THIS MONTH IN SOCIAL SECURITY HISTORY

September 14, 1935 First meeting of the members of the Social Security Board.

September 25, 1936 The Post Office agreed to help with enumeration for old-age benefits. (One source puts the date as September 15.)

September 30, 1936 John G. Winant resigned as Chairman of the Social Security Board. (On the 28th he tendered his resignation; on the 30th President Roosevelt accepted it.)

September 1938 All 51 jurisdictions were making old age assistance payments under the Social Security Act.

September 10, 1942 The Inter-American Conference on Social Security opened in Santiago, Chile, under auspices of the Chilean government, with the Chairman of the Social Security Board, Arthur J. Altmeyer, as Chairman of the United States delegation. A permanent Inter-American Committee on Social Security was created.

September 28, 1947 A seventeen-member Advisory Council on Social Security was appointed by the Senate Committee on Finance to study proposals for expanding the Social Security program and to review the status of the Social Security Trust Funds.

September 1, 1954 The Social Security Act was amended to extend old-age and survivors insurance coverage to self-employed farmers, self-employed members of specified professions, additional farm and domestic employees; on a voluntary group basis to members of State and local Government retirement systems; and through election by individual ministers and members of religious orders, and protected the benefit rights of disabled persons through a disability freeze provision.

September 1958 Benefits became payable to Disability Insurance Benefit dependents.

September 13, 1960 The Social Security Amendments of 1960 were enacted. The new law provided increased Federal grants to States for medical care programs for aged people getting old-age assistance if the increase was spent on vendor medical payments. In addition, a new program (commonly referred to as "Kerr-Mills") of Federal grants to States for vendor medical care programs for aged people not on public assistance but unable to pay for needed medical services was provided. Old-age and survivors' insurance was amended to provide disability insurance benefits to disabled workers of all ages and to their dependents; the retirement test was liberalized, as well as were eligibility requirements.

September 1, 1965 Benefits were made payable to a divorced wife (married 20 years) and to dependents.

September 1965 Reduced benefits were made payable to a widow at age 60.

September 1997 SSA issued a report, Options for Enhancing the Social Security Card. The report was requested by Congress in the welfare and immigration reform laws (P.L. 104-193 and P.L. 104-208, respectively) passed in 1996.

September 30, 1999 Commissioner Apfel announced that the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign was selected to participate in the Social Security Administration's Disability Research Institute. The Five-year program will provide $1.25 million in funding to the university in the first year.

September 30, 1999 Beginning October 1, the Social Security Administration will launch the largest customized mailing ever undertaken by a Federal agency when it sends an annual Social Security Statement to 125 million workers. The 4-page statement is designed to help workers with financial planning by providing estimates of their retirement, disability and survivors' benefits.

September 14, 2000 SSA launched its year 2000 "Computers for Kids" campaign by donating 6,000 computers to Baltimore, MD city schools. The Commissioner announced that SSA would donate over 30,000 computers and equipment to public schools and educationally-related non-profit institutions nationwide during the next five months in conjunction with President Clinton's Digital Divide Initiative.

September 11, 2001 Terrorists attack the Pentagon and the World Trade Centers in New York City. SSA facilities around the country are closed as a precaution.

September 25, 2001 The Social Security Administration launched a new website at www.ssa.gov/representation that provides comprehensive information for representatives and provides links to key SSA regulatory and program resources.

September 23, 2002 The Social Security Administration added additional languages to its Multi-Language Gateway providing information about Social Security and SSI in various languages other than English.

September 30, 2002 SSA announced its new "eVital" project will provide immediate online verification of birth and death information--eliminating the need for the public to obtain and provide this documentation when filing a benefit claim or conducting other Social Security business. The project, starting in Colorado and scheduled to expand to seven additional states in the coming weeks, allows SSA employees to verify state birth and death information online, through a data exchange with the state agencies.

April 14, 2003 SSA changed the official URL for its website from www.ssa.gov to www.socialsecurity.gov

September 25, 2003 At a hearing before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, Commissioner Barnhart presented an approach to improving the disability determination process that would shorten decision times, pay benefits to people who are obviously disabled much earlier in the process and test new incentives for those with disabilities who wish to remain in, or return to, the workforce.

September 22, 2005 Jo Anne Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security, announced today that more than three million people have applied for the extra help available with Medicare prescription drug costs. The extra help will pay most of the costs of monthly premiums, annual deductibles and prescription co-payments - an average of $2,100 in extra help per year.

September 5, 2007 Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced that Social Security has issued a final regulation to extend the quick disability determination (QDD) process to all State disability determination services.  Under QDD, a predictive model analyzes specific elements of data within the electronic claims file to identify claims where there is a high potential that the claimant is disabled and where evidence of the person’s allegations can be quickly and easily obtained.

September 24, 2008 Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, released the agency’s new Strategic Plan.  Using the motto, “Social Security Benefits America,” the plan identifies the challenges the agency faces and the steps needed over the next five years to meet those challenges.

September 30, 2009 Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced the establishment of a new Financial Literacy Research Consortium (FLRC), made up of research centers at Boston College, the RAND Corporation, and the University of Wisconsin.  The FLRC, supported through five-year cooperative agreements, will develop innovative materials and programs to help Americans plan for a secure retirement.