WASHINGTON -- Federal officials say the Social Security system is Y2K-OK, and they're probably right.
The most recent figures show that all of the agency's 2203 computer systems are Y2K compliant, and many have been for years.
But just in case -- there's a lot of that if/then planning going on right about now -- the Social Security Administration is readying a 24-hour command center at its Baltimore, Maryland headquarters.
As midnight on 31 December nears, the center will switch over to "jet fuel generators," the head of the SSA said Tuesday.
"We want the public to understand we are prepared for the year 2000," Commissioner Kenneth Apfel told reporters at a White House press center.
He said that all 1,300 Social Security field offices will be prepared for possible glitches on New Year's and -- if necessary -- can handwrite checks for US$999 to people in "dire circumstances."
Monthly payments will be sent a day early, and the next round of recipient information already has been sent to the Treasury Department on magnetic tape, Apfel said.
Most Social Security benefits are paid on the third of each month, and direct deposit information will be sent to banks and credit unions by 30 December, a day earlier than usual.
The chairman of the White House's Y2K council, John Koskinen, said at the same press conference that Social Security was a stellar example of an agency that started computer repairs early and completed them successfully.
But as recently as July 1999, auditors at the US General Accounting Office reported that state computers used to determine disabled status were still being fixed.
During the fiscal years 1996 through 1999, SSA has spent $39.5 million on Y2K repairs. The federal government has spent $8.4 billion.
The agency's toll-free number is 800-772-1213.
