To limit Washington (AP) -UM fraudulent claims, the social security authority will take stricter measures to secure identity-for the millions of recipients and applicants visit the agency’s external offices instead of interacting with the agency with the agency.
From March 31, people can no longer check their identity on the phone and those who cannot properly check their identity via the agency’s online service must personally visit the Agency branch in order to conclude the review process, the agency management informed the reports on Tuesday.
The change applies to new social security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information.
The supporters of pensioners warn that the change will have a negative impact on older Americans in rural areas, including those with disabilities, mobility restrictions, those who live far from SSA office and have constrained Internet access.
The plan also comes when the agency plans to close dozens of social security offices across the country and have already set plans to deposit thousands of employees.
In addition to changing the identity check, the agency announced that it accelerates the processing of the inquiries from the recipients of direct deposit changes – both personally and online. Online directive changes were previously held for 30 days.
“The social security authority loses over 100 million US dollars a year to direct deposit fraud,” said Leland Dudek, who was first called with the media on Tuesday evening on Tuesday evening. “Social insurance can better protect the Americans while accelerating the service.”
He said a problem with the elimination of fraudulent claims that “the information we use through knowledge -based authentication is already open to the public”.
“This is common sense,” added Dudek.
More than 72.5 million people, including pensioners and children, receive retirement and disability benefits from the social security management.
Connecticut Rep. John Larson, The Top Democrat in the way and means the subcommittee for social security, in a statement: “By demanding seniors and disabled Americans to register online or personally to the same external offices that they try to conclude by phone, try to create Trump and Musk, Chaos and inefficiencies to create the system.”
On the Doge website it says that rental contracts for 47 branch offices across the country, including Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky and North Carolina, have ended. Dudek, however, played down the effects of his offices and said that many were miniature remote hearing spaces that only served a few members of the public.
Many Americans were concerned that the closings of the SSA office and the massive layoffs of the federal workers – part of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to reduce the size of the federal government will make even more challenging.
Musk has exposed theories about social security and referred to the Federal Benefit programs with fraud as the “Ponzi scheme”, which indicates that the program will be a main goal in its crusade to reduce state expenditure.
The voters have flooded the town halls across the country to question the Republican legislators about the cuts of the Trump government, including the plans for the ancient performance program.
In addition, a group of unions sued a federal court for an emergency order last week to prevent access to the sensitive social security data of millions of Americans.
