The commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), Frank Bisignano, visited the Wichita, Kansas, field office last week and outlined plans to transition the agency away from paper checks and expand online accounts.
Why It Matters
The SSA serves roughly 72 million beneficiaries and handles other services tied to more than 330 million Social Security numbers.
Changes to how benefits are delivered affect a large share of Americans who rely on monthly payments for retirement, disability and survivors benefits.
What To Know
Bisignano is looking to restructure operations as part of a broader modernization effort under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“I’m interested in improving the experience for people who work in the office, also giving them the best tools and the easiest way to interact with the public,” Bisignano said in an interview with The Wichita Eagle.
“I think it’s how do we raise employee satisfaction? How do we raise client satisfaction? And, most of all, as I’ve said multiple times…we’re going to meet people where they want to be met.”
Bisignano visited the Wichita field office amid pressure from Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and the SSA’s acting inspector general over investigations into the department’s reported improved wait times and customer service.
“The senator [Warren] was quite surprised at the turnaround in performance—so surprised that she asked for an audit of it. And we all know what the results of the audit are going to be: A-plus,” Bisignano said.
“It was up at 40 minutes a year ago and it’s single digits now. That’s technology and that’s good leadership and that’s management and support from Congress.”
Changes at Social Security
The agency announced it would stop issuing paper checks for federal payments on September 30 as part of an executive order to modernize payments. This would require remaining check recipients to enrol in direct deposit or use the Direct Express prepaid debit card unless they obtained an approved waiver.
Bisignano said the agency has about 75 million online accounts and set a goal of growing that total to 200 million by as early as 2026, while maintaining that field offices would remain open for in-person needs.
However, some are concerned that fraud attempts will skyrocket with the massive uptick in online accounts for seniors.
“I truly believe fraud will increase dramatically,” Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek. “I am already seeing a steady increase in attempts on the Boomers [born between 1946 and 1964], and this will just make it that much easier. Many are not comfortable providing these details through websites, but by forcing this adoption mistakes and fraud will undoubtedly occur.”
The agency also announced a restructuring of senior leadership and a reorganization into Field Operations, Processing Center and Digital Service areas to align management with front-line services, naming new officials in senior roles during the administration’s overhaul.
Last week, the agency announced Chad Poist as chief of staff and chief risk officer, Karen Glenn as chief actuary, Nicholas Perrine as chief communications officer, Jay Ortis as acting chief of disability adjudication and Andy Sriubas as chief of field operations.
Beneficiaries remain concerned about Social Security payments in the future as long-term trust fund projections from the Social Security Trustees indicate that the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Fund reserves will face depletion in the 2033–2035 range without legislative changes.
At that point, recipients who have paid into the system would get only around 20 percent of their promised benefits.
What People Are Saying
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: “There are few surprises in this most recent round of comments on the future of Social Security. All of the recent developments have encouraged recipients to shift more to online access for benefit information, questions and feedback, and setting up direct deposit for receiving future payments. Less need for in-person services could obviously equate to more administrative savings over time.”
In a letter to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote, “The SSA is failing to provide policymakers and the public with accurate information about the extent of the problem, using convoluted calculations to obfuscate the real data, or withholding information entirely.”
A spokesperson for the SSA previously told Newsweek: “Despite unfounded claims, SSA’s dedicated workforce is delivering a significantly improved customer experience… Commissioner Bisignano has pledged to have the right level of staffing to deliver best-in-class customer service.
“The impact of Commissioner Bisignano’s strategic transformation of SSA is clear: the average speed of answer for the National 800 Number has dropped from 30 minutes last year to single digits; average field office wait times have decreased by 30 percent; the SSA website now enables Americans with 24/7 access and management of their benefits after the elimination of 29 hours of previously scheduled weekly downtime; and 3.1 million Social Security Fairness Act payments totaling $17 billion were sent five months early.”
What Happens Next
The agency is preparing to complete the transition away from paper checks by the September 30 deadline and continues outreach to beneficiaries to enroll them in direct deposit or Direct Express.
“Concerns continue to persist on the switch, as some have questioned the touted lessening of customer service wait times and how all these changes will affect seniors whose digital literacy is lacking,” Beene said. “Few fail to understand the push to more online usage, but the worry comes in how the transition will be received by current beneficiaries.”
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