[NFB_of_Georgia] Fwd: [State-Affiliate-Leadership-List] Wet-Ink Signature Requirement Endangers Social Security Disability Applicants and Recipients During COVID-19, Lawsuit Says

Tue May 5 21:35:41 UTC 2020

If you wonder what your dollars do for the blind as a member of the
federation this is 1 of many.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Danielsen, Chris via State-Affiliate-Leadership-List <
state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org>
Date: Tue, May 5, 2020 at 3:26 PM
Subject: [State-Affiliate-Leadership-List] Wet-Ink Signature Requirement
Endangers Social Security Disability Applicants and Recipients During
COVID-19, Lawsuit Says
To: NCB Staff <NCBStaff at nfb.org>, State Affiliate Leadership List <
state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org>, nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
<nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Danielsen, Chris <CDanielsen at nfb.org>

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

*Wet-Ink Signature Requirement Endangers Social Security Disability
Applicants and Recipients During COVID-19, Lawsuit Says*

*National Federation of the Blind and Others Ask Court to Require
Acceptance of E-signatures*

*Washington, DC (May 5, 2020):* Timothy Cole is being treated for
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His treatment leaves him immunocompromised and
unable to work, and places him at additional risk during the COVID-19
pandemic. He needs to apply for disability benefits from the Social
Security Administration (SSA) and the safest way to do so would be to fill
out the application online at his home in Jacksonville, Florida. Because he
is immunocompromised, leaving his home or interacting with paper mail is
dangerous for Mr. Cole. But since he plans to hire an attorney to help with
the complex application process, he cannot submit his application online
because applicants using authorized representatives, like attorneys, must
sign a paper copy of their application. This is true even though SSA has an
online application and electronic signatures are accessible, secure, and
federally approved.

Mr. Cole and three other plaintiffs, along with the National Federation of
the Blind, are suing the Social Security Administration in federal court.
They seek a court order requiring SSA to allow e-signatures on applications
rather than requiring a “wet-ink” signature when the applicant is using an
attorney or other authorized representative. SSA does not require wet-ink
signatures for applications for some benefits when an authorized
representative is not being used by the applicant. The suit contends that
the requirement has always been discriminatory, but during the COVID-19
pandemic it also endangers the health and even the lives of applicants, as
even SSA has recognized in quarantining its own mail for two days and
shutting down its field offices.

The lawsuit also asks the court to order SSA to allow blind people to fill
out the application for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) online. Blind
people are categorically excluded from applying for this benefit using the
online application. The suit also asks that the court require e-signatures
to be accepted on paperwork required when a beneficiary is subject to a
continuing disability review (CDR), as is one of the blind plaintiffs in
the lawsuit.

“The Social Security Administration regularly interacts with hundreds of
thousands of blind people and other consumers with disabilities,” said Mark
Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “Yet policies
like this one persist, despite the fact that the SSA has both the authority
and the capability to accept electronic signatures. 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.”

The lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court for the District of
Columbia. The plaintiffs are represented by Eve L. Hill, Andrew D. Freeman,
and Abigail A. Graber of the Baltimore law firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP.

*###*

*About the National Federation of the Blind *

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), headquartered in Baltimore, is
the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind Americans. Founded
in 1940, the NFB consists of affiliates, chapters, and divisions in the
fifty states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. The NFB defends the rights of
blind people of all ages and provides information and support to families
with blind children, older Americans who are losing vision, and more. We
believe in the hopes and dreams of blind people and work together to
transform them into reality. Learn more about our many programs and
initiatives at www.nfb.org.

*CONTACT:*

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

cdanielsen at nfb.org

This release is also available at:
https://www.nfb.org/about-us/press-room/wet-ink-signature-requirement-endangers-social-security-disability-applicants

Christopher S. Danielsen, J.D.

Director of Public Relations

200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230

(410) 659-9314, Ext. 2330 | cdanielsen at nfb.org

Twitter: @rlawyer

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The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we
work together to help blind people live the lives they want.

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-- 
Dorothy Griffin - President
National Federation of the Blind of Georgia
dgriffin at nfbga.org
770-374-4832

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.