123 members of Congress have signed on to a letter asking that Social Security field offices resume issuing copies of Social Security numbers (Numi-lites) and benefit verification statements. There's no mention in the letter of the services that these members of Congress are willing to see stopped so that Numi-lite and benefit verification statements can be resumed. It's a zero sum world when it comes to service at Social Security. The agency doesn't have enough operating funds to do everything it ought to do. Any service that's being dropped is being dropped to allow the continuation of other services deemed to be more vital. You can argue about the priorities but you can't argue that Social Security should cut no service.
I never understood why we ever allowed the issuance of numi-lite to begin with. Typically they were used by people needing verif of an SSN for themselves or a child for some social-agency benefit because they had not timely obtained an SSN replacement card, and they had to have the proof "that day".
ReplyDeleteAgree with 9:52. The format of the form is easily duplicated fraudulently, unlike the actual SS card. Why should SSA spend their scarce resources giving instant gratification to people who have neglected to take care of their business by keeping track of the important SS card. Employers have methods of verifying SSN's; social service organizations have methods of verifying SSN's. Waiting a week for an SS card to come in the mail should not cause severe hardship for anyone.
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