Official seal of the Social Security Administration
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Flag of the Social Security Administration
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | August 14, 1935 |
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters | Woodlawn, Maryland, U.S. |
| Employees | 60,000 |
| Annual budget | $1.06 trillion (FY 2018) |
| Agency executive |
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| Website | www |
One part of SSA headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland
Another view of SSA headquarters
The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits. To qualify for most of these benefits, most workers pay Social Security taxes
on their earnings; the claimant's benefits are based on the wage
earner's contributions. Otherwise benefits such as Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) are given based on need.
The Social Security Administration was established by a law codified at 42 U.S.C. § 901. It was created in 1935 as the Social Security Board, then assumed its present name in 1946. Its current leader, Deputy Commissioner of Operations Nancy Berryhill, was acting commissioner from January 19, 2017 through November 17, 2017.
SSA is headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland, just to the west of Baltimore,
at what is known as Central Office. The agency includes 10 regional
offices, 8 processing centers, approximately 1300 field offices, and 37
Teleservice Centers. As of 2018, about 60,000 people were employed by SSA. Headquarters non-supervisory employees of SSA are represented by American Federation of Government Employees
Local 1923. Social Security is the largest social welfare program in
the United States. For 2014, the net cost of Social Security was $906.4
billion, an amount corresponding to 21% of US Federal Government
expenditures.
It has been named the 12th best place to work in the U.S. federal government (out of 55 large agencies).
History
The Social Security Act created a Social Security Board (SSB), to oversee the administration of the new program. It was created as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal with the signing of the Social Security Act of 1935 on August 14, 1935.
The Board consisted of three presidentially appointed executives, and
started with no budget, no staff, and no furniture. It obtained a
temporary budget from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration headed by Harry Hopkins. The first counsel for the new agency was Thomas Elliott, one of Felix Frankfurter's "happy hot dogs."
The first Social Security office opened in Austin, Texas, on October 14, 1936 Social Security taxes were first collected in January 1937, along with the first one-time, lump-sum payments. The first person to receive monthly retirement benefits was Ida May Fuller of Brattleboro, Vermont. Her first check, dated January 31, 1940 was in the amount of US$22.54.
In 1939, the Social Security Board merged into a cabinet-level Federal Security Agency, which included the SSB, the U.S. Public Health Service, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and other agencies. In January 1940, the first regular ongoing monthly benefits began.
In 1946, the SSB was renamed the Social Security Administration under President Harry S. Truman's Reorganization Plan.
In 1953, the Federal Security Agency was abolished and SSA was placed under the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which became the Department of Health and Human Services in 1980. In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed into law 42 U.S.C. § 901 returning SSA to the status of an independent agency in the executive branch of government. In 1972, Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) were introduced into SSA programs to deal with the effects of inflation on fixed incomes.
Leaders
Social Security Commissioners
- Arthur J. Altmeyer (1937–1953)
- William L. Mitchell (Acting) (1953)
- John W. Tramburg (1953–1954)
- Charles I. Schottland (1954–1958)
- William L. Mitchell (1959–1962)
- Robert M. Ball (1962–1973)
- Arthur E. Hess (Acting) (1973)
- James B. Cardwell (1973–1977)
- Don I. Wortman (Acting) (1977–1978)
- Stanford G. Ross (1978–1979)
- William J. Driver (1980–1981)
- Herbert R. Doggette (Acting) (1981)
- John A. Svahn (1981–1983)
- Martha A. McSteen (Acting) (1983–1986)
- Dorcas R. Hardy (1986–1989)
- Gwendolyn S. King (1989–1992)
- Louis D. Enoff (Acting) (1992–1993)
- Lawrence H. Thompson (Acting) (1993)
- Shirley S. Chater (1993–1997)
- John J. Callahan (Acting) (1997)
- Kenneth S. Apfel (1997–2001)
- William Halter (Acting) (2001)
- Larry G. Massanari (Acting) (2001)
- Jo Anne B. Barnhart (2001–2007)
- Linda S. McMahon (Acting) (2007)
- Michael J. Astrue (2007–2013)
- Carolyn W. Colvin (Acting) (2013–2017)
- Nancy A. Berryhill (Acting) (2017–present)
Headquarters
SSA was one of the first federal agencies to have its national headquarters outside of Washington, D.C., or its adjacent suburbs. It was located in Baltimore
initially due to the need for a building that was capable of holding
the unprecedented amount of paper records that would be needed. Nothing
suitable was available in Washington in 1936, so the Social Security
Board selected the Candler Building on Baltimore's harbor
as a temporary location. Soon after locating there, construction began
on a permanent building for SSA in Washington that would meet their
requirements for record storage capacity. However, by the time the new
building was completed, World War II had started, and the building was commandeered by the War Department.
