Social Security Administration

Many Letters Difficult to Understand Gao ID: T-HEHS-94-126 March 22, 1994

The Social Security Administration (SSA) each year sends letters to more than 44 million people. To accommodate this extremely high volume, virtually the entire process is automated. SSA relies on these letters to officially notify individuals about their eligibility for benefits or adjustments SSA is making to their benefits. SSA has had longstanding problems communicating clearly in its letters. Although SSA's recently revised communication standards appear to be a positive step, they do not address problems such as illogically ordered information or missing details. GAO staff trained in accounting and the Social Security program examined a representative sample of 500 letters and found them hard to understand. GAO concludes that SSA needs to establish overall communication objectives, including identifying its customers' preferences and measuring progress toward achieving such objectives.



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