The United States Social Security Administration ( SSA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program composed of pensions, disabilities, and survivors' benefits. To qualify for most of these benefits, most workers pay Social Security taxes on their income; the prosecution's benefit is based on the contribution of wages. Otherwise, benefits such as Income Security Income (SSI) are provided on a need basis.
The Social Security Administration was established by law codified in 42 US. 901. The current leader, Deputy Commissioner of Operations Nancy Berryhill, acts as commissioner from 19 January 2017 to 17 November 2017.
SSA is headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland, just west of Baltimore, in what is known as the Head Office. The agency includes 10 regional offices, 8 processing centers, about 1,300 field offices, and 37 Teleservice Centers. In 2007, about 62,000 people were employed by SSA. The headquarters of SSA non-supervisory employees is 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 social security cost was 906.4 billion US dollars that accounted for 21% of government spending.
It has been named the 9th best place to work in the US federal government (out of 18 major agencies).
Video Social Security Administration
History
The Social Security Act creates the Social Security Board (SSB), to oversee the administration of new programs. It was made as part of the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the signature of the Social Security Act of 1935 on 14 August 1935. The Council consists of three executives appointed by the president, and begins without a budget, no staff, and no furniture. This earned a temporary budget from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration led by Harry Hopkins. The first advice 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 tax was first collected in January 1937, along with one-off payments. The first person to receive a monthly retirement benefit is Ida May Fuller from Brattleboro, Vermont. His first check, dated January 31, 1940 was US $ 22.54.
In 1939, the Social Security Board merged to become the Cabinet-level Federal Security Council, which included the SSB, the US Public Health Service, the Civil Conservation Corps, and other institutions. In January 1940, the first monthly routine benefit began. In 1946, 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 Ministry of Health, Education and Welfare, which became the Department of Health and Human Services in 1980. In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the law 42 USC Ã,çà , 901 returns the SSA to the status of an independent institution in the executive branch of the government.
In 1972, Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) was introduced into the SSA program to deal with the effects of inflation on fixed income.
Leader
Executive Director of the Social Security Council
- Frank Bane (1935-1938)
Chairman of the Social Security Council
- John G. Winant (1935-1937)
- Arthur J. Altmeyer (1937-1956)
- Robert M. Ball (1962-1973)
Maps Social Security Administration
Headquarters
SSA is one of the first federal agencies to have its national headquarters outside Washington, D.C., or its adjacent suburbs. Originally located in Baltimore due to the need for a building capable of storing an unprecedented amount of paper records that would be required. Nothing was available in Washington in 1936, so the Social Security Council chose the Candler Building in Baltimore Harbor as a temporary location. Immediately after putting there, the construction begins at a permanent building for the SSA in Washington that will meet their requirements for record storage capacity. However, by the time the new building was completed, World War II had begun, and the building was occupied by the War Department. By the time the war ended, it was considered too distracting to relocate the agency to Washington. The agency remained at the Candler Building until 1960, when it was transferred to the newly built headquarters in Woodlawn.
The street where the base is located, built specifically for SSA, is named the Security Toll Road (Route 122) and has since become one of the main arteries linking Baltimore with its western rim. Boulevard Security is also the name of the SSA exit from the nearby Baltimore Beltway (Interstate 695). The nearest shopping center has been named Security Square Mall, and Woodlawn is often referred to informally as "Security." Interstate 70, which runs thousands of miles from Utah to Maryland, ends up in the park and rides much adjacent to the SSA campus.
Due to limited space and ongoing renovations, many headquarters employees work in the leased space throughout the Woodlawn area. Other SSA components are located elsewhere. For example, headquarters (also known as Headquarters) from the SSA's Office of Inquiry and Sustained Persons is located in Falls Church, Virginia.
Coverage
The coverage of SSA under the Social Security Act was initially extended to almost all workers in the continental United States and the Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under the age of 65. All workers in interstate and industrial trade are required to enter the program, except railroad workers, state and local government. In 1939, the age limit for entering Social Security was abolished.
Rail workers covered by the Railway Retirement Board before Social Security were established. Today, they are still, although a portion of each railway pension is designated as "equivalent" to Social Security. Rail workers also participate in Medicare.
Most state and local government workers are eventually taken to the Social Security system under " Section 218 of the Agreement ". The authenticity of the original interstate 218 was signed in the 1950s, and all states have an agreement with Section 218 with the federal Government's Social Security Administration. The Social Security Handbook defines "interstate mediation". Section 218 of the Social Security Act and subsequent instrument and subsequent arrangements determine the Social Security and Medicare benefits or Medicare coverage only for state and local government employees enrolled in state and local government pension systems. All state and local government employees employed since 1986, or those covered by Section 218 of the Agreement, participate in Medicare even if not covered by the Social Security benefit financially. To see how state and local government employees are covered by Social Security and Medicare see the appendix of the Federal-State reference guide. Other local and state employees are included in coverage under the 1991 Social Security Act which requires these employees to join Social Security if their employer does not provide them with a pension plan. Several state and local governments continue to retain retirement plans and have not yet executed Article 218 of the treaty; if so, the workers can not participate in the taxation of Social Security. (If previous workers have paid the appropriate Social Security tax or equivalent, their Social Security benefit is reduced by a rule known as the Windfall Wind Elimination , similar to Government Pension Offset for their partner.)
