Trump administration changes course on in-person requirements for Social Security

The Trump administration is further backing off the in-person requirements it announced for Americans seeking services at the Social Security Administration that were set to go into effect Monday.

Liz Huston, a spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement to NPR on Thursday that telephone services will continue for people seeking services through the agency.

“President Trump has repeatedly promised to protect Social Security and uproot waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government,” she said. “The Social Security anti-fraud team has worked around the clock in person to improve technological capabilities and they are now able to identify fraud on claims filed over the telephone.”

Social Security officials first announced last month that people filing claims or seeking benefits would have to travel in-person to a local field office, if they were unable to use the agency’s online verification system. The policy would have effectively eliminated widely used telephone services for many beneficiaries.

These changes were met with concerns from advocates for seniors and people with disabilities, as well as lawmakers. Dozens of Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to agency leaders asking them to reconsider the change because it would “create additional barriers” for people seeking services — “particularly for those who live far from an office.”

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington advocating for “economic justice,” recently published an analysis that found the travel requirement would have amounted to a “45-mile trip for some 6 million seniors.”

According to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak generally about the Trump administration’s position, the Social Security Administration reversed course on these requirements because the anti-fraud team “implemented new technological capabilities so quickly” that the agency can now “perform anti-fraud checks on all claims filed over the phone.”

These technological improvements, the official said in a statement, will be able to flag abnormal behavior in a person’s account and then those individuals who were flagged would be required to travel in-person for verification.

In a statement, Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, called this reversal “a victory for Social Security beneficiaries across the country.”

“The Trump administration did not change the policy out of the goodness of their hearts,” he said. “They responded to public pressure. This is a victory for advocacy on the grassroots and national level, by and on behalf of the millions of seniors who depend on phone service from the Social Security Administration.”

“The Trump administration has been busy erecting barriers for people simply trying to access their earned benefits. We are glad this one barrier has fallen.”

The Social Security Administration is currently undergoing massive changes – including widespread layoffs, regional office closures and general restructuring of duties across the agency. These changes have worried advocates about access to services that many of the country’s seniors rely on.