Social Security is making it harder for seniors to do routine tasks by phone in latest anti-fraud effort

By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — Senior citizens soon won’t be able to simply call the Social Security Administration to change their address or check the status of their benefit claim. Instead, they will have to first verify their identity online or go to a field office if they are unable to do so.

In its latest effort to thwart fraud, the agency is expanding its online authentication requirement for address changes, claim status requests, benefit verification letters and tax statements, according to a regulatory filing Social Security recently submitted to the Office of Management and Budget. The agency intends to implement the change by August 18.

Advocacy groups, however, are raising concerns that many senior citizens and people with disabilities will not be able to complete the verification process through their mySocialSecurity accounts. The agency said in the filing that it expects 3.4 million people will need to go to field offices annually to complete the tasks.

“For many older Americans, the phone is how they access Social Security services without having to rely on complicated technology or long, difficult, or costly trips to field offices,” Nancy LeaMond, AARP’s chief advocacy and engagement officer, wrote in a letter Tuesday to Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano.

“We are concerned that under this new policy, older Americans, especially those in rural areas, will have to call, wait on hold for possibly hours, and then wait weeks for an appointment — and in some cases even take time off work — to complete simple transactions they have long been able to do over the phone,” she wrote, urging the commissioner to reconsider the measure.

It currently takes 35 days to get an appointment at a Social Security field office, according to the agency, which has been reducing staff amid a major reorganization.

The new policy is the agency’s latest controversial attempt to combat fraud, spurred by the Trump administration. Prior efforts sparked widespread confusion among beneficiaries, who flocked to Social Security’s 800 number or field offices, fearing they had to prove their identities in order to continue receiving their monthly payments.

Social Security had to walk back a measure instituted this spring to review retirement benefit applications for fraud after the process created a backlog and flagged only a tiny number of claims for additional verification.

But the agency retained an initiative that bars beneficiaries from changing their direct deposit information by telephone, requiring that they do so through their online accounts or at field offices. That policy is expected to send an additional 1.9 million people to field offices annually.

There is no documentation that requesting address changes and other routine tasks over the phone leads to fraud, said Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

“There’s just no evidence that this is a problem,” said Romig, who worked for the agency during the Biden administration.

The new anti-fraud policies will increase field visits by 17%, requiring beneficiaries to spend 3 million hours driving to offices to complete their transactions, she estimated.

The latest effort also aligns with Bisignano’s push to have more beneficiaries use the agency’s online services to handle their requests. All the tasks that require added verification can be done through mySocialSecurity.

Social Security did not return a request for comment on the regulatory filing.

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