Washington, DC – Today, the Board published its FY 2023 Annual Report, summarizing its accomplishments for the year. These include site visits, a public event, and reports on key Social Security topics within the Board’s current research portfolios.
Social Security Disability. To give context to the unprecedented backlogs and long waiting times for disability decisions at the DDSs, the Board released a report outlining the SSA/DDS relationship’s history, evolution, and management and highlighted areas warranting further review. The Board also commissioned an independent report examining SSA’s return-to-work policies and their effects on beneficiaries, including incurring overpayments.
Supplemental Security Income. The Board released its 2023 SSI Statement urging Social Security to consider the barriers and challenges facing American Indians and Alaska Natives when applying for SSI.
Service to the Public. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board was able to visit SSA field offices to observe operations in person and speak directly to field office managers about the challenges faced by their offices post-reopening.
Trust Fund Solvency. In partnership with SSA’s Office of the Chief Actuary, the Board hosted an August 2023 forum on The Future of Mortality, Disability, and Work. The all-day public event convened three panels of experts to discuss key demographic and economic variables critical to the Actuaries’ work on trust fund projections.
For past annual reports, visit the Board’s Collected Annual Reports page.
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The Board’s mission is to advise the President, Congress, and Commissioner of Social Security on the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs. The Board is comprised of Presidential and Congressional appointees with a professional staff.
This report summarizes the Social Security Advisory Board’s work during fiscal year 2023 and provides detailed information about Board accomplishments.
Washington, DC – Please join the Social Security Advisory Board (“Board”) on Monday, September 9, 2024 from 1 – 3 pm Eastern Time for a virtual roundtable discussion: “Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Incarceration.” The roundtable will be held on Zoom with live closed captioning.
Register and see the agenda here
The roundtable will inform the Board’s research on SSI and incarceration by presenting professionals with experience helping people navigate SSI applications. Panelists will share their experience in providing direct services to people who are or have been incarcerated, or providing training, supervision, and technical assistance to those who do so.
Please contact events@ssab.gov at least three business days in advance of the meeting to request a reasonable accommodation.
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The Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-296) established a bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board composed of up to seven Board members appointed by Congress and the White House. Supported by a professional staff, the Board provides advice and recommendations to the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs and policies.
The Board held a virtual roundtable on “Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Incarceration” on Monday, September 9, 2024. The roundtable informed the Board’s research on SSI and incarceration by presenting professionals with experience helping people navigate SSI applications. Panelists shared their experience in providing direct services to people who are or have been incarcerated, or providing training, supervision, and technical assistance to those who do so.
Panel members included:
- Ronna Cole, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Services, Washington State Department of Corrections
- Karen Duranceau, Project Manager, Washington State Department of Corrections
- Erica Hartwig, Staff Attorney, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
- Terre Marshall, Director of Complex Reentry Transitions, South Carolina Department of Corrections
- Michele Murff, Director of Housing and Homeless Programs, South Carolina Department of Mental Health
- Trinh Phan, Director of State Income Security, Justice in Aging
- Reverend Ben Roberts, Associate Pastor & Executive Director of Program and Justice Ministries, Foundry United Methodist Church
- Gloria Robinson, Program Analyst, South Carolina Department of Disability Services
- Tammy Seltzer, Director of the Jail and Prison Advocacy Project (JPAP), University Legal Services Disability Rights DC
- Dazara Ware, Assistant Director, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) SOAR Technical Assistance Center
Supplemental Security Income and Incarceration Roundtable AgendaSSI and Incarceration Roundtable Panelist Bios
The purpose of this forum was to learn how applying, communicating, and receiving or resuming suspended benefits works for individuals re-entering society after incarceration. The Board hope to learn what appears to work well and where access to SSA’s services for such individuals could be improved within existing program policies and goals. The Board hopes to gather information from those who do the work, to understand the process, and perhaps learn how and what data might be discovered and gathered. The information presented at this event is for the purpose of informing the Board. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board or any Board member.
Washington, DC – Nancy Altman, of Bethesda, Maryland, has been reappointed by the House of Representatives to the Social Security Advisory Board for a six-year term effective Friday, June 21, 2024 until June 21, 2030.
Altman has a 50-year background in Social Security and private pensions. She is the current President of Social Security Works and Chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition. Altman was on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and taught courses on private pensions and Social Security at the Harvard Law School. In 1982, Altman was Alan Greenspan’s assistant in his position as Chair of the bipartisan commission that largely developed the 1983 Social Security amendments. She is the author of The Truth About Social Security, The Battle for Social Security and co-author of Social Security Works! Why Social Security Isn’t Going Broke and How Expanding It Will Help Us All. Altman has an AB from Harvard University and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Altman originally joined the Board in October 2017 when she replaced former Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly.
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The Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-296) established a bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board composed of up to seven Board members appointed by Congress and the White House. Supported by a professional staff, the Board provides advice and recommendations to the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs and policies.
Washington, DC – Today, the Board released Effectuation of Disability Benefits.
When the Social Security Administration (SSA) determines that a person is eligible for disability benefits, the agency must take additional steps before actually paying those benefits. These steps, known as the effectuation process, occur after some awardees have experienced lengthy waits to obtain favorable decisions.
The Board’s report provides an overview of the effectuation process that highlights how it can differ depending on the benefits claimed, the stage of appeal at which the claim was awarded, and other factors. The report analyzes a non-SSA data set from a large national firm of claimants’ representatives which shows that:
- Average effectuation times increased over the past decade.
