The agency failed to announce the change on X. Instead, it posted a cryptic message that might have made people think the original phone service cutback was still happening.
“Beginning on April 14, Social Security will perform an anti-fraud check on all claims filed over the telephone and flag claims that have fraud risk indicators,” the message said.
In another post the next day, Social Security said phone users “will only have to come in-person if they are flagged by our anti-fraud system.”
Here’s how a White House official explained what was going on in an email to HuffPost: “Beginning on April 14, SSA will allow all claim types to be completed over the telephone.” In other words, no actual change would take effect.
The phone service change had originally been announced in a press release on SSA.gov.
When it postponed the rollout for two weeks, to the 14th, because it was a significant alteration to agency operations and nobody was ready, the agency announced the delay in another press release.
No press release tells people they won’t have to drive to their nearest field office if they can’t use the Social Security website.
More than 70 million retired and disabled Americans receive monthly Social Security benefits, with several million more enrolling yearly.
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