Beneficiaries to Get Instant Information and Services : Computers to Speed Social Security Data

The Social Security Administration, which may take anywhere from 10 days to six weeks to calculate the size of a retirement check, is preparing to enter the computer age.

All 1,300 field offices across the country will be equipped with video terminals by the end of 1988, providing virtually instant information on benefits.

Size of Monthly Checks

That means Social Security interviewers will be able fill out a benefit application on a computer terminal linked directly to the system’s computer center in Baltimore and tell a beneficiary immediately how big his monthly check will be.

This modernized claims system is now in use at 20 offices, including one in San Rafael and one in Pasadena.

The traditional system, used everywhere else, is much slower and has greater potential for error.

Put in Computer Code

A claims representative now interviews the potential retiree and fills out by hand a lengthy application for benefits. A second worker scans the application and converts it into computer code. In yet another step, the code must be entered into an office computer terminal, linked to Baltimore.

The computer in Baltimore figures benefits and finds errors, such as conflicting birth dates or incomplete earnings records. Then, the local district office must contact the would-be retiree to resolve the conflicts.

This could mean more visits to the office, phone calls or exchanges of letters. And more time passes--bringing with it the possibility of more errors.

The Social Security Administration handles 5 million applications for benefits a year, and officials are eager to make things run more smoothly.

“A priority of mine will be to continue the effort to modernize operations and thereby improve the Social Security Administration’s ability to serve its clients,” said Social Security Commissioner Dorcas R. Hardy.

A “clean” case, with no problems and no errors in handling the application, can be processed in 10 days under the current system. But a more complex application can require as much as six weeks or more before someone is informed of the size of his or her benefit check, Social Security spokesman Jim Brown said.

Computer Seeks Errors

“We want to make the application process more error-proof,” Brown said. “As you go along, the application is being cross-checked by the computer. If something is wrong, the machine goes tilt.”

For example, someone applying for retirement benefits may give his age as 65. But the original file may disagree because he gave a different birth date when getting a Social Security card, needing to appear older when applying for his first job.

Perhaps an employer mistakenly listed the wrong amount for a worker’s earnings a few years ago. Or a claims representative might have been distracted during the interview by a telephone call and written down a wrong piece of information.

Convenience is another virtue of the new system. Someone wanting to check the accuracy of his earnings records now sends a postcard to Baltimore and waits two weeks for a statement to arrive in the mail. Under the new system, a visit to the Social Security office would produce the information immediately.

Eligible workers may retire at 62 and receive a monthly Social Security check equal to 80% of the full benefit available at 65. A person may want to know how much he or she would get if retiring at any particular time between 62 and 65.

Using Complex Formula

Claims representatives in local Social Security offices will make those calculations now, in a lengthy process using a complex formula and hand-held calculators. The new computer system will make this process simple and immediate.

The computer modernization began in September, 1984, with the installation of a demonstration terminal at the Social Security headquarters. It will be completed at the end of 1988 with the full installation and operation of 22,000 terminals in the 1,300 Social Security field offices.