North Liberty, Iowa — On the weekly senior lunch social in North Liberty, Iowa, hen was on the menu, however Social Safety was prime of thoughts.
Iowa, just like the U.S., is ageing. One in 4 individuals within the state is age 60 and older, in line with the Iowa Division of Well being and Human Companies. Uncertainty in Washington means nervousness right here.
Anne Bacon tells CBS Information the difficulty offers her “daymares.”
Bacon depends on the $1,600 a month she receives from Social Safety to pay for the 24-hour care of her brother, Rick Clark, who has dementia.
“Every single day I am frightened that in some way he’ll lose his care,” Bacon stated.
When a Social Safety examine did not arrive in January, Bacon referred to as the company and ended up on maintain for greater than six hours on two separate calls. When she lastly received somebody on the telephone, the issue was resolved in minutes.
The typical wait time for Social Safety calls has doubled within the final six months to 104 minutes.
John Hale labored for Social Safety for 25 years. He and his spouse Terri at the moment are advocates for older and disabled Iowans by way of the Hale Group.
“It is about retirement advantages,” Hale stated. “It is about survivors’ advantages, and about funds to individuals with disabilities.”
President Trump has insisted that he’s not touching Social Safety, which has greater than 70 million recipients. However he’s touching jobs inside the company. Final month, the company introduced plans to chop about 7,000 staff, or about 12% of its workforce.
The company has additionally been hit by a bevy of adjustments. The Social Safety Administration introduced earlier this month that it will require in-person id checks for brand new and present beneficiaries, with some restricted exemptions. Following backlash to the transfer, this week it stated it was delaying implementation of the coverage till April 14.
Additionally this month, the SSA stated that recipients would now not be capable of change direct deposit and different banking info with the company by telephone, claiming that it might result in fraud. Recipients will as an alternative be required to make use of the SSA’s on-line platform or go to a neighborhood SSA workplace.
The strikes come as Frank Bisignano, President Trump’s nominee to run the SSA, confronted questions throughout his Senate affirmation listening to Tuesday in regards to the potential position of the White Home’s Division of Authorities Effectivity, or DOGE, within the SSA. DOGE is being run by billionaire Elon Musk.
“One of many issues that considerations us, and I feel considerations these individuals, is there is a bunch of billionaires who’re making selections about this service who won’t ever want Social Safety,” Terri Hale stated. “They’re going to by no means have a member of the family who wants Social Safety. They’re out of contact with the actual world.”
Kate Gibson,
Megan Cerullo and
Aimee Picchi
contributed to this report.
