In United States social security benefits are provided to a large number of populations. This is the financial help on which they can rely on at the time of the retirement, disability, children and spouse benefits and many others. But the question is what in the case of COVID pandemic. Social security administration keeps on changing their policies and operations and this is done the same. In response to Coronavirus concerns significant changes are made in 2020. Nowadays all the local social security offices are closed and no one can clear their thoughts in person with the SSA representatives. There are some important updates which you must check. There are some deadlines which are being extended due to COVID and this is why it is important to check them. Also, social security administration is updating information on their website that is ssa.gov/Coronavirus/ where you can check loads of helpful information how this pandemic has affected social security and what you must be doing next.
What is working?
Social security administration has different local offices
in United States and there are millions of applications which mean extreme
workload. Still there are social security administration employees who are working
for the cases which are on highest priority. So, you can use your office
locator to find phone numbers and clear your queries. You can call them for
- Disability applications are being processed but only in case of severe disability
- Dire need requests for benefits payments are also being entertained in case you are not receiving your regular income, or those who are homeless or are at the verge of becoming homeless or for those whose SS benefits were suspended previously.
- In case you have to change direct deposit, permanent address, death reports and changes of representative payee.
These are some of the cases which are being entertained by
the social security administration right now. So, if your query falls in any of
the above mentioned category then you must immediately schedule an appointment
or talk to their representative immediately.
How to reach social
security administration local office?
Well, there are many people who are confused about this
question. Right now there is lots of
hassle going around and many are not getting responses from SSA as well. This
may be due to the reason that you are not having proper contact of your local
office. Right now there are some services which are being provided by the local
SSA offices and that is over the phone. You can easily find telephone numbers
of the local office by just looking at the zip code. You can also get the
information from the website of SSA or use a local office locator.
There are online services are also provided in case of
emergencies and you can instantly use the assistance. Currently due to the
shortage of staff SSA representatives cannot talk so many calls to the national
telephone number 800 and due to this you might be facing inconvenience or
delays or might fail to even have access to the line. In such cases you can use
online services.
Abiding disability
assessments and Overpayments
Social security administration is not completing or
beginning any medical abiding disability reviews that is CDRs and has perched
dispensation and accumulating the majority of the novel overpayments. There are
automation processes being preceded because of the lack of staff who can take
manual actions which are important to stop them. However social security administration will
be continuing collection for the existing payments. There are many other services which might not
be taking place at huge level like before, but social security administration
is containing its activities which are important. For the beneficiaries it is important to keep
updates so that they can take necessary steps when things are in their favor.
Scam alerts
Humans are prone to everything right now and so is the case
with the scams. There are bad people who are taking advantage of this situation
and fooling people. So it is extremely imperative that you keep yourself aware
of the scams and know how to prevent them. Well, there are many helpline
portals available where you can instantly get solutions in case of scams. Also,
you must know what social security administrations are making changes in their
policies and how they are contacting their beneficiaries and what information
is being shared among the involved personnel’s. This will help you prevent any
potential scam. For instance
Social security administration is not taking any manual
actions to suspend, reduce and delay the social security benefit period
although automated actions are still being taken.
Scam alert: - in
case you get a call, fax or email regarding SSA offices being closed or
threatening you to suspend your social security benefits then it is clearly a
scam. No one suspend your benefits just like that there is long procedure for
your application to get accepted and rejection is not given without
explanation. In case you get such
threatening calls you must immediately such emails and calls to the inspector
general so that the actions can be taken against the fraudsters and they cannot
trick any other innocent in future.
In the case of scams, you can call on the below mentioned toll-free numbers and report scams. You can also visit the website to take any
further action. Never forget to report such scams as this can help many
innocent below who rely on just socials security income. To know more about the
Coronavirus social security updates you must visit the official website of SSA
or check your social security accounts for updates.
Contact details in
case of scam
National “Do Not Call” Registry: Sign up at
www.donotcall.gov or call 1-800-382-1222. Telemarketers must honor this “Do Not
Call List”, however, charities, political organizations and surveys are
excluded from the list. Department of
Health & Human Services – National Center on Elder Abuse. Resources on
elder abuse, neglect and exploitation for professionals and the public at www.ncea.acl.gov
For additional WISER
fact sheets on Elder Financial Abuse, visit WISER’s website at
www.wiserwomen.org or email us at info@wiserwomen.org
