Basic (09-15)

NL 10601.220 Does Congress Have an Interest in Our Notices?

Yes, Congress is interested in our notices.  The House Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Social Security actively expresses concern about the quality of Social Security notices. On a regular basis, Congress requests the General Accounting Office (GAO) to look at SSA notices. GAO conducts audits of our notices. During an audit, GAO may look to see whether our notices are:

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  accurate,

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  clearly-written,

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  understandable, and

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  produced in a cost-effective way.

At the end of their audit, GAO issues a report. Congressional hearings on the audit and report usually follow.

On occasion, we also receive inquiries about problem notices from individual members of Congress on behalf of one or more of their constituents.