The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced on Sept. 5 that U.S. citizens can now use electronic signatures instead of wet ink signatures on several forms, a move that the agency says will simplify application processes.
Electronic signatures can now be used “for more than 30 forms, which make up 90% of the most commonly used forms by SSA customers in local field offices,” the agency said in a statement.
“Collectively, these forms represent about 14 million signed forms submitted annually. Furthermore, also this year, SSA has removed the signature requirement entirely for 13 of its most commonly used forms totaling about 1 million submissions in volume annually,” the statement reads.
The forms for which signature requirements have been completely removed include Medical Source Opinion of Patient’s Capability to Manage Benefits, Request for Reconsideration/Disability Cessation Right to Appear, and Letter to Employer Requesting Wage Information. Customers can now upload many of these forms online.
The SSA is also considering removing signature requirements altogether for other forms, which affects roughly 1 million more transactions. The move is expected to eliminate a potential reason for some claims being denied or sent back, according to the agency.
“Across forms that Americans use most often, we’re eliminating as many pain points as possible, from helping people sign at the click of a button to reducing the need to drive or mail something in whenever possible,” Commissioner of Social Security Martin O'Malley said. “This means faster and more error-free processing and better service for our customers, who deserve a government that meets their needs efficiently and effectively.”
SSA’s signature updates are the latest in a series of reforms that the agency has undertaken to modernize and streamline operations. The agency had earlier expanded paperless communication for millions of “my Social Security” account holders. The agency also provided notices from 60 categories through the account, allowing customers to have easier access to these documents.
‘Burdensome’ Signature Rules
In December 2023, Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) sent a letter to the SSA about the signature issue.“We write regarding reports of the Social Security Administration (SSA) departing from congressional and executive direction to federal agencies on the use of electronic signatures (e-signatures) for the completion of vital transactions when possible,” they wrote.
“We are especially concerned that outdated SSA wet signature requirements for some forms are burdensome for SSA employees, and are contributing to ongoing backlogs and delays in access to benefits for recipients and potential recipients with disabilities.”
Requiring wet signatures adds to wait times for processing documents while imposing “unnecessary paperwork and mailing costs” on Americans, the senators wrote. People with disabilities have to shoulder the extra burden of getting to SSA offices because of wet signature requirements, they wrote.
The senators asked the SSA to explain steps that the agency has taken toward accepting digital signatures for all of its documents.
The agency has faced multiple lawsuits because of wet signature requirements. In 2020, the National Federation of the Blind together with other individual plaintiffs sued over SSA’s wet signature rules, saying they disadvantaged disabled people during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a May 2020 statement.
One of the plaintiffs was being treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, with the treatment leaving the person immunocompromised and unable to work. This made interacting with paper mail “dangerous” and signing paper copies of SSA documents challenging, according to the statement.
The president of the National Federation of the Blind, Mark Riccobono, pointed out that the SSA regularly interacts with blind people and individuals with disabilities.
“It is both unlawful and unconscionable that this agency continues to place blind and disabled consumers at a severe disadvantage, especially during a life-threatening global pandemic. Government should innovate, not discriminate,” he said at the time.
The United Spinal Association filed a lawsuit in 2020 regarding similar issues, stating that wet ink signature requirements “unlawfully, irrationally and unnecessarily interfere with persons with disabilities’ ability to pursue their rights to federal disability benefits—making an already cumbersome application process for persons with disabilities even more difficult,” according to a statement issued at the time.
