Washington – He Social Security Administration Plan to require identity controls in person for millions of new and existing recipients, while closing government offices, has caused a rage among legislators, defense groups and receptors of programs that worry them that the government is placing unnecessary barriers to an already vulnerable population.
The new requirements will affect anyone who needs to verify their bank information with the agency, as well as families with children who receive social security benefits and cannot verify the information of a child on the SSA website. They are destined to combat fraud and waste within the system, which president Donald Trump and officials in their administration They have claimed They are widespread.
The agency announced on Tuesday that, as of March 31, those who cannot properly verify their identity on the “my social security” service of the agency must visit a field office of the agency in person to complete the verification process. They also recently announced that the Social Security field offices throughout the country will close.
Of the 47 SSA field offices that appear for closing on the website of the Government Efficiency Department, 26 are scheduled for closing this year, and some enter into force at the beginning of next month, according to an Associated Press Data analysis.
That change, in addition to the imminent closure of Field offices throughout the country, and a plan for Reduce the agency’s workforce With mass layoffs, it could lead to mass delays to services, the defenders say. Nancy Leamond, of the AARP, said that eliminating the verification of the phone “will result in longer headaches and waiting times to solve routine customer service needs.”
Leamond, the main defense and commitment officer of the AARP, said that the announcement “is not only a total surprise, but is in a little practical quickly.”
“The SSA must be transparent about the changes of its service and seek contributions from major Americans who will be affected. Because any social security delay caused by this change can mean real economic difficulties,” Leamond said.
The agency’s leaders said Tuesday that the agency would begin to train first -line employees and management on the new policy during the next two weeks.
The setback of the Democrats came quickly. A group of 62 Democrats from the House of Representatives wrote on Wednesday to the agency’s interim commissioner, Leland Dudek, to express concern about how changes could damage older beneficiaries in remote areas and people with limited Internet access.
“Require that the beneficiaries seek assistance exclusively online, through artificial intelligence or in person at the SSA field offices would create additional barriers, particularly for those who live far from an office,” they wrote. “We urge you to consider people who can be damaged.”
A Social Security recipient, Sandi Bachom, 80, from New York, said he was terrified by change.
“What would happen if I didn’t receive that check?” She said. “I have no family. Everyone is dead. There is no one to take care of me.”
Bachom, a retired documentary filmmaker, accredits Social Security with “Saving My Life” after losing a six -digit advertising job and falling into difficult times.
Harrison Fields, a White House spokesman, told the AP that the intention of change is “to stop fraud vulnerabilities.”
“We are looking for older people doing this,” Fields said.
When announcing the changes, Dudek said that the agency sees $ 100 million in direct deposits fraud every year. However, the testimony of the Congress of an official with the Inspector General of the SSA in May 2023 said that “from January 2013 to May 2018 the scammers redirected $ 33.5 million in benefits for 20,878 beneficiaries” and made changes of direct deposits not authorized through the agency’s website.
The agency distributes approximately $ 1.6 billion in benefits of old age and disability annually.
The end of the identification of the telephone service could be dramatic for some recipients, including families with children who must visit a SSA office, since children cannot open online accounts through the online service “My Social Security”.
Nancy Altman, social president Security Works, said “this will make it very difficult for the American people to claim their benefits won. They could even cause important delays and, ultimately, collapse the system, overwhelming the field offices.”
Altman, from the defense group, believes that the final objective of the administration is to privatize the social security system.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear He said he is concerned that “some of our oldest Kentuckians, who live with a fixed income, that do not have the resources to travel, have to travel hours to obtain basic questions to answer.”
“Why? Because they don’t want them to do it, and they want to be able to start. It is not right,” said the Democrat. “These are people who qualify and the federal government has the obligation to have enough offices, calls or other resources to ultimately process the requests that exist and answer the questions that people have.
“My concern is that what ELON ALMIZCLE He is trying to do is break the government, not fix it. “
Musk The government efficiency department has integrated employees into several agencies to seek ways to reduce the federal government. Musk has pressed discredited theories about Social Security and has described federal benefits programs as a ” Ponzi scheme “Fraud period.
Bachom, the New Yorker that depends on his monthly social security check that arrives in the middle of the month, said that the people he knows were alarmed by what they have heard about the steps that the administration has taken.
“We are all scared,” he said. “And we should not have to scare ourselves at this age that someone is going to steal us.”
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Sedensky reported from New York. Associated Press Reporters Chris Megerian and Meg Kinnard in Washington and Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Ky contributed to this report.
