Social Security’s Computer Systems

I am responding to “Federal Computers: Is System Haywire?” (Dec. 8), which reported that there are more than $234 billion in unposted wages in the Social Security Administration’s earnings files. Although we are greatly concerned about the effect that any unposted earnings can have on a person’s Social Security benefits, this amount represents only 0.5% of the $44 trillion in earnings we have posted to the wage files of hundreds of millions of working Americans since 1937. And, most of the errors occur not because of faulty computers but because employers submit earnings reports to us using an incorrect name or Social Security number.

Workers can ensure that they are getting proper credit for their earnings by asking us for a free Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement, which gives a year-by-year listing of all earnings posted to our records. Any errors can be quickly and simply corrected. The request form is available at any Social Security office or by calling 1 (800) 772-1213.

Your story implied that the wage-reporting issue was symptomatic of other computer-related problems at SSA. But the facts show otherwise. A Social Security card request that once took six weeks to process is now done in five days. We handle retirement claims that once took a month to process in about 10 days. Cost-of-living adjustments to the 44 million Social Security beneficiaries are now done overnight. Our telephone representatives have been ranked as the best in the business--topping industry stalwarts such as L.L. Bean and Disney.

Such examples of efficiency and customer service are not the result of a “system gone haywire.” They show that SSA’s computer operations are among the most sophisticated in the industry, and that our employees are a dedicated group of professionals who live up to President Clinton’s pledge to “put customers first.”

SHIRLEY S. CHATER

Commissioner of Social Security

Washington