Social Security Reverses Course on Identity Requirement

The measure was opposed by critics who said it poses challenges to older Americans and people living far from an office.

A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past a Social Security Administration during the CCP virus pandemic in Flushing, New York on Feb. 10, 2021. Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times

The Social Security Administration (SSA) said Wednesday that it will not implement a policy that would have required many Americans to visit offices to verify their identities.

Last week, the SSA announced stronger identity proofing measures in a bid to combat fraud, with the policies set to come into effect beginning March 31. One of the policies required beneficiaries who do not have an online “My Social Security account” to visit local Social Security offices for identity verification. However, the agency has now decided not to implement this measure for certain applicants.

Individuals who wish to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or Medicare and cannot use a My Social Security account “can complete their claim entirely over the telephone without the need to come into an office,” the SSA said in a March 26 statement.

The updated policy is effective beginning April 14, two weeks after the previously scheduled date.

Only individuals who seek to apply for retirement, survivors, or auxiliary (spouse or child) benefits but cannot do so online must now visit a Social Security office to prove their identity.

However, this verification may not be enforced in some “extreme dire-need situations,” the agency said.

Commenting on SSA’s decision to ditch in-person identity verification, Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, said the agency “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.”

He justified the decision to exempt Medicare, Disability, and SSI applications from in-person identity proofing, saying that “multiple opportunities exist during the decision process to verify a person’s identity.”

AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, welcomed the SSA’s changes to in-person identity proofing requirements, with Nancy LeaMond, executive vice president at the organization, calling them a “good first step” in responding to the concerns of older Americans.

“Ending phone service and requiring in-person office visits would have a very serious impact on older Americans everywhere,” she said.

“Our members nationwide have told us this change would require hundreds of miles and hours of travel merely to fill out paperwork. SSA should be prioritizing customer service effectiveness and efficiency, and as older Americans tell us, the announcement requiring visits caused confusion and distress.”

A group of lawmakers had earlier warned the SSA against implementing in-person identity verification. In a March 19 letter to Dudek, the lawmakers wrote that phone-based benefit claims accounted for around 40 percent of all claims processed by the agency in 2024.

Requiring claims to be filed online or asking people to visit local offices poses problems to many Americans, they said.

“For many beneficiaries, online services are simply not an option due to technological limitations, lack of internet access, or physical and cognitive impairments. Eliminating or reducing phone services would leave these individuals without the support they rely on to manage their benefits,” the letter stated.

“Requiring beneficiaries to seek assistance exclusively online, through artificial intelligence, or in person at SSA field offices would create additional barriers, particularly for those who live far from an office.”

The SSA initially instituted stronger identity proofing measures as a way to “further safeguard Social Security records and benefits against fraudulent activity.”

The decision to impose in-person verification requirements followed persistent concerns about duplicate and fake records in the agency database. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said there were “shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the social security program for our seniors.”

Millions of social security members listed in government databases were over 120 years old, he said.

The agency later announced it was “identifying and correcting beneficiary records of people 100 years old or older.”