Many recipients of federal benefits administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), including virtually all those who do not have a bank account, receive their benefits via a Direct Express prepaid debit card. Recipients often have difficulty resolving problems that arise with those cards, and NYLAG has assisted clients in resolving those problems in the past.
In March 2023, NYLAG submitted a FOIA request for the section of SSA’s Program Operations Manual System (POMS) GN 02402.007 relating to SSA’s policies on Direct Express cards, which has not been made available to the public by SSA. In September 2023, SSA provided the document to NYLAG. This POMS includes important information for benefits recipients and advocates, including circumstances under which SSA staff can contact Direct Express to help beneficiaries resolve issues with their Direct Express cards.
The full text of POMS GN 02402.007 (with limited redactions by SSA) is available here.
