A Victory in Elder Justice

On March 31st, the Social Security Administration made a few security measures, all in the name of allegedly reducing fraud. One measure in particular was harmful. 

The key word is “was.” It was harmful, but the harmful measure is now gone. 

Here is a story of said harmful measure, and how the measure ended, thus creating a rare victory in justice during a period where it feels like injustice reigns supreme. 

You may not have heard about these measures on the news, so if you haven’t heard about them and are a recipient of Social Security, you should see this breakdown of the measures from the New York StateWide Senior Action Council.

While reading this, one particular measure was attention grabbing to me: “For those without an on-line account, or for new applications without an on-line account, requests for changes may be made by phone, but will require a follow-up in person appointment at a local SSA office to provide proof of identity.”

Here’s the issue: some people are physically unable to visit a local Social Security Administration Office in-person. Therefore, in essence, this policy would’ve created a literal barrier for those who are technologically limited for one reason or another, and at the same time have mobility limitations for one reason or another. People like my 98 year old grandfather with dementia would’ve had a difficult to impossible time to make changes, even if he needed to.

But thankfully, the Trump administration for once (for once!) is doing the right thing, by backing off of this in-person requirement. What’s being said is that they are now able to identify fraud over the telephone. I’m maybe more inclined to think that pressure from advocates as well as relatives of people who would’ve been hurt by this was what saved the day.

But whatever the reason or reasons may be, the Trump administration and the Social Security Administration backtracked from something that shouldn’t have even been considered all along. If only the administration could stop using “fraud” as an excuse to curtail other rights, such as voting rights for some individuals…