Old age, safe and disabled
SSA manages pension plans, survivors, and disabled social insurance programs, which can provide monthly benefits to elderly or disabled workers, their spouses and children, and to insured workers. In 2010, more than 54 million Americans received about $ 712 billion in Social Security benefits. These programs are primarily financed by the taxes on which the employers, employees and salaries are insured on an annual basis. This revenue is placed into a special trust fund. These programs are collectively known as Pensioners, Victims, Disability Insurance (RSDI).
SSA manages its partial disability program through the Office of Inquiry and Disability Studies (ODAR), which has regional offices and auditory offices throughout the United States. ODAR publishes a manual, called HALLEX, which contains instructions for its employees on how to apply its guiding principles and procedures.
The RSDI program is a major allowance program run by the US federal government, and for some beneficiaries is an important source of income. Increasing access to these benefits programs for low-income or homeless individuals is one of the goals of SSA. SSA is a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and works with other city, district, state, local and federal partners to improve access and approval for qualified SSI/SSDI benefits.
Additional Security Income (SSI)
SSA also manages the Security Income Supplement program (SSI), which is based on need, for the old, blind, or disabled. The program originally came 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, the aid program was renamed and transferred to SSA. SSI recipients are paid from United States general revenue. In addition, some states pay additional SSI funds. Today, 7 million people are protected by SSI.
For some complainants, the program is more difficult to accept than the funds from RSDI. To guarantee more than one day's processing time and direct rejection, certain specific criteria must be met, including citizenship status, having less than $ 2,000.00 in computable financial resources, or having a revenue of less than $ 718.00 per month from what source even. The disposal of financial resources (ie, deliberate spending to be under the SSI resource ceiling) may prevent a person from receiving SSI benefits for up to 36 months. Any person with or without a Social Security Number is eligible to apply. But if a person does not fulfill any of the above documented criteria or non-US citizens, his claim can only be taken on paper and will be rejected immediately. Even residents who are documented with valid permanent resident status after August 1996 are immediately denied unless they comply with some or all of the SSI criteria listed above.
Medicare
Administration of the Medicare program is the responsibility of the Medicare and Medicaid Service Centers, but SSA offices are used to determine initial eligibility, some premium payment processing, and for limited public contact information. They also manage a financial needs-based program that complements the registered Medicare Part D program. This program can be applied for any time, even earlier for enrollment in Part D. It only provides no more than $ 40.00 assistance for monthly medical premiums part D.
Operation
To ensure consistent and efficient maintenance of Social Security recipients across its extensive bureaucracy, SSA has developed a giant book known as the Operating System Manual Program (POMS) that governs virtually all aspects of SSA's internal operations. POMS explains, in terrible detail, various situations that SSA personnel regularly encounter, and appropriate policies and procedures that apply to every situation.
Automation
While the formation of Social Security precedes the invention of modern digital computers, hollow card processing data is mature technology, and the Social Security system makes extensive use of automatic unit record equipment from the start of the program. This allows the Social Security Administration to achieve a high level of efficiency. SSA fees are always a small part of the benefits paid. As a percentage of assets, administrative costs are 0.39%.
Adjudication
SSA operates its own administrative adjudication system, which has original jurisdiction when the claim is rejected in part or in whole. SSA decisions are issued by the Administrative Judge and Senior Prosecutor (backed by about 6,000 staff employees) at locations throughout the US US Office of Inquiry and Obligation (ODAR), which hears and decides challenges to SSA decisions. Disgruntled applicants may appeal to the ODAR's Appeals Council, and if still not satisfied may appeal to the US District Court.
Over the years, ODAR has developed its own system of procedures, documented in the Judicial Review and Appeal Law Guidelines (HALLEX). ODAR was formerly known as the Hearings and Appeals Office (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 agency folders consist of disability cases. ODAR also adjudicates disputes relating to pension claims and has jurisdiction when the claimant's sake or marital validity is in trouble when the claim is filed for benefits under the income records of the spouse or parent. The agency also prosecutes a number of Medicare claim issues, which are the residual legacy of when the SSA was part of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Criticism and controversy
Bloomberg reported that the SSA made a $ 32.3 billion error when reporting US wage statistics for 2009. The error corrected, further reducing the average US wage in 2009 to $ 39,055. In 2009 the average US wage was reported at $ 39,269.
Baby name popularity report
Every year, just before Mother's Day, SSA released the list of the most common names given to newborns in the United States in the previous year, based on an application for Social Security cards. This report covers the 1000 most common names for each gender. The Popular Baby Name page on the SSA website provides a complete list and allows searches for previous years and certain names.
See also
- The American welfare state
- Government operations
- Social Security Death Index
- Social Security disability insurance
- Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2007 to 2013
- NOSSCR, National Organization of Social Security Underwriters
- Richardson v. Perales
- Ticket to Work, Ticket Program to Work SSA
- Title 20 of the Federal Regulatory Code
- Data.gov
- USAFacts
References
Further reading
- Handbook of Social Security Disabled Persons , by David Traver, James Publishing, 2006, ISBNÃ, 1-58012-033-4
- Social Security Handbook, Germania Publishing, 2006.
External links
- Official website
- Social Security Administration in the Federal List
- Works by the Social Security Administration at Project Gutenberg
- Work based on or about the Social Security Administration in the Internet Archive
- The paper Charles I. Schottland, former Commissioner of Social Security, Presidential Library Dwight D. Eisenhower
- SSA Pub. No 25-1556. Basic Training Curriculum Teleservice Representative Introduction Unit 1 Lesson 01-08 Student. pp.Ã, 7-15. Social Security Administration . April 2006.
Source of the article : Wikipedia