Anyone can tell Social Security what is wrong with its paperwork until November 23. A notice the agency published in the Federal Register on September 24 opens a public comment period on eleven information collections, a category that includes the Disability Report – Adult, Form SSA-3368, which the notice puts at 1,745,348 respondents a year.

The notice, “Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request” (91 FR 60685), is a request for public comment, with a docket and a closing date. SSA is the agency asking, and the Reports Clearance Director is its listed contact.

The eleven on the list

The notice lists these collections, with the respondents SSA expects each year:

• Statement of Self-Employment Income (SSA-766): 833
• Farm Arrangement Questionnaire (SSA-7157): 710
• State Mental Institution Policy Review Booklet (SSA-9584-BK): 63
• Child Relationship Statement (SSA-2519): 4,787
• Claimant’s Recent Medical Treatment (HA-4631): 760,420
• Disability Report – Adult (SSA-3368): 1,745,348
• Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program, which covers several forms: 65,095
• Certification of Prisoner Identity Information: 1,000
• Generic Clearance for Qualitative Feedback (0960-0788): 1,818,404
• Data Exchange Request Form (SSA-157): 262
• Statement Regarding Inferred Death (SSA-723): 806

Two of the eleven reach large numbers of people. The adult disability report is the form adults fill out in a disability application, and the Claimant’s Recent Medical Treatment form (HA-4631) has 760,420 respondents a year. The rest touch a few hundred to a few thousand people, apart from the Ticket to Work program and the generic feedback clearance.

How to send a comment

The notice gives four routes. Comments can go by email to [email protected], by fax to 833-410-1631, or by mail to the Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance Director, Mail Snow 3253, Altmeyer, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235. They can also be filed online through the federal reginfo.gov system or Regulations.gov under Docket ID SSA-2026-1090. The deadline for all of them is November 23, 2026.

A comment shapes how SSA builds the paperwork, but it does not help anyone fill it out or live on the benefit afterward. For people on the SSI side of disability, The SSI & Disability Action Kit includes the 2026 SSI income and resource limits and review and reporting steps.

Get the SSI limits and reporting steps for people filling out disability paperwork →

Inside the adult disability report

The SSA-3368 booklet is where applicants describe their case. It asks them to list each physical or mental condition that limits their ability to work, the jobs they held in the five years before they became unable to work, the medicines they take and the doctors and hospitals that treated them. Applicants do not need to ask their doctors for records, the booklet says, if they have consented to SSA obtaining them directly. SSA estimates about 80 minutes to complete it, and the form says it may be possible to apply online at ssa.gov/apply.

The notice breaks down how the 1,745,348 respondents complete the form. A total of 882,470 do so on SSA’s internal screens, 837,661 use the online version, 14,324 use the upload portal, and 10,893 file paper. SSA puts the annual burden at 2,327,131 hours, which comes to roughly 80 minutes per respondent.

The notice says SSA and state Disability Determination Services use the form to decide whether an adult applicant’s impairments are severe and to assess the person’s capacity to work. That is the part of the process where a confusing question can lead to a thin answer.

What kind of comment helps

A comment is easiest to act on when it names the form and its number and says which question was unclear or which section took the longest. The notice’s own figures give a yardstick: SSA puts the adult disability report at roughly 80 minutes per respondent, a number anyone who has filled it out can test against their own experience.

The eleven collections cover very different people, from farm families to prisoners’ identity records, and the notice invites comment on each one. A comment on the adult disability report does not have to wait for a rewrite to matter, because the docket is open to everyone until November 23.

Weighing in before November 23

The free way to comment is the notice itself. The Federal Register page carries the addresses and the docket number, and a comment sent by email or fax needs only the form name, its number and a plain description of the problem. Anyone applying for disability benefits can start on SSA’s disability page, which links to the application.

A person who has just finished the adult disability report is best placed to comment, since the questions are fresh. Notes taken while filling it out, such as the date, the section and the wording that caused trouble, make the comment concrete before the November 23 deadline.

For a person who is filling out disability paperwork while living on SSI, The SSI & Disability Action Kit adds an income and resource organizer to the review and reporting steps.

Get the SSI organizer to keep with the SSA-3368 disability report →

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the Federal Register and Social Security pages linked above.