The Wall Street Journal asks "Who Needs 1,000 Social Security Offices?" Of course, they think the field offices can be replaced by online services. I'll bet the authors couldn't define the difference between Disabled Adult Child and SSI Disabled Children's benefits. In other words, they assume that paying retirement benefits is basically all that Social Security does because they really know little about what the agency does.
Dec 23, 2024
WSJ Wants To Know "Who Needs 1,000 Social Security Offices?"
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12 comments:
Nobody gets all that SSA does, and only those on the margins of the programs will be impacted by shutting down field offices. But those people are on the margins, so they dont really count. It isnt until Mom or Dad gets accidentally declared dead and the LTC is ready to boot them because you cant get the record straight that it matters. Fa la la la la
Well, they can't just be replaced by online services. However, there surely are sites that should be closed. Those that are either repeatedly dysfunctionally small or those near other locations should close. Telework has made small sites a real problem and a giant waste of money. It's time to think a bit more like a business when making real estate and staffing decisions. This idea that nothing can close is not intelligent.
Back in the day when I was a Staff Attorney at a Hearing Office, I learned from the ALJ I worked for that the most important part of a hearing before an ALJ was that you were able to come face to face with the person making the decision in your case. Good or bad, that personal contact at least could make you feel that you were a person and there was a real person on the other end making a decision.
Well that is pretty much done with telephone and video hearings. So much the worse for it even if the new system is more "efficient". That personal contact is gone.
Only being able to deal with issues over the phone, even if you can get through to a DO, is just not enough. People need to be able to have that personal contact. Losing that, as the WSJ people seem to think is good enough, destroys peoples faith in Government. Maybe that is their ultimate goal
We need the offices. Even as much of the work is done on the phone, claimants need to be able to make contact with the social security office in person, and it doesn't need to be miles away.
The entitlement displayed by those that have no understanding of how poverty works is amazing. Millions of people do not have the ability to handle business online with SSA. CLUE poor people, those with disabilities, those folks dont have a device to do online services! Many lack the understanding to navigate those services. Not everyone has what you take for granted every day.
Here is a good one that is real and cannot be done online or over the phone. Client becomes eligible on spouse record, goes into pay, there is an offset for teachers retirement. The offset causes the spouse benefit to go so low it doesnt always cover Part B premium. This occurs for over 5 years. Part B is eventually stopped causing teachers benefits to stop. Fix that online or over the phone, I double dog dare you. We see problems like this weekly. No office access equals no problem solving.
Online is not an option for most of my clients.
The comments and this post are ignorant. It is 2024. Virtually everyone has access to the internet and a phone. But SSA has inefficient systems and too much red tape for people to effect changes online. The author is correct in that if you fix these things you can close 90% of the offices. You don't hold close to a billion dollars in real estate simply because there is a finite number of homeless people who need in person assistance. That can be targeted and fixed more heartily in any number of ways such as virtual meetings at the library, homeless centers, or any number of ways. This is why we need DOGE to think outside the box for us. And the distinction between DAC and SSI Disabled Children's benefits has no relevance to the efficacy of paying millions each year for lightly used real estate. To the commenter on in-person ALJ hearings: hogwash. Nearly all claimants and claimant reps elect for virtual hearings, which are far more efficient.
Thank you Ebenezer
“This is why we need DOGE to think outside the box for us.”
Really? Yeah, ok, why think for ourselves? It’s not like the people who frequent boards like this would have any good ideas. Better leave that pesky thinking up to the billionaires. They’ll do right by us, I’m sure.
Perhaps small offices are needed for in person service, but, it is ridiculously inefficient to have disability claims processed at all these local offices. You've got people doing too many different things and each office can set their own policies making it confusing for everyone. It would be much more efficient to have a centralized intake (perhaps regional) for processing claims. The VA has a centralized intake that works much better than SSA's system.
“Finite number” of homeless folks? No worries, I’m pretty sure the country makes more every day.
Not everyone has access to scanner/faxes. People bring all kind of documents to SSA: Birth certificates, marriage certificates, employment records. SSA wants originals, do you know how many times my clients mail documents that were claimed not to be received? It's neither easy or cheap to get a copy of your birth certificate, or naturalization certificate if it's lost. Also SSA deal with people that are unable to see , deaf or cannot speak. And yes, unhoused people are people and they also are deserving of services.
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