From the Bristol Blog of the Bristol Press, although this amendment applies to any Social Security office, not just the Bristol, CT office:
Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) took a significant step forward in the fight to prevent the Social Security Administration (SSA) from closing its field office in Bristol. The Senate unanimously passed an amendment introduced by both Senators to the appropriations bill that funds the Departments of Education, Labor and Health and Human Services (HHS) that would not allow SSA to close the Bristol office until they meet certain requirements (outlined below). The bill now must go to President Bush. ...
The amendment requires SSA to provide the following to Congress before closing the Bristol field office:
• A thorough analysis of the criteria used for selecting field offices for closure and how the SSA analyzes and considers factors relating to transportation and communication burdens faced by seniors and the disabled as a result of field office closures;
• A cost-benefit analysis of closing the office that takes the following into account:
- The savings anticipated by the closure;
- The burdens placed on seniors and the disabled;
- Any costs associated with replacing the services lost by closing the office.
3 comments:
That's probably not unreasonable to request. However, with 1400 FO's, the public has become a little spoiled with the face to face service model. We need to expect less of that in this age. When is the last time you went to a bank or insurance agent and discussed things face to face? Some offices have very little staff due to budget constraints and the infrastructure costs are too high to keep them open.
I find it interesting that this item mentions a burden being placed on seniors and the disabled - one would think that in most cases it is much less burdensome to conduct your business on the phone or internet from the comfort of home. By the way my experience in working in SSA field offices for close to 32 years, is that most visitors to the office are neither elderly nor disabled. Many are there to replace social security cards that were lost, often due to carelessness. Some people have replaced their cards over 20 times! SSN cards are issued automatically through the birth registration process. If properly stored in a safe place, one should not need a new card except when a name is legally changed.
I was recently in an FO--by choice, to complete an application for Medicare that I started via 800#. Had to have my birth certificate 'verified.' Could have mailed it in, but preferred to walk it in to be sure it didn't get lost. Fairly simple visit; barely got to complete the sudoku I brought along. But hardly very good use of the FO staff's time.
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