With a week remaining until the Social Security Administration's new phone policy kicks in, the AARP is prodding Lee Dudek, the acting Social Security commissioner, to answer for the growing customer service crisis at the agency.
As of Monday, phone service will no longer be an option for retirees and survivors applying for benefits, or for beneficiaries making direct deposit changes, the Center on Budget Policies and Priorities wrote Tuesday in a blog post.
"Instead, these services will only be available in person at an SSA field office — a 45-mile trip for some 6 million seniors nationwide, a new CBPP analysis finds — or online, if an online application exists and if a person is able to access SSA’s online tools," the post said.
The new phone service limits are intended to strengthen the agency's identity verification procedures for certain services, Dudek said when announcing the changes in mid-March.
SSA said on X, formerly Twitter, late Tuesday that beginning on Monday, SSA "will perform an anti-fraud check on all claims filed over the telephone and flag claims that have fraud risk indicators."
SSA's announcement "that they are considering alternative means of identity verification for phone services is a good step, but more clarity is needed about how this will work for older Americans," Nancy LeaMond, AARP's chief advocacy and engagement officer, said in a statement after the announcement.
Website Crashes and Outages
In a letter sent Monday to Dudek, AARP states that the group "continues to receive thousands of calls and messages from older Americans who are concerned about their Social Security," including numerous reports of SSA website "crashes and outages, long waits at overwhelmed field offices, and increasing phone hold times and disconnections when trying to contact customer service representatives. This chaotic environment is fueling fear and concern among many older Americans."
AARP is "deeply troubled by the startling and sudden decline in customer service from the agency," LeaMond told Dudek in the letter.
"For most of last year, SSA maintained a busy rate of 0 percent. But that has since changed, skyrocketing in March to nearly 1 out of every 3 callers getting a pre-recorded message that the lines are too busy and are then hung up on by SSA," LeaMond said. "For those lucky enough to get their call answered, they often wait up to two and a half hours or more for a call back. This rapid decline in performance is deeply alarming."
The retiree group is "also hearing increased complaints from our members and others that Social Security’s website is crashing repeatedly," LeaMond said.
According to reports, "SSA’s online portal has suffered 5 outages in March alone, including a full outage on March 31," LeaMond wrote. "It is our understanding that you have yet to determine the root cause of the latter incident."
Further, on SSA's Office Closings and Emergencies website, "numerous field offices are listed as only handling phone services, with no in-person services, until further notice," LeaMond said. "Can you provide information about why these offices are not open for in-person services?"
AARP asked Dudek, among other questions, to detail steps that SSA has taken "to seek input from the public on these identity verification changes, including any analysis of the additional burden, financial or otherwise, it will place" on older Americans.
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