By the time the war ended, it was judged too disruptive to relocate the
agency to Washington. The Agency remained in the Candler Building until
1960, when it relocated to its newly built headquarters in Woodlawn.
The road on which the headquarters is located, built especially for SSA, is named Security Boulevard (Route 122)
and has since become one of the major arteries connecting Baltimore
with its western suburbs. Security Boulevard is also the name of SSA's
exit from the nearby Baltimore Beltway (Interstate 695). A nearby shopping center has been named Security Square Mall, and Woodlawn is often referred to informally as "Security." Interstate 70, which runs for thousands of miles from Utah to Maryland, terminates in a park and ride lot that adjoins the SSA campus.
Due to space constraints and ongoing renovations, many
headquarters employees work in leased space throughout the Woodlawn
area. Other SSA components are located elsewhere. For example, the
headquarters (also known as Central Office) of SSA's Office of
Disability Adjudication and Review is located in Falls Church, Virginia.
Program Service Centers
Much
of the actual processing of initial benefits and subsequent adjustments
to benefits is done in six large Program Service Centers located around
the country:
- Northeastern Program Service Center, Jamaica, Queens, New York (as of early 1980s; previously at Rego Park, Queens and College Point, Queens)
- Mid-Atlantic Program Service Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Southeastern Program Service Center, Birmingham, Alabama
- Great Lakes Program Service Center, Chicago, Illinois
- Mid-America Program Service Center, Kansas City, Missouri
- Western Program Service Center, Richmond, California
They have been located in these six cities going back to at least the early 1950s.
In addition, there are specialized processing centers for the
Office of Earnings and International Operations and the Office of
Disability Operations, both located in Baltimore.
Before the late 1970s, the Program Service Centers were called Payment Centers.
By the late 1960s, the Payment Centers had acquired a reputation as
sources of poor bureaucratic performance that people did not want to
work in, and a reorganization under a modules system was undertaken
during the 1970s in an effort to improve matters.
The origins of the payment centers date back to 1942, when they were known as Area Offices. The first one was established in Philadelphia, with ones in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and New Orleans, Louisiana soon following.
The two main positions in Program Service Centers have long been claims authorizers and benefits authorizers.
The former, now sometimes called claims specialists, establish initial
benefits for program recipients, while the latter process complicated
changes of entitlements to existing beneficiaries.
Coverage
SSA's coverage under the Social Security Acts originally extended to nearly all workers in the continental U.S. and the territories of Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands below the age of 65. All workers in interstate commerce and industry
were required to enter the program, except railroad, state and local
government workers. In 1939, the age restriction for entering Social
Security was eliminated.
Railroad workers were covered by the Railroad Retirement Board
before Social Security was founded. Today, they still are, though a
portion of each railroad pension is designated as "equivalent" to Social
Security. Railroad workers also participate in Medicare.
Most state and local government workers were eventually brought into the Social Security system under "Section 218 Agreements".
The original 218 interstate instrumentalities were signed in the 1950s,
and all states have a Section 218 agreement with the federal
government's Social Security Administration.
The Social Security Handbook defines an "interstate instrumentality".
The provisions of Section 218 of the Social Security Act and the
instrumentalities agreement and subsequent modifications determine
Social Security and Medicare benefits or Medicare-only coverage for
state and local government employees enrolled in state and local
government retirement systems.
All state and local government employees hired since 1986, or whom are
covered by Section 218 Agreements, participate in Medicare even if not
covered by Social Security financial benefits.
To see how state and local government employees are covered by Social
Security and Medicare see the Federal-State reference guide appendix.
Other local and state employees were brought into coverage under a 1991
Social Security law that required these employees to join Social
Security if their employer did not provide them with a pension plan.
Some state and local governments continue to maintain pension plans and
have not executed Section 218 agreements; if so, those workers may not
participate in Social Security taxation. (If workers have previously
paid appropriate Social Security taxation or an equivalent, their Social
Security benefits are reduced by a rule known as the Windfall Elimination Provision; there is also a similar Government Pension Offset for their spouses.)
Old age, survivors and disability
SSA
administers the retirement, survivors, and disabled social insurance
programs, which can provide monthly benefits to aged or disabled
workers, their spouses and children, and to the survivors of insured
workers. In 2010, more than 54 million Americans received approximately
$712 billion in Social Security benefits. The programs are primarily
financed by taxes which employers, employees, and the self-insured pay
annually. These revenues are placed into a special trust fund. These programs are collectively known as Retirement, Survivors, Disability Insurance (RSDI).
