The United States Social Security Administration (SSA)[2] is an independent agency of
the United States government established by a law currently codified at 42 U.S.C. § 901. Its current
commissioner is Michael J. Astrue who was sworn in on February 12, 2007 and whose 6-year term expires on January 19, 2013. The SSA manages the United
States' social insurance program, consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits. To qualify for these benefits, most American workers pay
Social Security taxes on their earnings; future benefits are based on the employees' contributions.
SSA is headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland, just to the west of Baltimore, at what is known as
Central Office. The administration includes 10 regional offices, 8 processing centers, approximately 1300 field offices, and 37
Teleservice Centers. As of 2007, about 62,000 people were employed by the SSA.[3]
History
The SSA began existence as the Social Security Board (SSB),[4] created as part of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's New Deal with the signing of Social Security Act of 1935, August 14
1935.[5] The Board consisted
of three presidentially appointed executives, and started with no budget, no staff, and no furniture. It obtained a temporary
budget from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration headed
by Harry Hopkins.[4]
The first Social Security office opened in Austin, Texas, on October 14, 1936. Social Security taxes were collected first in January 1937,
along with the first one-time, lump-sum payments.[6] The
first person to receive a Social Security benefit was Ernest Ackerman, who was paid 17 cents in January 1937. This was a
one-time, lump-sum pay-out, which was the only form of benefits paid during the start-up period January 1937 through December
1939. The first person to receive monthly retirement benefits was Ida Mae Fuller of Brattleboro, Vermont. Her first check, dated
January 31, 1940 was in the amount of US$22.54.[7]
In 1939, the Social Security Board merged into a cabinet-level Federal Security Agency, which included the SSB, the U.S. Public Health Service, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and other agencies.[8] In January 1940, the first regular ongoing monthly benefits were begun.[9]
In 1946, the SSB was renamed the Social Security Administration under President Harry S.
Truman's Reorganization Plan.
In 1972, Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) were introduced into SSA programs to deal
with the effects of inflation on fixed incomes.
In 1953, the Federal Security Agency was abolished and the SSA was placed under the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. HEW became the
Department of Health and Human Services in 1980.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed into law 42 U.S.C. § 901 returning the SSA to
the status of an independent agency in the executive branch of government.
Headquarters
The SSA is one of the few Federal agencies to have its headquarters outside of Washington,
D.C. It was located in Baltimore initially due to the need for a building
that was capable of holding the unprecedented amount of paper records that would be needed. Nothing suitable was available in
Washington in 1936, so the Social Security Board selected the Candler Building on Baltimore's harbor as a temporary location. Soon after locating there, construction began on a permanent building for
SSA in Washington that would meet their requirements for record storage capacity. However, by the time the new building was
completed, World War II had started, and the building was commandeered by the
War Department. By the time the war ended, it was judged too disruptive
to relocate the agency to Washington. The Agency remained in the Candler Building until 1960, when it relocated to its newly
built headquarters in Woodlawn.
The road on which the headquarters is located, built especially for the SSA, is named Security Boulevard (Route 122) and has since become one of the major arteries connecting Baltimore
with its western suburbs. Security Blvd. is also the name of SSA's exit from the nearby Baltimore Beltway (Interstate 695). A nearby shopping center has been
named Security Square Mall, and Woodlawn is often referred to informally as "Security." Interstate 70, which runs for thousands of miles from Utah to
Maryland, terminates in a Park and Ride lot that adjoins
the SSA campus.
Due to space constraints and ongoing renovations, many headquarters employees work in leased space throughout the Woodlawn
area.
Coverage
The SSA's coverage under the Social Security program originally covered nearly all non-government workers in the
continental U.S. and the territories of [[Alaska], Hawaii, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands below the age of 65. All workers in commerce
and industry were required to enter the program, except railroad, state and local government workers. In 1939, the age
restriction for entering Social Security was eliminated. When it was introduced, all of these people were brought into
Medicare as well.
Railroad workers were covered by the Railroad Retirement Board before
Social Security was founded; they still are, though a portion of each railroad pension is designated as "equivalent" to Social
Security. Railroad workers also participate in Medicare.
Most state and local government workers were eventually brought into the Social Security system under so-called "Section 218
agreements" where their employer agreed to participate in Social Security, while others were brought in under a 1991 law that
required these employees to join Social Security if their employer did not provide them with a pension plan. Some state and local
governments continue to maintain their own pension plans and have not executed Section 218 agreements; if so, their workers do
not participate in Social Security. (If those workers also have service in Social Security, however, their Social Security
benefits are reduced by a rule known as the Windfall Elimination Provision; there is also a similar Government Pension
Offset for their spouses.) All state and local government employees hired since 1986, or who are covered by Section 218
agreements, participate in Medicare even if not covered by Social Security.[10]
Old Age, Survivors and Disability
The SSA administers the old age, survivors, and disability social insurance programs, which provide monthly benefits to
retired or disabled workers, their spouses and children, and to the survivors of insured workers. In 2004, more than 47 million
Americans received approximately US$492 billion in Social Security benefits. The programs are financed by mandatory contributions
which employers, employees, and self-insured persons pay. These revenues are placed into a special trust fund.
Supplementary Security Income (SSI)
SSA administers the SSI program, which is needs-based, for elderly, blind, or disabled persons. This program began in 1973.
SSI recipients are paid out of the general revenue of the U.S. In addition, some states pay additional SSI funds. Approximately 7
million persons are covered by SSI.
Medicare
The administration of the Medicare program is a responsibility of the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but SSA district
offices and program service centers are used for determining eligibility, processing premium payments, and for some public
contact.
Automation
A few of the hundreds of
keypunch operators SSA employed throughout the late 1930s and into
the 1950s.
While the establishment of Social Security predated the invention of the modern digital
computer, punch card data processing was a mature technology, and the Social
Security system made extensive use of automated unit record equipment from the
program's inception. This allowed the Social Security Administration to achieve a high level of efficiency. SSA expenses have
always been a small fraction of benefits paid.
Baby name popularity report
Each year, just before Mother's Day, the Social Security Administration releases a list
of the names most commonly given to newborn babies in the United States in the previous year, based on applications for Social
Security cards. The report includes the 1,000 most common names for each sex. The [Popular Baby Names] page on the SSA website
provides the complete list and allows searches for past years and particular names.[11]
See also
References
SSA Pub. No 25-1556. Teleservice Representative Basic Training Curriculum Introduction Unit 1 Lessons 01-08 Student.
pp. 7-15. Social Security Administration. April 2006.
External links
Further reading
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