Ask Larry

The Social Security Administration applied the WEP to my benefit. I immediately appealed the decision on-line. This was in March of 2020 and there is still no resolution. . Is there any place within Social Security to appeal the appeal before I take this to my congressional representative?

Hi. There are several levels of appeal, but you can't move on to the next step of appeal until a determination has been made on your current appeal (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10041.pdf). It's unusual for the first step of appeal (i.e. reconsideration) to take as long as yours has, so if you haven't already done so you may want to first check with Social Security to make sure that your appeal is still pending. Since you've been waiting for a decision for over a year, though, I think it would be perfectly reasonable for you to contact the offices of either your congressional representative or one of your U.S. senators to ask them to make an inquiry on your behalf.

Best, Jerry