We realize it may be a stretch for ordinary people to want to keep up with the comings and goings of the Social Security Administration, but sometimes circumstances permit where someone does want to follow the latest news regarding the agency due to a possible retirement or disability interest. This blog is an ongoing piecemeal of recent stories that have involved Social Security. Some are tidbits and some are important things that should be known in the world of retirement or disability and others are just interesting stories and nothing more.
Postal Employee Guilty Of Stealing $2 Million In Social Security Checks
Unfortunately that is not a misprint and in fact a former Tampa Bay area postal worker was found guilty of stealing more than $2 million worth of Social Security checks over a 10-month period of time in 2012.
Stacy Darnell Mitchell, 48, is now facing up to 15 years in federal prison for his crime as you can see from this story posted by the Associated Press. He has not yet been sentenced. Mitchell served as a mail handler for the post office’s processing and distribution center in St. Petersburg. Authorities believe that Mitchell stole more than 3,000 Social Security benefit checks from the facility between January and October of 2012. The checks were sold and cash at various convenience stores and check cashing businesses.
No Permanent Funding Right Now For Social Security
Social Security’s next budget has not been decided yet. Right now the agency is operating under a continuing resolution that provides less funding for Social Security than the previous year and funding is about 10 percent less than it was in 2010. The current budget cuts have resulted in a hiring freeze that will reduce staff to the lowest levels since 2013. Because there is less money to work with, Social Security backlogs have increased to unprecedented levels and now the agency is taking one more cost-cutting step. It used to be that every five years a worker would receive a Social Security statement in the mail that show how much they have paid into the system and provide an estimate of what their retirement benefits would be, but this practice has stopped. Social Security has informed that now only paper statements would be issued to people age 60 and older who are closer to the full retirement age. It may seem like a minor cost to Social Security, but when you consider Social Security has to pay postage for millions of statements each year the cost can be significant.
Number Of People Receiving Disability Benefits Declines
Social Security recently informed that the number of people collecting Social Security disability benefits declined in 2016. About 1.1 percent fewer people received disability benefits in 2016 compared to 2015. A 1.1 percent decrease is equal to more than 100,000 people. Considering the largest generation of people, the Baby Boomers, are now reaching older ages it would make more sense if the number of people collecting disability benefits would increase, but the opposite is true. The fact is that the more difficult it becomes to get approved for disability benefits and the longer it takes there will be fewer people who apply for benefits. Considering it is more difficult now than ever to get approved for disability and the wait times are the longest in history, it appears fewer disability workers see Social Security as an option.
