GAO Report Cites Inadequacy in SSA Claiming Advice
A report issued by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to the U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging earlier this month points out substantial deficiencies in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) handling of the claims process on behalf of applicants. While the report acknowledges that there is “comprehensive written information to help people decide when to claim retirement benefits” available via several SSA sources, there remains a general lack of understanding of the key rules and details associated with Social Security benefits. The impact of claiming age, spousal benefit coordination, and taxation of benefits, for example, are not clearly understood by a large percentage of people aging into Social Security.
Given the consequences of uninformed decisions on the part of Social Security claimants, the GAO study focused on the importance of SSA staff ensuring “that key information provided by claims specialists to potential claimants of Social Security retirement benefits is clear and consistent.” Their formal report presented six key recommendations to the Committee, along with responses from the Office of the Social Administration Commissioner.
The full report can be read here…
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