The Social Security Advisory Board released a short study that shows increased use of Social Security’s online services, but this is not resulting in less demand for phone service and in-person services at Social Security field offices.
This study might show that although increased use of Social Security’s website is a good thing, allowing more people to access services, it also highlights the fact that many customers do not have the ability to access online services and the only way some can get service is through phone calls or in-person services. Social Security offices have remained closed over the last three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic so in-person service are not possible and the agency has not set any timeline where offices will open up again. Although many states are now reopening businesses, many government offices remain closed, and for good reason.
Any Social Security field office, when open, is overcrowded with customers trying to access services, which is not a good recipe to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul insisted that he took the job as the agency’s commissioner to improve customer service, so he has an uphill climb in doing so to improve customer service during a pandemic. Below are parts from the study issued that show just what obstacles the agency is facing.
SSA is now expanding the use of remote services, including video teleconferencing, online real-time assistance, online Social Security card replacements, benefit verification letters, and my Social Security enhancements, in its effort to achieve the agency’s first strategic goal: effective service delivery.12 Concurrently, SSA phased out the provision of Social Security Number printouts in field offices in December 2014 and conducted a national outreach program to reduce the number of calls and visits to field offices by encouraging only online or phone access to benefit verification letters.13,14 Although these changes have resulted in an increase in the use of SSA’s online services over the last decade, the agency has not seen a corresponding decrease in the volume of in-person field office visits. In fact, this number has remained relatively stable as the number of in-person visits was about the same in 2019 (43.2 million) as during 2007 (42.9 million).
As demand for SSA services will likely continue increasing as the population ages. SSA must evaluate and appropriately provide quality and accessible service in field offices, over-the-phone and through online channels. SSA should examine how to provide services to various population groups given differential abilities to replace in-person field office visits with other service channels. The Board believes that it is imperative for SSA to use evidence-based measures to evaluate access to agency services. OMB released guidance in July 2019 on how to implement the first phase of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018.
