AFGE Issues Urgent Appel for Increased Funding - Federal News Network
The American Federation of Government Employees, representing three-quarters of a million federal employees, yesterday declared the Social Security Administration (SSA) to be “an agency in crisis,” outlining its case for $20 billion in a proposed supplemental funding package over the next 10 years. Citing a more than doubling in initial disability claims processing time and 1-800 call wait times, a million pending internet claims, and 4.2 million backlogged items pending at the Payment Centers, the Supplemental Funding Request detailed how the additional appropriations would be deployed to improve the Agency’s customer service capabilities.
Federal News Network’s reporter Drew Friedman, in a post on their website, provides background on the problems facing SSA,. She quoted AFGE’s position that “the combination of a growing beneficiary population with stagnating staffing numbers is contributing to significant backlogs and delays in Social Security services.” Ms. Friedman’s post also noted AFGE’s claims that the additional funding is needed to deliver the level of service expected by its constituency. She included an article link describing SSA’s efforts to re-focus its customer experience environment via data-driven techniques.
In a nod to the nagging overpayment problem facing SSA as it attempts to recover benefits mistakenly paid to some 2 million recipients, Ms. Friedman reports that “Supplemental funding could also help with overpayments that SSA makes. Increasing resources to be able to hire more staff members would help directly mitigate the issue, both stakeholders and SSA leadership have said.”
Read Ms. Friedman’s article in full here. Also, as a refresher check out a previous post on this site describing the AMAC Foundation’s Social Security Advisory Service and its offer of a free service available to any members of the public having difficulty navigating the program’s complexities.