Changes at Social Security Administration may impact customer service, benefit payments, experts say
The Social Security Administration's reported plans to switch its technology systems on an accelerated timeline may put benefit payments at risk, experts warn
Fast-moving changes at the Social Security Administration by the Trump administration's so-called Department of Government Efficiency have prompted concerns that it may be more difficult for beneficiaries to access the agency's services.
Some experts are raising concerns that efforts to update the agency's systems could impact the continuity of benefits.
"Now I'm concerned that benefits could get disrupted," said Jason Fichtner, a former deputy commissioner at the Social Security Administration who was appointed by President George W. Bush.
Recent changes that have been announced by the agency are cause for concern, experts including Fichtner say.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed not to touch Social Security benefits. Yet recent changes could make it more difficult for eligible Americans to access benefits.
The SSA under the Trump administration has moved to eliminate 7,000 Social Security employees and close six regional offices, Fichtner and Kathleen Romig, a former Social Security Administration senior official, wrote in a recent op-ed. Romig is the director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The cuts will affect the service Americans receive when they either visit Social Security's website, which has experienced glitches; call its 800 number, which has long wait times; or visit a field office, which can be crowded, they wrote.
That may make it more difficult for eligible Americans to claim benefits, particularly those with disabilities, who may run the risk of dying before receiving the money for which they are eligible.
"The Social Security Administration is in crisis, and people's benefits are at risk," Fichtner and Romig wrote.
'You have to understand the complexity of the programs'
Fichtner said his worries are elevated following reports that the Social Security Administration under DOGE plans to move "tens of millions of lines of code" written in a programming language known as COBOL within an accelerated time frame of a few months.
"If you start messing with the system's code, that could impact those who are currently getting benefits now, and that's a new front-and-center concern," said Fichtner, who is a senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance and executive director at the Retirement Income Institute at the Alliance for Lifetime Income.
While the Social Security's systems could use an upgrade, projects of this size are typically handled over a period of years, not months, Fichtner said. Moreover, they typically start out with smaller tests, such as with one state, to identify bugs or other issues, before expanding regionally and then nationally, he said.
"You can't just flip a switch one night and expect to be able to upgrade," Fichtner said. "It takes due diligence, and you have to understand the complexity of the programs."
Before the COBOL transition reports, Fichtner said he had not been worried about benefit interruptions, though he had been concerned that changes at the agency may impact customer service and that applicants for benefits may see delays.
"There is no validity to these reports," a Social Security Administration spokesperson told CNBC via email.
In an email statement, the White House also said, "There is no validity to these reports."
Bigger reforms should be focus, experts say
As DOGE seeks to eliminate fraud at the Social Security Administration, some experts say the focus is misplaced.
To that point, focusing on the agency's administrative side takes away from the bigger issue the program faces of the looming depletion of the trust funds it uses to help pay benefits, experts say.
DOGE may have good intentions to make the Social Security Administration more efficient, but its actions may not "meaningfully change the financial trajectory of the program," said Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
If DOGE makes changes that have to be reversed, that could get in the way of the benefit reforms that Congress must also consider before a projected 2033 trust fund depletion date, she said.
"Current erratic actions have the potential to undermine those much more important, bigger reforms in a misguided attempt to root out very small levels of fraud," Boccia said.
The Social Security's trustees in 2024 projected the program's combined retirement and disability trust funds may last until 2035, at which point just 83% of benefits will be payable unless Congress finds a way to fix the situation sooner.
Those 2024 projections also found the retirement trust fund on its own faces a sooner depletion date of 2033, when 79% of benefits may be payable. A new law that provides more generous benefits for certain public pensioners is expected to move the projected depletion dates closer.
Because the Social Security Administration's administrative budget is less than 1% of outlays, it's not the best area to focus on to make the program more cost-effective and efficient, said Charles Blahous, a former public trustee for Social Security and Medicare and deputy director of President George W. Bush's National Economic Council.
"There's just not enough money there to make serious headway," said Blahous, a senior research strategist at George Mason University's Mercatus Center.
This story originally appeared on: CNBC - Author:Lorie Konish
