Sections 202(j) and 1631(e) of the Social Security Act provide relief to claimants
who lost benefits because they failed to file an application timely due to misinformation
given by an SSA employee. This provision provides for establishing a “deemed” filing
date when an individual satisfactorily demonstrates that information provided by SSA
deterred them from filing a timely application and resulted in a loss of monthly title
II or title XVI benefits.
The law is effective for monthly title II benefits payable after 12/82 based on misinformation
furnished after 12/31/82. For title XVI, the law is effective for benefits payable
after 12/89 based on misinformation given on or after 12/19/89. The title II application
filing policies and procedures contained in this subchapter apply to the title XVI
program unless specified otherwise.
The law does not apply to title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. See the
procedures in HI 00805.170 and HI 00805.205 for instructions for determining whether equitable relief applies.