- Nearly 5% of claims in the data set had effectuation times greater than 300 days.
- Claims for Supplemental Security Income and claims awarded by Administrative Law Judges had longer effectuation times than other types of claims.
The Board recommends changes SSA could make to its systems, policies, and operations to improve the speed and accuracy of effectuation. The Board also recommends that Congress direct SSA to pay interest on past-due benefits when there are delays in effectuation.
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The Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-296) established a bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board composed of up to seven Board members appointed by Congress and the White House. Supported by a professional staff, the Board provides advice and recommendations to the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs and policies.
The process of adjudicating an application for disability benefits is not complete once a favorable decision has been made. Many additional steps must occur between a favorable decision and the actual payment. These actions, from award to deposit of benefits, are called “effectuation.” Effectuation is little studied both in the Social Security context and in the broader subject of how government works.
This report provides an overview of effectuation that highlights how the process can differ depending on the benefits claimed, the stage of appeal at which the claim was awarded, and other factors. The report analyzes a data set from a large national firm of claimants’ representatives that shows that the time SSA takes to effectuate a disability award increased over the past decade.
- Average effectuation times increased over the past decade.
- Nearly 5% of claims in the data set had effectuation times greater than 300 days.
- Most DI awards are still effectuated within a week of the decision, while the median for SSI awards grew from 20 days in 2014 to 77 days in early 2023. However, some cases took far longer to effectuate for both types of benefits.
- Claims awarded at the initial or reconsideration levels had lower average effectuation times than those awarded by Administrative Law Judges.
The Board recommends changes SSA could make to its systems, policies, and operations to improve the speed and accuracy of effectuation. The Board also recommends that Congress direct SSA to pay interest on past-due benefits when there are delays in effectuation.
Washington, DC – Tomorrow, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing to consider three people nominated by President Biden to serve on the Social Security Advisory Board.
The nominees and their proposed terms are Andrew Biggs of Oregon (ending September 30, 2024, and renominated for a term ending September 30, 2030), Kathryn Lang of Maryland (ending September 30, 2026), and Sharon Lewis of Oregon (ending September 30, 2028).
The hearing will be held on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 10:15 am ET at the Dirksen Senate Office Building and will be streamed online.
The Board is an independent federal agency with a seven-member bipartisan board that advises the President, Congress, and Commissioner of Social Security on policies related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs.
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The Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-296) established a bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board composed of seven Board members appointed by Congress and the White House. Supported by a professional staff, the Board provides advice and recommendations to the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs and policies.
Washington, DC – Today, the Board released Retirement Trajectories and Social Security’s Retirement Earnings Test. The retirement earnings test (RET) temporarily withholds or reduces the Social Security retirement benefits of people who are below full retirement age (FRA) and whose earned income is above a certain threshold. Monthly benefits are later increased at FRA to account for the months when benefits were withheld or reduced under the RET.
Previous studies show that most people do not fully understand how the RET works. Given the varied retirement paths people take, it is important for older workers and their families to understand the implications of the RET for their work and retirement decisions.
Using Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data on a cohort of baby boomers born from 1948 to 1953, the Board found:
- More than half followed a nontraditional retirement path involving either part-time work or a return to work before permanently leaving the workforce.
- Half of those who returned to work reported receiving Social Security retirement benefits before returning to work.
- Of these people, 40 percent were below FRA when they returned to work.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a webpage, brochure, and online RET calculator to educate the public. However, the Board found that not all the information is conveyed consistently or clearly. The Board recommended SSA use plain language, ensure information is consistent and accurate across resources, make tools such as the RET calculator easier to find and use, and consider reminding workers how the RET operates at various points during their careers.
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The Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-296) established a bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board composed of seven Board members appointed by Congress and the White House. Supported by a professional staff, the Board provides advice and recommendations to the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs and policies.
Social Security’s retirement earnings test (RET) temporarily withholds or reduces the Social Security benefits of people below full retirement age (FRA) who work and earn above a certain threshold while collecting retirement benefits. Those benefits are increased at FRA to account for the months when benefits were withheld or reduced under the RET. The legislative intent of the RET, which has been part of the law since Social Security’s creation in 1935, was to determine whether a worker had left the workforce, since Social Security is designed as an insurance program to partially replace insured workers’ wages that are lost due to old age, disability, or death (for surviving dependents). Studies show that most people do not fully understand how the RET works. While many know that benefits are reduced due to earnings before FRA, most do not understand that this reduction is temporary.
This paper examines the RET in the context of changing work and retirement patterns. We analyze retirement trajectories using micro-data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative survey of Americans ages 50 or older and their spouses conducted every two years. We find that over half of the early baby boomer cohort follows a nontraditional retirement path involving either partial retirement or a return to work before permanently leaving the labor force. Half of those who returned to work reported receiving Social Security retirement benefits before returning to work; of these people, 40 percent were below FRA when they returned to work. It is important for older workers and their families to understand the implications of the RET for their work and retirement decisions, given the varied paths people take when permanently leaving the workforce.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides several resources to educate the public about the RET. However, this paper demonstrates that not all these resources clearly explain the key features of the RET, and not all the information is conveyed consistently across resources. SSA could improve these materials to communicate the implications of work and retirement more clearly to workers and their families. We conclude by offering recommendations for how SSA can improve these public resources, such as using plain language, ensuring information is consistent and accurate across resources, and improving tools such as the RET calculator. Reminding workers how the RET operates at various points during their careers could help improve awareness of its potential applicability for those who follow nontraditional retirement paths.