Social Security Administration Makes Major Change to Program’s Application

The Social Security Administration has made a major update to its Supplemental Security Income (SSI) application, hoping that Americans will be able to apply for benefits more easily.
SSI provides monthly checks to Americans living with disabilities as well as older adults with limited incomes.
For many, the current SSI application can be difficult to navigate, but the SSA hopes to address some of those issues with a new application that will go live in December.
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“We’ve seen more government-funded benefit programs make the leap into more simplified software in recent years, and the move is highly needed,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek.
“Americans have grown accustomed to virtually every other form online being as straightforward and uncomplicated as possible, and some programs like SSI not adapting sooner could result in fewer applicants being able to navigate through the process and receive those highly needed benefits.”
The new December application will be fully online and streamlined for first-time applicants between 18 and almost 65 who have never married and are concurrently applying for Social Security benefits and SSI.
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In the second phase, targeted for late 2025, the SSA said it hopes to expand the new application to all applicants.
According to the SSA’s press release, the new application will use “user-tested, plain-language questions” and “seamless step-by-step transitions.” It intends to reduce the time Americans spend on their applications and the processing time for initial claim decisions.
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This could make a big difference compared to the current application, which is submitted on a paper form and usually takes two hours to complete with help from an SSA employee, according to the news outlet Government Executive.
“Over the past year, we have asked many applicants and advocates – as well as our workforce – how we could make the SSI application process easier and simpler. Now, we are taking an important first step to do just that,” said Martin O’Malley, commissioner of Social Security, in a statement.
“People in our communities who need this crucial safety net deserve the dignity of an application process that is less burdensome and more accessible than what we now have, and we’re committed to achieving that vision over the next few years.”
The SSA is still up against a ticking deadline as the agency faces an insolvency crisis.
The most recent Trustees report found the government would run out of money for total benefit payments by 2033.
“Social Security will, if Congress doesn’t act, face a 17 percent benefit shortfall for all of our beneficiaries currently in payment status. The good news is this is a solvable problem,” O’Malley said previously.