Social Security Fury Over 'Inhumane' Treatment of Customers - Newsweek
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are increasingly concerned about the Social Security Administration's (SSA) "inhumane" treatment of customers.
Speaking during a congressional panel, politicians pressed Linda Kerr-David, Social Security's acting assistant deputy commissioner of operations, to defend what they described as widespread failures in the disability benefits system, including chronic claims backlogs and customer service phone delays.
Republican Representative Drew Ferguson, chairman of the Social Security panel of the House Committee on Way and Means, called the consequences of the SSA issues "devastating."
"Let me put this in plain English: the SSA is unable to keep up with the claims it has but is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get more claims, dollars that should instead be going to provide claimants with faster decisions," Ferguson said. "Meanwhile, the SSA is sitting on solutions that would modernize and streamline the claims process."
Democrat Brian Higgins said the SSA "has a severe customer service problem."
"It's not only inefficient, it's awful, it's inhumane. We have to explain to people who call our office...and with a straight face tell them, by the way, you're going to be denied, that's a complete waste of time that begins another lengthy process [of appeals]," the New York congressman said.
Republican Randy Feenstra of Iowa said that "the system is broken."
"What are you going to do about it?" he asked Kerr-Davis.
"This is simply not going to be solved by putting more resources and money at it. If we don't have the right policies, we're defeating ourselves," Democrat Bill Pascrell of New Jersey said.
According to agency data, more than 1 million Americans are still waiting for initial decisions on benefits, with initial decisions now taking an average of 220 days to process—almost double the 2019 process time.
Lawmakers also said callers are left on hold for an average of 36 minutes this year at the agency's toll-free number, up from 32 minutes last year.
In fiscal year 2023, Congress approved over $14.1 billion in administrative funding, a $785 million increase from the $13.3 billion approved in fiscal year 2022.
President Biden has asked Congress for a $1.4 billion boost to the budget for fiscal 2024 that would raise it to $15.5 billion
Responding to questions, Kerr-Davis said the SSA is improving its service by deploying dozens of employees to headquarters and regional offices and asking governors to help recruit and retain employees.
"We realize we're not delivering the service everyone wants," she acknowledged, describing a "convergence of factors" that led to the problems and said they are "ultimately tied to funding challenges."
Earlier this month, U.S. senators sent a letter to the SSA's acting commissioner, Kilolo Kijakazi, after repayment requests were incorrectly sent out to recipients.
After an investigation in September found that the SSA had asked for billions of dollars back from beneficiaries, it said it would review its benefits overpayment procedures.
A spokesperson for the SSA told Newsweek that waiting times were "not acceptable—to the public or to us."
They added: "These delays are due to several issues, ultimately tied to funding challenges. The State Disability Determination Services (DDSs), who make the initial disability and reconsideration decisions, are experiencing record high employee attrition, and difficulty hiring qualified examiners to replace them. They were also challenged with reduced access to medical evidence, which began with the COVID-19 public health emergency and was compounded by a shortage of consultative examination providers.
"In response to this crisis, Social Security organized a team of experts who worked to identify the issues that led to the backlog, take immediate steps to address the issue, and undertake longer-term actions to resolve it and to provide better service to our customers. We have been implementing both short- and long-term solutions, which will require adequate and sustained funding."
Correction 10/31/23 1:55 p.m. ET: The Congressional funding figures have been updated.
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