BASIC (08-03)

A. Introduction

Procedures for handling inquiries about relief under the Grant settlement agreement are explained in this section.

B. Procedure

1. Inquires about the settlement

If an individual contacts the 800 number with questions about the Grant settlement agreement, instruct the individual to contact plaintiffs' counsel. (See DI 52530.001A.2. for the name, address and telephone number of plaintiffs' counsel.)

2. Individual asks about review under the Grant court case

The Civil Action Tracking System (CATS) should be used to annotate SSA's records when a potentially eligible member of the Grant class action court case indicates that he or she would like his or her case reviewed under the terms of the settlement agreement.

a. CATS situations

Follow the steps in DI 52530.006B.2.b. in the following situations:

• If the individual calls about requesting review; or

• If the individual lost the reply form or did not receive one with the notice; or

• If the individual lost the courtesy return envelope; or

• If the individual needs assistance in completing the reply form; or

• If the claimant calls about a change of address.

(See MSOM CATS 002.001, for general information about CATS, and TC 03001.040B.2.)

b. CATS data entry

The following steps should be taken with CATS:

• At the CATS main menu, type a “2” for Request for Review/Address Responder Update and hit the enter key.

• On the Request for Review/Address Responder Update screen, enter “gt” for the court case identifier. Enter the Beneficiary's Own Account Number (BOAN) for the Social Security Number (SSN). Enter the claimant's last name and date of birth (DOB) (format: MMDDYYYY). Hit the enter key. (If a user enters a BOAN that already exists on the Grant selection, the user can edit the existing record but the software will not accept a duplicate BOAN in a given court case.)

• The system will ask that the name and DOB be verified. If the information is correct, hit enter.

• On the Request for Review screen, enter the claimant's first name, street address, zip code and at least one claim number (SSN plus the Beneficiary Identification Code or Master File Type). After the zip code is processed, the software will fill in the appropriate city and state. Press the PF6 key. The system validates that the zip code, city and state are consistent. If so, hit the PF6 key again and the responder's record will be added to the Grant database.

  NOTE: If a claimant is already on the CATS database and is calling in to response to the Grant notice or to inform SSA of a change in address, tab to the field to enter the claimant's first name and update the address and/or responder fields as appropriate. The remainder of the instructions are the same.

3. Class membership disputes

If either the claimant or class counsel contacts the 800 number questioning the denial of class membership, take the following actions:

a. Claimant calls the 800 number

Advise the individual to contact class counsel. (See DI 52530.001A.2. for the name, address and telephone number of class counsel.)

b. Class counsel calls the 800 number

Advise class counsel to write to or send a fax to the Office of the General Counsel (OGC). (See DI 52530.005B.9.a. for address and fax number.)