Dear Colleague,

The information in this email is in two sections. The first section has updates from the Social Security Administration, and the second has tips from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prevent coronavirus-related scams.

1 .   Please see below for some important information, which was copied directly from   the Social Security Administration (SSA) website:

  • “All local Social Security offices will be closed to the public for in-person service starting Tuesday, March 17, 2020. This decision protects the population we serve—older Americans and people with underlying medical conditions—and our employees during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, we are still able to provide critical services.”
  • “We will not start or complete any current medical continuing disability reviews. If you have a medical continuing disability review pending, please do not request medical information from your doctors at this time. We will follow up with you for any medical evidence once the COVID-19 public health emergency subsides.”
  • “Where possible, we are suspending our processing and collection of overpayments.”
  • “We are not conducting organization or individual representative payee accountings.”
  • “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are extending our deadlines wherever possible.
  • If we asked you to contact us by a certain date, please do not come to the office. You can contact us once our offices reopen to the public or you can mail your documents to us. We will follow up with you once the COVID-19 public health emergency subsides.
  • We are providing maximum flexibility in applying our good cause policy. This policy allows us to extend the time limits for submitting appeals and taking other actions during this public health emergency."

There is extensive, new information on the SSA website, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, including what to do if an appointment was already scheduled to visit a Social Security office. To see all of the recent the SSA website updates, please click here:  https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/
                                                        

2. Tips from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to avoid coronavirus-related scams

Sadly, there are some scammers who are trying to take advantage of fears surrounding the coronavirus. These scammers are misleading the public by recommending products to prevent or treat the coronavirus that are useless, or even worse, could be dangerous. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) want the public to be aware of these scams. The products that have been identified by the FTC and FDA as being useless or dangerous include teas, essential oils and colloidal silver.

Please see the link below for the FTC website, which has helpful tips. 




Please share this email with others who may also be interested.  

This is one of many emails that The Arc of New Jersey is distributing in an effort to help individuals with I/DD, their families, and staff to be safe and healthy throughout the coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) pandemic. To see other emails that we have distributed pertaining to the coronavirus, please go to: 



Thank you,

Bev

Beverly Roberts
Director, Mainstreaming Medical Care
The Arc of New Jersey
985 Livingston Avenue
North Brunswick, NJ 08902