Stricter identity verification for Social Security raises access concerns
The Social Security Administration will begin enforcing new identity verification procedures on March 31 to crack down on fraud, but advocates fear it will hinder access.
The Social Security Administration will begin enforcing new identity verification procedures on March 31 to crack down on fraud, but advocates fear it will hinder access.
The Social Security Administration will begin enforcing new identity verification procedures on March 31 to crack down on fraud, but advocates fear it will hinder access.
The Social Security Administration is expected to begin enforcing new identity verification procedures for benefit claims and direct deposit changes starting March 31.
The Trump administration says the new protocol is intended to crack down on fraud, but some advocates fear it will create burdensome hurdles for seniors.
The agency to either confirm their information online using the 바카라 게임 웹사이트my Social Security바카라 게임 웹사이트 platform or visit a field office to complete the process in person.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Approximately 40 percent of Social Security direct deposit fraud is associated with someone calling SSA to change direct deposit bank information. SSA바카라 게임 웹사이트s current protocol of simply asking identifying questions by telephone is no longer enough to prevent fraud,바카라 게임 웹사이트 the agency wrote in
Officials say new in-person work requirements for staff will support this change and that the agency will make adjustments if necessary.
Bill Sweeney, AARP바카라 게임 웹사이트s senior vice president of government affairs, said he's not opposed to tightening identity verification but he argues the agency is making changes too fast. He also fears these changes will hinder access for seniors and he's urging the administration to reverse course.
바카라 게임 웹사이트About 1 in 4 seniors has never gone online, and so they don't have a smartphone, and they're not going to be using two-factor authentication," Sweeney said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트A lot of field offices, especially in rural America, may be a two- or three-hour drive away from someone's house, and they may not have transportation.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Meanwhile, a recent finds 47 Social Security field offices are listed for closure across several states, with 26 slated for closure this year and some taking effect as early as next month.
A Social Security spokesperson said most of these leases are for small, remote hearing sites located within a field office or another federal space.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Since most hearings are held virtually, we no longer need as many in-person hearings locations. Social Security offices in which a small remote hearing site바카라 게임 웹사이트s lease was terminated remain open to serve the public,바카라 게임 웹사이트 the spokesperson said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Other lease terminations SSA provided to GSA are nonpublic facing, being consolidated into nearby locations, or we had already planned to close."
It comes as, like other federal agencies, the SSA has set for slashing its workforce. The agency aims to reduce staffing to 50,000 people, meaning it is looking to cut roughly 7,000 jobs in one way or another.
So far, about 3,000 workers have agreed to leave through various buyout offers, early retirements and resignations, according to the Additional layoffs could soon follow.
Meanwhile, AARP says it has seen a 바카라 게임 웹사이트serious degradation in customer service.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트If you call and ask for a call back, people are now waiting more than two and a half hours to get a call back from somebody, sometimes to answer just very basic questions. It's taking hours and hours to do things that used to take a few minutes last year,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Sweeney said.
The that as of February 2025, the average monthly callback time was 2 hours and 22 minutes. That바카라 게임 웹사이트s on par with the average during the last full month of the Biden administration. Wait times have been steadily climbing since at least August 2024, when the average callback was one hour and nine minutes.
Under the Trump administration, many of the workforce cuts thus far have occurred in March 2025, for which customer service data is not yet available.
When asked about the impact of workforce cuts, a Social Security spokesperson said, 바카라 게임 웹사이트These steps prioritize customer service by streamlining redundant layers of management, reducing nonmission critical work, and potential reassignment of employees to customer service positions.바카라 게임 웹사이트
These changes are expected to be in focus this week as President Donald Trump's pick to lead the SSA is scheduled to take public questions from senators for the first time. is set for Tuesday at 10 a.m.