The Social Security Administration is turning to pop culture icons to educate Americans about its offerings. First they used Chubby Checker to promote a “twist” in its Medicare prescription plan costs. Now it’s using Patty Duke and the cast of her 1960s television show, “The Patty Duke Show,” to get the word out about its new online application for Medicare benefits. To view one of the ads, click here. Of course, this could risk making some beneficiaries feel really old — not only are you old enough for Social Security, but the icons of your youth are being used to…
Browsing: SSA
The Social Security Administration is adding 38 more diseases to its Compassionate Allowances program, which allows those diagnosed with specific conditions to have their claims for benefits expedited. The original 50 conditions – 25 cancers and 25 rare diseases – were announced in October 2008, and the list allows the agency to electronically search for and make speedy decisions for “the most obviously disabled individuals,” SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue said in a Feb. 11 news release. The new conditions include early-onset Alzheimer’s and several forms of muscular dystrophy. SSA will begin electronically identifying these 38 new conditions March 1. Said…
The Social Security Administration needs a new National Computer Center. The existing one near Baltimore is more than 30 years old and in perilous shape — so much so that the Social Security Advisory Board said it’s in danger of catastrophic failure, which could delay disability and seniors’ benefits from being paid on time. Now Congress wants to know why SSA only let them know last fall that the building needs replaced as soon as possible. And that explanation is a simple one, said Mary Glenn-Croft, deputy commissioner for budget, finance and management for SSA. By 2006, the SSA had…