The US government is about to shut down, but Social Security recipients can still count on receiving their cheques. It remains to be seen if they will be allowed to utilize the agency’s other services, though. The federal budget is being negotiated in Washington, D.C., and lawmakers have until September 30 to come to an agreement. The likelihood that a government shutdown will start on October 1 and that millions of federal workers will be furloughed (or working without receiving a payment) has increased over the past week as conservatives have pushed for reduced spending.
This week, Google searches relating to a potential shutdown were dominated by queries from people in the United States who were concerned about how it may effect their Social Security and veterans’ benefits as well as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services organization.
According to the Social Security Administration’s contingency plan, which was developed last month and posted on the Office of Management and Budget’s (or OMB’s) website, the organization will continue to “ensure accurate and timely payment of benefits” throughout an appropriations delay. All of the federal agencies’ contingency plans are posted on the OMB website when they become available.
Based to the Social Security Administration’s contingency plan, the agency would stop performing various tasks such as benefit verifications, earnings record updates and changes, FOIA requests, replacement Medicare cards, and other tasks. Applications for benefits, post-entitlement adjustments like changing addresses or direct deposits, issuing new or replacement Social Security cards, providing vital IT assistance, writing decisions, and the appeals process are all ongoing tasks. Additionally, the so-called SSI program would remain.
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The Debate Over Its Budget Classification
Since the trust funds that finance Social Security’s retirement and disability checks are exempt from yearly budgetary reviews, benefits can continue to be paid out. Politicians have previously floated the possibility of reclassifying the program as discretionary spending, which would subject it to annual budget review. A shutdown would nonetheless have immediate repercussions. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, children, and Children (WIC), which assists almost 7 million mothers and children, will no longer provide food assistance.
Beneficiaries with limited access to or experience with the internet may have greater difficulties during a closure than others. As stated by William Arnone, CEO of the nonprofit National Academy of Social Insurance, “if field office staffing is reduced, that will have an impact on abilities to get service.” “People who are trying to get disability benefits usually suffer the most.” A closure would further worsen the agency’s million-claim backlog of disability claims, according to Arnone.
The impact of a closure on disability assessment services is yet unknown. Disability determination services are provided by state workers, according to the Social Security Administration’s contingency plan, and the agency “cannot direct the states to except or furlough their employees during a lapse,” according to a letter it sent. Each state will need to decide if it can continue to run a limited DDS program while still paying its workers.
A shutdown would result in a “customer service crisis,” according to Kathleen Romig, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities’ head of Social Security and Disability Policy. Without accounting for potential appeals, wait times for disability rulings are at an all-time high, and some recipients must spend at least 40 minutes on hold before speaking with a representative, according to her. “The agency will be forced to make more painful choices: hiring freezes, furloughs, field office closures, limiting service hours, cutting overtime, or halting IT modernization,” she wrote. “If SSA’s full-year funding is insufficient to cover rising costs and growing workloads — or, worse, if its funding is cut again.”
53,000 workers who are “excepted” from salary cuts, as defined by the Social Security Administration, will continue to work unpaid. These employees include individuals who assist with information technology and payments. According to the contingency plan, 8,500 people are anticipated to be furloughed if a lapse happens.
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Source: Market Watch via Microsoft Start
