I Don't Think We Can Trust This Report

      Back in July, Senator Elizabeth Warren asked that Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) perform an audit of Social Security's reported telephone call waiting times. The audit has now been completed and a report issued -- just before Christmas. The report says that the agency's metrics were accurate which is probably technically accurate but whether those metrics are fully meaningful is another question.        

    There are at least three problems with this report. First, there is zero reason to trust OIG. It no longer enjoys any independence. It doesn't report to the Commissioner but it does report to the White House. It is now clear that there can be no OIG reports at any agency which criticize the Administration. The release of such a critical report will be blocked and those who drafted it summarily fired. (Thank you, Supreme Court.) Second, the report admits that 25 million callers to Social Security became so frustrated by Social Security's answering system that they hung up. It didn't add these callers in to the phone answering metrics. If you do add them in you find out that they comprise a whopping 40% of calls to Social Security. That's a lot of frustrated callers. Third, many of the calls were handled by Interactive Voice Response (IVR) rather than a human. How effectively did IVR respond to requests for customer service? The agency reported a big jump in telephone calls this year. How much of that was due to failed IVR? Failed IVR also contributes to customer dissatisfaction. 

     Senator Warren is already accusing the Social Security of lying.

Jollity Seem A Little Forced? You're Not Alone

 

30+ Day Wait For In-Office Appointments

      From CU-Citizen Access:

Getting an appointment at Champaign’s [Illinois] social security district office continues to take 30 days or more, but some recipients report that once they are at the office their needs are processed quickly.

Yet the wait can be frustrating and difficult.

Kiesha Jones, a Champaign resident, said she waited an hour and a half for her initial appointment at Champaign’s Social Security Office.

“They were like, we’re only taking appointments, you’ve got to call this number. I called the number and I couldn’t get through,” she said. “Once I got through, they made an appointment about 37 days out.” … 

Despite her experience, a spokesperson for the Social Security Administration said in a December email to CU-CitizenAccess that most claim appointments for disability benefits are scheduled within a month.

“The Champaign, Illinois office currently schedules the vast majority of T2 disability, SSI Blind and Disabled, and aged claim appointments within 30 days of request,” the spokesperson said.  …

Merry Christmas

 

Much Of Social Security Staying Open On 12/24 And 12/26

      Sorry guys.

Click on image to view full-size

 

Fair?

      The National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare is blaming changes made during the Trump Administration for SSA’s data systems crash last Wednesday. Is that fair? I don’t know. I do know that the agency’s data systems are at greater risk due to staffing cuts.

Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas