security card that has been lost or stolen, then the agency will provide, at least what is planned so far, a video appointment: this type of service could continue even when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
And indeed, Saul notes that replacement cards can also be requested through the My Social Security account, which is a great benefit in terms of timing for beneficiaries.
What happens to those who applied for benefits but were denied
In these cases, beneficiaries have filed an appeal, so the SSA intensified its telephone hearings; appointments can also be scheduled by phone or by video.
Furthermore, more and more agents are handling calls by telephone. Just during the year 2020, around 13 million more calls were answered than during fiscal year 2019.
Regarding wait times at local Social Security offices, they improved to less than three minutes on average, compared with the 24 minutes that were reported in 2019.
Similarly, the SSA has increased its staffing by adding 6,000 frontline employees, as well as raising overtime in the Disability Determination Services as claims rose.
“The Disability Determination Services have been able to reduce the number of people waiting for a decision on initial disability claims by approximately 100,000 cases since the peak of pending cases in August 2020,” Saul said.
In addition to all these changes that benefit Social Security members in terms of time and costs, expanded online resources can be found via My Social Security or the retirement benefits portal.
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