The Social Security Administration ("SSA") has taken a lot of heat over the last two years for their decision to close their doors to the public back in March of 2020. Nearly two years later, we have seen SSA struggle to maintain any semblance of acceptable customer service while their employees have worked remotely. The phone lines are impossible to get through. Mail is not being opened timely and has been routinely misplaced and lost. Well......I finally have some good news to share with you!
Barring any new threats from COVID-19, SSA will reopen their field offices' doors on March 30th! We do not know exactly what this will look like yet. We have heard that some SSA employees will still be able to work remotely two days a week, which seems like a fair compromise. There also has been some speculation that in-person hearings will not resume until summer, a development that is not a major problem, as the hearing offices have been quite efficient with their phone hearings. However, as the SSA field office's service has further trickled down the drain (especially in the last six months), we are thrilled that the field offices are reopening.
We are hearing that SSA may open for "appointment-only" visits initially, but that they will soon get back to a "business-as-usual" approach. More and more claimants, and former clients, are reporting that certain field offices' phone lines are no longer even ringing through to the generic SSA message, so this news couldn't come at a better time.
While there have been reports of some SSA employees quitting their jobs, rather than return back to their offices, many SSA employees recognize that Federal job benefits offer a certain security that will keep them around after certain remote work options are reduced. The beauty about our country is that we have the freedom to choose what we do for a living. To those Federal employees who are leaving SSA due to the reopening, we thank you for your service! To those SSA employees who are embracing in-person customer service, thank you for understanding how important your efforts are to the disabled community and to retirees!
Got a question about SSDI or SSI that you need us to answer? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with helpful information on our website that will allow you to successfully navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to email me your questions at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call me at (800) 459-3017 x 101.
