The Social Security Administration recently introduced enhancements that should make it easier for beneficiaries to do business with the agency.
One change is the acceptance of many more electronic signatures and form submissions. Most correspondence and forms no longer will require a physical, or wet, signature.
Social Security said 50 forms and almost 80 types of evidence now can be submitted online with electronic signatures using the web site’s new eSignature/Upload Documents feature. In most cases, beneficiaries won’t have to mail, fax, or physically deliver information to Social Security.
Beneficiaries will need to open a “my Social Security” account on the agency’s web site to use the feature.
A second change is that many of the most frequently-used forms have been or will be converted to online versions. The forms can be completed online and then submitted online with an electronic signature. (Though they also can be printed and sent to Social Security in one of the old-fashioned ways.) Some don’t require a signature, including the 12 forms used most frequently.
Social Security says 90% of its most-commonly used forms now can be completed and submitted electronically.