From CBS Chicago (emphasis added):
An 80-year-old Chicago woman is still fighting to access her Social Security money days after CBS 2 first got involved. It is because of debit card problems that CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported Monday are plaguing people across the country.
Ida Walker was frail and exhausted as she left a Social Security office on Monday. On Friday, a Social Security Administration employee told Walker to go in person – so as finally to solve a problem she has had with her U.S. Direct Express debit card, which is linked to her Social Security funds.
Walker spent three hours in the Social Security office on Monday. ...
She and her granddaughter have spent three weeks calling the U.S. Direct Express to activate a replacement card – only to get the runaround.
It meant she was cut off from her funds....
Based on the response we got to our initial story about Ida Walker’s frustrating attempts to access her Social Security funds and activate her Direct Express card, hers is not an isolated case.
Kozlov heard from a dozen people, by phone and email, who have the same problem.
“A Direct Express nightmare across the country,” one person wrote. Another reported that they lost hope. ...
We’ve learned the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service renewed its contract with Comerica Bank in 2015, with that contract set to expire last week.
The contract’s cost to taxpayers, according to a Treasury Inspector General audit, is $38 million to $42 million. ...
Walker’s granddaughter said they talked to a Comerica employee Monday evening, who said the problem is finally being resolved. A representative blamed the matter on a fraud protection trigger.
16 comments:
In other news, About 61 million people collect Social Security benefits each month, and they account for about one in five people in the United States and they didn't have a problem.
I don't understand why people expect 100% perfection and instant correction.
Cue the hoards who just want to beat up the agency, but you have to admit this stuff is rare. Yes it has a terrible impact on the individual, I understand that, but it cannot now, nor has it ever in the past been perfect and will never be in the future.
@3:34
I criticize anything less 100% perfection and instant correction because it's pointless to give any agency an inch you do not have to. Hopefully holding an agency accountable for any error makes them less likely to commit the same error in the future. As to expecting such performance by an agency, no not really. I'm certainly aware of the limitations placed on the agency.
Multiple instances of field office "losing" paperwork. It was happening so frequently and so often we thought maybe someone was stealing our outgoing mail. We finally started sending everything by certified mail. Now, nothing gets "lost." Its not just us. Another attorney said in their office that they joke that the SSA offices must keep the fax machine above the shredder. I can't count the number of times we have called about cases and found out later the information we were given was wrong. Don't get me started on the DDS docs and how laughable the things we see from them are. Everyone, SSA included knows they aren't looking at the medical records in many cases. Hadn't on psychologist admit that and a former examiner recently told me that the senior examiners sometimes do the RFC and the docs sign off without even looking at it. Then we have these ridiculous judges that approve 12 percent of cases. SSA doesn't care until folks start filing lawsuits. Let's see, what else - waiting 10 months for a fee payment and getting it then only after contacting my congressman. Oh, here's a good one - compassionate care cases sitting on someones desks for weeks in the field office (happened more than once). No, I wouldn't expect 100% perfection. From this agency I'd take 50%. That would be a substantial improvement. Anyone who defends this agency either has their head in the sand or is part of the problem. They may do some things well. I'll give them credit for sending a lot of retirement checks out and doing that pretty well. There's other things they probably do well. But, the part of the agency responsible for disability determination is badly, badly broken. But the agency seems happy with it. So, who cares if disability claimants are homeless, can't get their medications, as long as the employees get telework and offices closed on Wednesdays everything will be great. Right?
anon@4:49pm,
The problem with this particular issue isn't with SSA - SSA has no dogs in that fight. Direct Express is a Treasury Department program - negotiated by Treasury, endorsed by Treasury, and authorized by Treasury - that happens to allow SSA beneficiaries to put benefits on debit cards.
Now, that being said, I personally despised Direct Express. I hated dealing with lost cards (especially those lost because claimants were sending them to their mother's brother's neighbor's cousin's roommate's address), cards that didn't work, multiple cards that didn't work, DE's inability to transfer funds to newly activated cards, and most especially those lazy Direct Express customer support people who continuously sent claimants in to the office telling them to yell "MOU" (i.e. the Memorandum of Understanding under which claimants can authorize SSA employees to call on their behalf) for even the simplest issues to waste an hour of employee's work time on hold handling something that the DE CSR should have taken care of but didn't because they just didn't want to take the time to listen to the claimant. Then, there was Comerica "redesigning" the website to make it as difficult as possible for claimants without a card to find phone numbers to call them.