SSA administers its disability program partly through its Office
of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), which has regional offices
and hearing offices across the United States. ODAR publishes a manual,
called HALLEX, which contains instructions for its employees regarding how to implement its guiding principles and procedures.
The RSDI program is the primary benefits program administered by
the U.S. federal government, and for some beneficiaries is the vital
source of income. Increasing access to this benefit program for
low-income or homeless individuals is one of SSA's goals. SSA is a
member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
and works with other municipal, county, state, local and federal
partners to increase access and approval for SSI/SSDI benefits who are
eligible.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
SSA also administers the Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) program, which is needs-based, for the aged, blind, or disabled.
This program originally went under two separate names, Old Age
Assistance (originally Title I of the Social Security Act of 1935), and
Disability Assistance (added in 1946). In 1973, these assistance
programs were renamed and reassigned to SSA. SSI recipients are paid out
of the general revenue of the United States of America. In addition,
some states pay additional SSI funds. As of January 2018, over 8 million
people receive SSI.
For some claimants, this program is harder to receive than funds
from RSDI. To warrant a processing time of anything more than a day and
an immediate denial, certain specific criteria must be met, including
citizenship status, having less than $2,000.00 in countable financial
resources, or having countable income of less than $718.00 per month
from any source. Disposal of a financial resource (i.e., a deliberate
spend-down to fall under SSI resource ceilings) can prevent a person
from receiving SSI benefits for a period up to 36 months. Every person
with or without a Social Security Number
is eligible to apply. But if a person does not meet any of the above
criteria or is not a documented resident of the United States, his or
her claim can only be taken on paper and will be immediately denied.
Even documented residents with legal permanent resident status after
August 1996 are immediately denied unless they meet some or all of the
SSI criteria listed above.
Medicare
The administration of the Medicare program is a responsibility of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
but SSA offices are used for determining initial eligibility, some
processing of premium payments, and for limited public contact
information. They also administer a financial needs-based program which
supplements Medicare Part D program enrollees. This program may be
applied for at any time, even previous to enrollment in Part D. It only
provides no more than a $40.00 relief for monthly Medicare Part D
premiums.
Operations
To
ensure consistent and efficient treatment of Social Security
beneficiaries across its vast bureaucracy, SSA has compiled a giant book
known as the Program Operations Manual System (POMS) which governs
practically all aspects of SSA's internal operations. POMS describes,
in excruciating detail, a huge variety of situations regularly
encountered by SSA personnel, and the exact policies and procedures that
apply to each situation.
Automation
A few of the hundreds of keypunch operators SSA employed throughout the late 1930s and into the 1950s
While the establishment of Social Security predated the invention of the modern digital computer, punched card data processing was a mature technology, and the Social Security system made extensive use of automated unit record equipment
from the program's inception. This allowed the Social Security
Administration to achieve a high level of efficiency. SSA expenses have
always been a small fraction of benefits paid. As a percentage of
assets, the administration costs are 0.39%.
Adjudication
SSA operates its own administrative adjudication system, which has original jurisdiction
when claims are denied in part or in full. SSA decisions are issued by
Administrative Law Judges and Senior Attorney Adjudicators (supported by
about 6,000 staff employees) at locations throughout the United States
of the U.S. Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), who
hear and decide challenges to SSA decisions. Dissatisfied claimants can
appeal to ODAR's Appeals Council, and if still dissatisfied can appeal
to a U.S. District Court.
Over the years, ODAR has developed its own procedural system,
which is documented in the Hearings and Appeals Litigation Law Manual
(HALLEX). ODAR was formerly known as the Office of Hearings and Appeals
(OHA) and, prior to the 1970s, the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. The
name was changed to ODAR in 2007 to reflect the fact that about 75% of
the agency's docket consists of disability cases. ODAR also adjudicates
disputes relating to retirement claims and has jurisdiction when the
paternity of a claimant or the validity of a marriage is at issue when a
claim is filed for benefits under the earnings record of a spouse or
parent. The agency also adjudicates a limited number of Medicare claim
issues, which is a residual legacy from when SSA was part of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Criticism and controversy
Bloomberg
reported that SSA made a $32.3 billion mistake when reporting 2009 U.S.
wage statistics. The error when corrected, further reduces the average
2009 U.S. wage to $39,055. In 2009 the average U.S. wage was reported as $39,269.
Baby name popularity report
Each year, just before Mother's Day,
SSA releases a list of the names most commonly given to newborn babies
in the United States in the previous year, based on applications for
Social Security cards. The report includes the 1,000 most common names
for both genders. The Popular Baby Names page on the SSA website
provides the complete list and allows searches for past years and
particular names.
