SSA is an independent agency. it is no longer a part of HHS. Your concerns should be sent directly to SSA. -----Original Message----- From: Bobbye Davis [mailto:bobbye@microsped.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 5:16 PM To: Eubanks-Brown, Sandra (HHS/OS) Subject: Please STop the increase in the cost of SS-5 Forms Dear Mrs Brown, As an avid genealogist who is constantly "digging up bones" I am greatly distressed about the information received yesterday from The Social Security Administration. One of our most valuable and less expensive tools has been the SS-5 Application of our ancestors. It has provided valuable information that we may have not been able to find elsewhere. Recently we have been paying $ 7.00 per copy of each application which is not even a page long. Now they have announced that the cost of these forms will be $27.00 each effective July 1,2001. This will absolutely kill my research in this area as well as so many others like me who are limited on their incomes.This is a 200% plus increase. Now we all know that it doesn't take that much man power when you already have their SS Number in hand.Most of the numbers we get from SSDI are located on ancestry .com. We generate a letter and enclose our check and six weeks or so later we have a copy of the original application. We know this is designed to decrease the request ,but what it will probably do is kill it all. What can we do to stop this increase? Cordially, Bobbye J. Davis bobbbye@microsped.com