Obviously, it is better than paper checks by a mile (far fewer nonreceipts), but the negotiated process still leaves a lot to be desired.
4:49 and 5:52 name a business, agency or human that is 100% every time. Even Brady ended the season with a pick six.
@5:52 I have seen reps send in AUX filings for every, EVERY new initial filing when there is nothing to attach the filing, reps who did not know the Claimants name, OTR requests with typos and even with the wrong medical conditions and providers left over from the template they use to write these comical briefs, and I can go on and on. So careful casting those stones when standing in a glass house.
I have had problems with paperwork sometimes not being properly submitted by the local office, but this one I can't entirely blame on SSA. A provision was made for people to get their checks electronically when they can't open a bank account. However, it should be a last resort. The local office explained to me and my client that if you opt to receive your check this way, they have less control and can't protect you once it's released from them. I would advise anyone who gets their check this way to get their business in order if possible and get their check on a bank debit card.
Well done 11:55 correct information.
The bad thing about it is that, once Direct Express came about, the banks lost all incentive to offer low fee accounts for low income individuals. Now $7-$15 per month or even more is the minimum fee. That might not sound like much, but to a person on a fixed income it is a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread, or cell phone minutes. So, they are stuck with debit cards which are the least safe and with least legal protection financial instruments you can have.
At least with a credit card, you are only liable for at most $50 of a fraudulent charge under federal law if you report timely (and most even waive that). In the case of a debit card, you are basically liable for whatever the bank says you are with a terms of service defined long drawn out arbitration process (where the bank has handpicked the arbitrator, so you can guess who wins) to look forward to if you disagree.
Then, of course, they created their own versions of the DE debit cards. I cannot tell you how much I despise Netspend and their ilk after wasting on average literally a half hour each week for years on end explaining to irate claimants that their check is due on the payment date and that, no, it isn't our fault that the debit card company failed to pay them early "like they said they would" or "like they always do". Especially when the debit card companies give their customer support people scripts basically telling irate card holders "it is SSA's fault you didn't get your money early, call them" if they have a problem.
4:49 here.
@12:00
Agreed. I was mainly just responding to 3:34's lack of understanding why an agency is blamed for less than perfection. The actual instance here is not directly SSA's fault, although I am curious if they would have any leverage over Direct Express.
@8:39
None. As I said, I don't expect SSA to actually meet my demand for perfection, but I find it useful to criticize anything less than that because it identifies particular errors which SSA can address.
So 3:06 just like to complain. Fair enough.
Direct Express with social security won't pay me my money anymore
I was in the middle of taking care of my dying mother which meant I had to move out of state while during this time my DE card expired so I called them to send me a new card and paid 13.50 for it to be expedited so I receive the card and call to activate it and get my pin and now DE is telling me that there's a fraud alert which is b/s so for over 2 months I haven't received any funds my mother since then passed on I couldn't even contribute to her funeral as my dad has passed on 6 months prior which was costly also and now DE and ssa keep sending me back and fourth just when I think I'm making headway I'm let down yet again now DE told me I need a mou fo//// filled out by ssa and I need t/through the main office the 800 772 1213 # now they're saying they don't do that I need to call my local office for this mou(memorandum of use) but they don't know what that is I feel hopeless and lost this is ridiculous you'd think it's coming out of their pocket.
Well my son needs MOU sent to direct express countless phone calls over the passed 5 months hours of waiting on hold an lied to every single time. An still social security has not done this he can not make it there is 5 month of money on his card an still doesn't have access
Can anyone tell me how to get an MOU to direct express the fastest way? I called my local ss office and spoke to a rep that said she would file it for me she said it may take up to a week I'm disabled and have no money to do anything to accomplish this goal advice please
Sorry I’m commenting probably extra late but did your son ever get that figured out and if so how did he do it? We are having the same problem and it’s been over a month
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