The federal government has an abundance of programs intended to aid individuals affected by disabilities. But some of the largest federal agencies still stubbornly resist commonly used tools for helping deserving people access those services.
One of the oldest and most respected organizations in the country, the National Federation of the Blind, along with several individuals, recently filed a lawsuit against the Social Security Administration, claiming the agency’s refusal to accept electronic signatures on important disability program forms jeopardizes individual health and safety in this time of COVID-19. The plaintiffs also asked the court for a preliminary injunction.
One of the plaintiffs is being treated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This individual’s health is compromised, such that he should not be leaving his house. But the SSA has been requiring people like him, who are working with representatives, to sign and mail paper forms “even though SSA has an online application and electronic signatures are accessible, secure, and federally approved,” according to the lawsuit.
Fortunately, the request for a preliminary injunction succeeded, at least in part. In its court filing on May 18, the SSA declared that “effective no later than May 22, the agency will begin temporarily permitting putative representatives to submit written notices with claimants’ electronic signatures.”
Even though SSA muddied the water by adding a telecommunications requirement to its policy change, it is an essential step forward in light of current circumstances. Still, this issue demands a permanent policy change.
The SSA has offered an online application form for many years. Yet it required applicants using it to provide “wet” ink signatures from individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Insurance benefits with the help of a representative. This encompasses hundreds of thousands of applicants who are disproportionately likely to need help writing on hard copies as a result of their disabilities.
This out-of-date requirement can add weeks or months to the online application process, as forms must be printed, mailed, signed, mailed back, and reprocessed multiple times. These delays can be devastating for former workers with serious illnesses or other disabilities, who can find themselves unable to work and without the means to pay mortgages, rents, or medical bills. The wet signature requirement also applies to the hundreds of thousands of Social Security beneficiaries who are subject to a Continuing Disability Review each year. It makes things more challenging for individuals who are blind, many of whom use technology, such as screen readers, to access information.
After COVID-19 is brought under control, the SSA will go back to its old policy. There’s just no reason to continue using a process that is so outdated, requires costly administration for the agency, and is so easily remedied. COVID-19 has shown us how fast government and businesses can move to accommodate a new reality and to protect the most vulnerable.
Other federal agencies that serve millions of people have embraced technology solutions and electronic signatures as part of their service models. The Internal Revenue Service is one example; Medicare is another. When COVID-19 shut down most medical facilities to nonemergencies, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services quickly paved the way for widespread utilization of digital tools, such as telemedicine, to allow patients to interact virtually with their physicians.
As COVID-19 continues to ravage the country, it can reach anyone, but it disproportionately affects those who are older and have underlying medical conditions — the very people who are applying for disability insurance. For obvious reasons, it’s best for these individuals to stay home, reducing exposure to other people or surfaces that could be carrying this deadly disease.
I applaud the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind, its brave co-plaintiffs, and the SSA for making this very necessary adjustment. But the SSA should move to eliminate archaic policies designed to raise barriers for some applicants and beneficiaries. The wet signature requirement negatively and unnecessarily affects hundreds of thousands of claimants who are simply trying to access the disability benefits for which they may be eligible. There’s no room for these kinds of hurdles now, and there’s also no need in “normal” day-to-day conditions.
Jim Allsup is the founder and CEO of Allsup LLC, a national representation organization, for more than 35 years.
