WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Social Security Administration (SSA) is changing its plan that would require people applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income to verify their identity in person.
“We have listened to our customers, Congress, advocates, and others, and we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country’s most vulnerable populations,” said Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security.
Dudek added that those who are able to use the agency’s online portal can complete their claim over the phone instead of in person, and changes will begin on April 14 instead of the previously announced date of March 31. Delaying the policy start date will allow officials to train employees on new procedures.
Other SSA applicants will still be required to verify their identities at a field office.
The plan to require in-person identity checks was announced last week along with the closing of 47 field offices in 18 states. The new requirements would have impacted anyone who needed to verify their bank information, as well as families with children who receive Social Security benefits and cannot verify certain information online.
“The updated measures will further safeguard Social Security records and benefits for millions of Americans against fraudulent activity,” SSA stated.
Frank Bisignano, the CEO of payments system Fiserv and a longtime Wall Street veteran, was recently nominated to lead the SSA and faced his confirmation hearing Tuesday.
He was grilled by both parties on how he would help cut down on fraud and payment errors, improve a deteriorating customer service system, and his support for DOGE.
Several Democratic lawmakers also pushed Bisignano to commit to keeping Social Security from being privatized amid concerns within the party that early moves to overhaul the agency’s processes is part of a push to do so. He offered them a personal guarantee it would continue to be a public institution.
“I’ve never thought about privatizing,” Bisignano said. “It’s not a word that anybody has ever talked to me about, and I don’t see this institution as anything other than a government agency that gets run for the benefit of the American public.”
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Editor’s note: The Associated Press and The National Desk’s Austin Denean contributed to this article.
