Social Security Administration backtracks on some ID requirements after
backlash
[March 27, 2025]
By FATIMA HUSSEIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration is partially
backtracking on a plan that would require all new and existing
beneficiaries to travel to a Social Security field office to verify
their identity.
The Social Security Administration on Wednesday said that people
applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, or
Supplemental Security Income who are not able to use agency's online
portal, can complete their claim entirely over the phone instead of in
person. Other SSA applicants will still be required to verify their
identities at a field office.
The changes will apply to all beneficiaries beginning April 14th,
instead of the previously announced date of March 31st.
“We have listened to our customers, Congress, advocates, and others, and
we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the
country’s most vulnerable populations,” said Lee Dudek, SSA's acting
commissioner of Social Security in a statement.
Dudek added that delaying the policy start date will help officials
train employees on new procedures.
Last week SSA announced a plan to require in-person identity checks for
millions of new and existing recipients while simultaneously closing 47
field offices in 18 states. The new requirements would have impacted
anyone who needed to verify their bank information, as well as families
with children who receive Social Security benefits and cannot verify
certain information online.
The changes are intended to combat fraud and waste within the system,
which President Donald Trump and officials in his administration have
claimed are widespread.
The policy change has sparked furor among lawmakers, advocacy groups and
program recipients who say the Trump administration is placing
unnecessary barriers in front of an already vulnerable population.
AARP’s Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer Nancy LeaMond said the
Wednesday announcement “is a good first step by the Social Security
Administration to respond to the concerns of AARP, our members, and
older Americans everywhere about plans to discontinue phone service for
critical Social Security customer service needs.”
[to top of second column]
|
Demonstrators gather outside of the Edward A. Garmatz United States
District Courthouse in Baltimore, on Friday, March 14, 2025, before
a hearing regarding the Department of Government Efficiency's access
to Social Security data. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
“Merely delaying the implementation of this change is not enough,
though,” she said. "SSA should take a deliberate approach to its
proposed changes to customer service that seeks public input,
follows a clear communication plan, and allows a reasonable
timeframe for compliance."
Roughly 72.5 million people, including retirees and children,
receive Social Security benefits.
Trump’s nominee to lead the SSA faced questions Tuesday at his
confirmation hearing about efforts by Elon Musk's Department of
Government Efficiency to close field offices and cut back on phone
service at the beleaguered agency.
Frank Bisignano, was called to account for recent upheaval at the
SSA, which has taken center stage in the debate over the usefulness
of DOGE cuts to taxpayer services and their effect on the social
welfare program long regarded as the third rail of national
politics.
A Wall Street veteran and one-time defender of corporate policies to
protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, Bisignano has since 2020
served as chairman of Fiserv, a payments and financial services tech
firm. He told CNBC in February that he is “fundamentally a DOGE
person” but “the objective isn’t to touch benefits.”
When asked during the hearing whether Social Security should be
privatized, Bisignano responded: “I’ve never heard a word of it, and
I’ve never thought about it.”
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
