Social Security Administration employees are warning of potential delays in processing routine updates, such as changes of address, direct deposit information or Medicaid billing issues, due to the agency’s temporary shift in priorities that need to be completed by July 1.
What are the Social Security Fairness Act claims?
The change in workload focus involves manually processing around 900,000 complex cases related to the Social Security Fairness Act, which provides retroactive payments to public servants, such as teachers, police officers, and firefighters, who were initially denied these benefits, according to USA Today and Blavity.
Since his return to the White House, President Donald Trump has made changes to the Social Security Administration, including downsizing the agency with the assistance of the Department of Government Efficiency. Now, the additional changes in priorities could have a significant impact on recipients.
SSA has given workers a July 1 deadline to process claims
While the White House assured that the adjustments would not affect other services, SSA workers across multiple processing centers have told USA Today that the shifts have already caused backlogs. Typically, staff prioritizes new claims and appeals daily; however, workers were advised in late May to focus on the remaining 900,000 Fairness Act claims until July 1.
Additionally, the agency informed employees that they would have to process these claims manually rather than through automation, despite the system having helped process over 2.3 million claims, amounting to $15.1 million. The workers would also have to update records and pay both retroactive payments and new amounts to the beneficiaries.
“This project is very important to leadership and it’s critical the agency executes it swiftly, efficiently, and without letting anything else fall through the cracks,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said, per USA Today.
What are the workers saying?
East Coast and West Coast workers confirmed with USA Today that the SSA verbally instructed them to inform callers that they could not assist them with non-priority issues, such as overpayment reconsideration, direct deposit information, monthly payment rates and Medicare billing issues.
These workers also shared that to complete the 900,000 Fairness Act claims, they were offered weekend overtime, which some were allowed to complete remotely.
They also described facing pressure from the SSA and their managers to prioritize these tasks and place other responsibilities on the back burner.
