About Us | Site Map | Live Help

First Name:

Last Name:

Telephone:

Email:

Zip Code:

Incident Details:

Yes, I would like to receive
the Morgan & Morgan newsletter.

form base
Home » Areas of Practice » Social Security

Social Security Administration

The goal of the Social Security Administration (SSA) is to further the economic stability of the American people through considerate and attentive leadership in molding and overseeing our nation's Social Security programs. The SSA supervises our country's social insurance program, which includes disability, retirement, and survivors' benefits. To qualify for any of these programs, the majority of the American workforce has Social Security taxes deducted from their paychecks. Future benefits are proportional to the employees' earnings.

The SSA is run by Commissioner Michael J. Astrue, who has a support staff of almost 62,000 in 15 offices with headquarters located in Baltimore, Maryland. The national infrastructure is decentralized in order to serve the public locally and is composed of ten regional offices, six processing centers, and close to 1,300 field offices.

History

In its infancy, the SSA was once known as the Social Security Board (SSB) after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act of 1935 as part of his New Deal. President Roosevelt appointed three executives with no access to funding, employees, or furniture, but the agency was able to obtain some funding through the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The first Social Security taxes were collected in January of 1937. The first US citizen to receive Social Security benefits was Ernest Ackerman during the same month that the taxes were originally collected. This was in the form of a one-time lump-sum payment, which was the only method of receiving benefits during the startup period from January of 1937 until December of 1939. In 1939, the SSB became part of the Federal Security Agency, which also held the US Public Health Service and Civilian Conservation Corps among others. The first person eligible to receive retirement benefits on a monthly basis was Ida Mae Fuller, whose first check totaled $22.54 on January 31, 1940. In 1946, the SSB became the Social Security Administration in accordance with President Harry Truman's Reorganization Plan. The SSA was positioned in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare when the Federal Security Agency was eradicated in 1953. In 1994, President Bill Clinton restored the SSA as an independent agency in the executive branch of government.

Extent of coverage

At one time, the SSA covered almost all non-governmental employees under age 65 residing in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. All commerce and industrial workers, with the exception of railroad and state and local government, had no alternative but to enroll in the program. In 1939, the age requirement for Social Security eligibility did not exist, but when Medicare was implemented in 1965, these Social Security recipients were enrolled in Medicare as well. Before Social Security was enacted, railroad workers received benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board and still do today. They also are enrolled in Medicare.

The majority of state and local government employees gradually gained Social Security eligibility through "Section 218 agreements" in which their employer agreed to partake in Social Security. Others became participants through legislation passed in 1991 that ordered employees to join Social Security if their employer did not offer a pension plan. A portion of state and local governments that have not abided by the Section 218 agreements still operate their own pension plans; those workers obviously are not covered under Social Security. However, if one of these employees has a second job where they are entitled to Social Security, these benefits are decreased as a result of a rule called Windfall Elimination Provision. Even if they do not receive Social Security benefits, all employees serving their state and local government workers hired since 1986 are covered by Medicare.

Disability, retirement, and survivors

The SSA controls the disability, retirement, and survivors social insurance programs responsible for granting monthly benefits to retired or disabled workers, their families, and survivors of injured workers. In 2004, over 47 million Americans were the beneficiaries of about $492 billion in Social Security endowments. These three programs are made possible through mandatory contributions subtracted from the finances of employers, employees, and self-insured people. This money is then transferred to a unique trust fund.

Supplementary Security Income (SSI)

The SSA oversees SSI, a need-based program for approximately 7 million seniors, the blind and the disabled, which began in 1973. SSI beneficiaries receive funding from a pool of national revenue. Various states provide SSI funding as well.

Medicare

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services oversee the Medicare program. Medicare utilizes SSA regional offices and service centers for verification of program eligibility, payment processing, and minor public interaction.

Interesting facts

The inception of Social Security was well before the computer age. However, punch card data processing was soon the prevailing data management technology, and the SSA took advantage of its automated unit record equipment. This allowed the SSA to operate as an efficient business model and to greatly reduce expenses.

Just before Mother's Day, the SSA publishes an annual list of names highlighting the most common names given to babies over the course of the previous year. The count was tallied by reviewing the total number of new applications for Social Security cards since all newborns born in the US are required to have them from birth. A report can be found on the SSA's website that includes the 1,000 most common names given to boys and girls.

© 1998-2010. All Rights Reserved. Morgan and Morgan, PA Personal Injury Lawyers "For the People" v2