The MBR contains current information about any benefit changes. Interpreting this
information is essential when interviewing beneficiaries in problem situations. Review
fields such as payment cycle indicator (PCI), special messages, recent changes in
direct deposit data or address and transaction data, so you have a clear picture of
what is happening on the record. Before processing an immediate payment, examine any
CPS data to determine whether a prior immediate payment was issued to the beneficiary
less than 30 days ago. (At least 30 days must elapse between immediate payments.)
The STATUS line of the MBR indicates whether CPS is involved. If the CPS record is
not appended to the MBR (i.e., the CPS record is archived), see SM 00635.605 for instructions
about obtaining a CPR.
Always obtain a current online account query (FACT - see SM 00510.010) before taking any critical payment action. Request the entire record rather than a particular
beneficiary. If a beneficiary has a record on more than one SSN, query all records.
If the MBR query results in a NIF response, check for information on MDW and PCACS
or the Evidence Portal (EP) before deciding to process the action via CPS or Critical
Case Request.