Following an uproar from senior-focused interest groups regarding a controversial new policy that would require identity verification in-person at its field offices, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has walked back the policy according to its own social media posts and an announcement from AARP.
“Beginning on April 14, [Social Security] will perform an anti-fraud check on all claims filed over the telephone and flag claims that have fraud risk indicators,” the SSA announced earlier this week in a series of posts on social media platform X.
Claims that carry “fraud risk indicators” will still need to perform identity verification in-person, but claiming over the phone “remains a viable option” for the vast majority of beneficiaries, the posts added.
The move amounts to “walking back a plan to implement burdensome new in-person measures for identity verification that could have prevented millions of older Americans from applying for benefits by phone,” according to a statement released by AARP on the move.
AARP added that an SSA spokesperson confirmed in an email statement to the organization on April 9 that it “will allow all claim types to be completed over the telephone,” according to the group.
“This is great news for older Americans,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP’s chief advocacy and engagement officer. “We appreciate SSA listening to AARP and millions of Americans about the impact on their lives and providing better access to customer service for Social Security benefits.”
This comes just a few days before SSA was scheduled to implement the controversial new policy on Monday, April 14. The plan could have been implemented during a time when several federal agencies, reportedly including SSA, are contemplating a series of field office closures, which could have clashed with unique mobility challenges faced by older Americans particularly in rural areas.
“The SSA proposal drew immediate criticism from AARP and other advocates who said it would create hardships for people with disabilities and older adults who lack reliable transportation or internet access or who live far from the nearest Social Security office,” AARP said this week.
But the group is still sounding the alarm over issues related to the agency’s customer service posture, and SSA in its posts estimated that among 4.5 million annual estimated telephone claims per year, about 70,000 could still be flagged as requiring an in-person identity check at a field office.
LeaMond submitted a letter on April 7 to Lee Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, saying that AARP members were sending reports of “website outages, long lines at field offices, and hours-long waits for people to get help from Social Security on the phone.”
The ID plan, she added, would have served to “only exacerbate the ongoing customer service crisis,” she said.
