gotchanewsdaily.com 
CNN
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The Social Security Administration will require people filing benefit applications who cannot prove their identities online to visit a field office to complete the claim in person in an effort to combat fraud, the agency announced Tuesday.
This, along with another new rule barring beneficiaries from changing their bank account information over the telephone, could send millions more people to the agency’s offices, forcing folks to wait longer for payments and straining Social Security’s operations at a time when the agency is downsizing its staff.
The moves come as representatives from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency are focusing on alleged fraud within the agency. The new identity verification process takes effect on March 31, while the bank account rule starts on March 29.
People will continue to be able to apply for benefits and change their bank account information through their “my Social Security” online account, which requires they use an identity proofing service, such as ID.me.
“Americans deserve to have their Social Security records protected with the utmost integrity and vigilance,” Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a statement. “For far too long, the agency has used antiquated methods for proving identity.”
More than 73 million people, including retirees, people with disabilities and others, receive monthly Social Security benefits.
Mandating more in-person identity verification would increase the number of visitors to the agency’s field offices by between 75,000 and 85,000 people per week, according to a memo to Dudek from an acting deputy commissioner. It would also result in longer call wait times and delays in processing applications, said the memo, which was obtained by Popular Information, a news Substack site.
While the new rule would reduce the risk of fraud and improper payments, it would also place a burden on the agency’s operations, increasing the demand for resources, staffing and system updates, said the memo, which was sent last week. It could also raise costs for identity proofing services and have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations.
Annually, more than 4 million more people will need to visit field offices to apply for benefits, update their bank accounts and conduct other business, said Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, citing the agency’s estimates.
“This change will substantially delay their access to their earned benefits,” said Romig, who worked at Social Security during the Biden administration. “It will particularly burden seniors and people with disabilities who struggle with online services and people whose limited credit histories mean they cannot use commercial authentication tools.”
It already takes more than a month to get an appointment at a field office and more than two hours, on average, to get a call back from the agency’s 800-number, she noted.
“It wouldn’t be [bad] if you weren’t closing field offices and reducing the numbers of staff that are there to see people in person,” former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said of the anti-fraud measures. “And I think that’s the larger issue here.”
The new rule comes at a time when the agency is aiming to shed about 7,000 workers and close offices as part of the Trump administration’s drive to shrink the federal government. Already, Social Security is operating at a decades-low staffing level, even though the number of people applying for and receiving benefits has ballooned as the Baby Boom generation enters retirement.
