If you’ve experienced any trouble or hiccups receiving your Social Security recently, California Attorney General Rob Bonta unveiled a new complaint page on Tuesday for residents to report disruptions they faced when accessing their benefits.
Social Security is funded by payroll taxes from today’s workers, which provide financial assistance to retired and disabled workers. Roughly 6 million Californians receive the benefit and more than 65 million Americans do in total. “Social Security is an essential program that provides critical support to millions…” a 2023 brief from Stanford University found.
As part of President Donald Trump’s push to slash federal spending, the Social Security Administration said in February that it would cut 7,000 jobs — or roughly 12% of its overall workforce. It also said it would reorganize its 10 regional offices down to four.
Though most of Bonta’s complaint form is applicable to those already receiving benefits, many of the reported confusion surrounding the agency’s changes relate to newly eligible people trying to sign up for benefits.
Agency offices, for example, are no longer accepting walk-in appointments. There have also been many reports of people facing longer wait times for appointments and to receive their first benefits and Medicare coverage. In Southern California, elderly people who rode the bus for hours to get to Social Security offices were reportedly turned away, according to The New York Times. People who call the Social Security Administration have waited hours on hold for someone to answer. Those who’ve tried to access their accounts online this week were taken to a dead-end page that says “Bad request.”
Backlogs everywhere will happen....Field Offices, TSCs, Hearing offices, DDS's - it's a no brainer that the dismantling of SSA would result in backlogs. I used to work in a Field Office and HQ. It's unbelievable what has been happening since 1/20/2025. It's a damn shame, outright immoral and illegal. What the hell has to happen for Congress to rein the craziness and crazies in?
Over the last 25 years I have always seen delays, nothing new. In states with recon, we commonly had claims from start to finish take three years. Five years if you won at AC and it came back.
In Florida, pre covid, the wait times for a hearing were 18-24 mos. Post covid, we were getting hearings in 4 mos and broke out the champagne. However, in the last two months, the wait times are now creeping up to 8 mos. I spoke with a local ALJ who told me he doesn't have enough cases to fill his docket, yet at least once a week I receive notification that my cases are getting transferred to an out of state OHO office. Case are getting pulled and exhibited 3 weeks prior to the hearing (as opposed to 3 mos). Crazy times indeed!
8 comments:
Hey Charles . FO employee here . Everything and I do mean everything will jump up. The field is officially broken….
If you’ve experienced any trouble or hiccups receiving your Social Security recently, California Attorney General Rob Bonta unveiled a new complaint page on Tuesday for residents to report disruptions they faced when accessing their benefits.
Social Security is funded by payroll taxes from today’s workers, which provide financial assistance to retired and disabled workers. Roughly 6 million Californians receive the benefit and more than 65 million Americans do in total. “Social Security is an essential program that provides critical support to millions…” a 2023 brief from Stanford University found.
As part of President Donald Trump’s push to slash federal spending, the Social Security Administration said in February that it would cut 7,000 jobs — or roughly 12% of its overall workforce. It also said it would reorganize its 10 regional offices down to four.
Though most of Bonta’s complaint form is applicable to those already receiving benefits, many of the reported confusion surrounding the agency’s changes relate to newly eligible people trying to sign up for benefits.
Agency offices, for example, are no longer accepting walk-in appointments. There have also been many reports of people facing longer wait times for appointments and to receive their first benefits and Medicare coverage. In Southern California, elderly people who rode the bus for hours to get to Social Security offices were reportedly turned away, according to The New York Times. People who call the Social Security Administration have waited hours on hold for someone to answer. Those who’ve tried to access their accounts online this week were taken to a dead-end page that says “Bad request.”
Good thing they put a hiring freeze into effect and canceled they last ALJ announcement 🤪
Red
I am hearing office employee.
Not an alt.
Anyhow it's looking horrible indefinitely.
Long delays at every level.
Backlogs everywhere will happen....Field Offices, TSCs, Hearing offices, DDS's - it's a no brainer that the dismantling of SSA would result in backlogs. I used to work in a Field Office and HQ. It's unbelievable what has been happening since 1/20/2025. It's a damn shame, outright immoral and illegal. What the hell has to happen for Congress to rein the craziness and crazies in?
Over the last 25 years I have always seen delays, nothing new. In states with recon, we commonly had claims from start to finish take three years. Five years if you won at AC and it came back.
In Florida, pre covid, the wait times for a hearing were 18-24 mos. Post covid, we were getting hearings in 4 mos and broke out the champagne. However, in the last two months, the wait times are now creeping up to 8 mos. I spoke with a local ALJ who told me he doesn't have enough cases to fill his docket, yet at least once a week I receive notification that my cases are getting transferred to an out of state OHO office. Case are getting pulled and exhibited 3 weeks prior to the hearing (as opposed to 3 mos). Crazy times indeed!
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