On December 13, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order affects 17 federal agencies and intends to streamline government services, including:
- Filing taxes
- Changing your name or address with federal agencies
- Managing government benefits for social security disability recipients
- Interacting with government agencies via electronic means
- Receiving efficient and timely service from the IRS and SSA
Below, social security disability attorneys at Match and Farnsworth have provided some insight on the new order.
Public Appearance and Original In-Person Signatures
The order provides for processing applications for benefits without having to publicly appear at a Social Security Administration (SSA) in a local Social Security office. Additionally, the order directs the SSA to stop requiring a “wet” or original in -person signature on benefits applications. The requirement that claimant’s provide a signature has significantly slow processing claims during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Social Security Administration is still working remotely, and local offices are closed to the public. So, obtaining a signature is difficult at best. Currently, a Social Security employee must manually print and send application summaries to claimant’s. The claimant must sign and return the summaries, which must then be manually entered into the computer system before a claim can proceed.
Representatives in field offices have been working remotely since March 2020, and this signature requirement has resulted in significant delays and confusion. For example, in Utah, the application summary that must be signed by the claimant routinely arrives two to three months after the application is originally submitted.
New Social Security Timelines for Applications
Under the Order, the SSA has 120 days to identify policy reforms for an electronic- and mobile- friendly process for submitting benefits applications. It’s hoped that these reforms will successful help claimant’s get needed benefits in a more timely fashion.
You can read the full Executive Order here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/12/13/executive-order-on-transforming-federal-customer-experience-and-service-delivery-to-rebuild-trust-in-government/
