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Two Social Security Benefits You Never Heard Of

Almost all the people who were eligible for these benefits were born before 1896.
Two Social Security Benefits You Never Heard Of
I have no idea if this story was true or not but back in my early days of working for the Social Security Administration, when Prouty benefits were still being routinely awarded, the word being spread from one SSA rep to another was that Senator Prouty had parents who didn't qualify for regular Social Security, so he crafted this legislation to help out mom and dad—and eventually, hundreds of thousands of others. Everett Collection/Shutterstock
Tom Margenau
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I’m going to give you two words. And I will buy you lunch if you can tell me what connection they have with Social Security.

Here are the words: pneumoconiosis and Prouty. I bring these words up because I got a “blast from the past” when I was writing last week’s column about Social Security “beneficiary identification codes,” or BIC codes, as the Social Security Administration calls them. They are the little letter symbols you find behind your Social Security number (or a family member’s SSN) when you get any correspondence from the SSA. They indicate the kind of Social Security benefit you are getting. The most common BIC code is “A,” and that stands for retirement benefits. Another example: Your Social Security claim number might be your husband’s SSN with a letter “D” behind it. And that means you are getting widow’s benefits off of his record.

Tom Margenau
Tom Margenau
Author
Tom Margenau worked for 32 years in a variety of positions for the Social Security Administration before retiring in 2005. He has served as the director of SSA’s public information office, the chief editor of more than 100 SSA publications, a deputy press officer and spokesman, and a speechwriter for the commissioner of Social Security. For 12 years, he also wrote Social Security columns for local newspapers, and recently published the book “Social Security: Simple and Smart.” If you have a Social Security question, contact him at [email protected]