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.
Unions Warn Of Customer Service Deteriorations If Changes Not Made At Social Security
Customer service, or lack thereof, has been a topic of conversation relegated to Social Security for a long time, but Social Security employee unions are sounding alarm bells that Social Security’s customer service issues could even get worse unless significant changes are made by the agency.
The Government Executive issued a story indicating that officials from the American Federation of Government Employees are warning of a deterioration of customer service at Social Security if staffing issues are not addressed, which would include workforce policy changes and budget increases for Social Security. According to the story, staffing levels at Social Security are at quarter century low while the number of Social Security beneficiaries is expected to increase by 25 percent in 2023.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic caused increased disruption to customer service in March of 2020, the agency has yet to recover, like many other federal agencies. The Democratic and Republican Party continue to disagree what the cause of the customer service problem is.
“Social Security is one of several public-facing agencies that have been at the heart of a political firestorm over governmental customer service in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans have blamed backlogs in service delivery on telework, while Democrats have pointed to chronic underinvestment in the federal bureaucracy, both technologically and in workforce headcounts,” the story said.
Many Disabled Americans Not Receiving Disability Benefits
A New York television station recently reported that as many as 1 million Americans with a disability are not receiving the Social Security disability benefits. An assistant professor at Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare analyzed data on people ages 50 to 64, who already have work limitations, and found that just 47 percent of these people were not collecting either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to which they may be entitled.
