Paper Social Security Statements Are Back

(Reuters) – Paper Social Security benefits statements, which used to be mailed out every year and then fell victim to budget cuts, are going to make a partial comeback.

Starting this September, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will resume mailings at five-year intervals to workers who have not signed up to view their statements online, an agency spokesman told Reuters. The statements will be sent to workers at ages 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60, he said, adding the agency would continue to promote use of the online statements.

The SSA stopped mailing most paper statements in 2011 in response to budget pressures, and saved the SSA $70 million annually – about 50 cents per mailed statement. But the decision has been a sore point with some critics, who argue the statement provides a valuable annual reminder to workers of what they can expect to get back from payroll taxes in the future.

The annual statement includes an estimate of monthly benefits at various claiming ages, and for disability claims. It explains how benefits are calculated, and displays the worker’s history of income subject to Social Security tax.

The SSA budget is funded mainly by the same payroll tax revenue used for paying benefits but Congress, which approves the agency’s budget, has approved less than the agency’s request in 14 of the past 16 years. In fiscal 2012, for example, SSA operated with $11.4 billion, just 88 percent of the amount requested.

The cuts have led to sharp reductions in SSA customer service. Nationwide, staff is down to 62,000 from a peak of 70,000 in the 1990s.

So far, only 10 million American wage earners – just 6 percent of all workers – have signed up at the site. (www.1.usa.gov/1d3xvuZ). Critics note that many of the workers who will be most reliant on Social Security in retirement are least likely to have Internet access, including low-income and non-English speaking minorities.

The partial restoration of mailed statements was made possible by an improved budget outlook. The SSA’s fiscal 2014 budget was boosted to $11.7 billion and President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2015 budget request is $12 billion.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Nancy Altman, co-director of Strengthen Social Security, an advocacy group. “But the mailings shouldn’t be limited to workers who haven’t signed up (for) online accounts. Just because people have signed up, it does not mean that they revisit it to check their statements.”

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Consumers for Paper Options, a coalition advocating for access to paper-based services and information wrote:

Consumers for Paper Options applauded progress in the effort to restore the mailing of Social Security Earnings Statements, which has been a key focus of the coalition’s agenda for over two years. The Social Security Administration, which in January was directed by Congress to devise a plan for reinstating this effort, will mail the Earnings Statements this September and every five years thereafter to every American ages 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 who has not signed up for online statements.

While earnings statements are currently available online, wage-earners must first create an online account and provide sensitive personal information before being granted access. This presents a significant burden for the 25 percent of Americans without Internet access, as well as those with cybersecurity concerns, while many other citizens do not even know the online statements exist.

“Millions of Americans, including the 25 percent without Internet access, have no way to verify the accuracy of their Social Security benefits, or even plan for retirement without the mailed Social Security Earnings Statements,” said John Runyan, executive director of Consumers for Paper Options. “Reinstating this important financial planning tool, even if it’s only delivered every five years, is a step in the right direction. It is also a reminder that Congress should have oversight of all federal agency decisions to go ‘paperless’ before they take effect.”

Runyan continued, “Consumers for Paper Options consistently urged Congress to require the Social Security Administration to reinstate the effort, and we are grateful to the congressional leaders who made it happen. Because Earnings Statements are unfortunately not the only paper-based resource being eliminated by the federal government, Reps. Sean Duffy and Mike Michaud have taken the lead in introducing H. Res. 97 to bring agency decisions to go paperless under Congressional review. We urge members of Congress to support this critical effort.”

According to a national poll commissioned last year by Consumers for Paper Options, 85 percent of consumers said that, prior to imposing policies that restrict paper-based resources, government agencies should be required to submit to congressional oversight. Most previous decisions to “go paperless,” – including the decision to eliminate the mailing of Social Security Earnings Statements – have been made with little or no oversight or public comment. In addition, 72 percent of consumers surveyed said they would like for the government to continue to provide paper copies of essential documents like Social Security Earnings Statements and benefits checks.

Consumers for Paper Options supports other Congressional efforts to restore and protect access to paper-based government information and services – including H. Res. 97, a bipartisan resolution introduced by Reps. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) and Mike Michaud (D-Maine) that seeks to reverse federal initiatives to eliminate paper-based information and services. Consumers for Paper Options also supports H.R. 3385, the SAVINGS Act, which was introduced by Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D-Pa.) The SAVINGS Act would protect access to savings bonds, which are no longer sold in paper form, by preserving the Tax-Time Savings Bond Program through 2018.