SSA Drops Proposed Restrictions on Some Phone Services

The move would have steered more than 3 million customers to field offices to verify identity

Deirdre Shesgreen,

Updated August 01, 2025

AARP

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Published July 29, 2025

/ Updated August 01, 2025

a man stands near a window, silhouetted by the setting sun. he is using a smartphone.

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The Social Security Administration (SSA) has rolled back its plan to limit telephone access for four routine services, including reporting a change of address to the agency or getting a tax document.

In a new filing, the agency said it would make its initial proposal – which sought to require the use of an online identity verification system – optional.

The original plan would have required beneficiaries who call the agency’s help line for certain services to go to their online My Social Security account, generate a one-time security authorization PIN and relay it to a telephone agent to proceed. Those who do not have an account or are otherwise unable to do business online would have had to go to a local office to obtain the services.

In a new blog post, SSA says that using the verification system, while optional, “will allow Social Security technicians to assist you more efficiently and reduce the time you spend on the phone.” But the agency emphasized that those who do not have a My Social Security account or choose not to use the SAP feature can continue to be served by phone without it, and will not have to visit a local field office to access services.

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The change comes after AARP called on SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano to reverse course on the original proposal, which was outlined in a July 18 regulatory filing. In a July 29 letter to Bisignano, AARP expressed concerns that it would have exacerbated the agency’s customer service crisis and disproportionately affected older adults who live in rural areas, have mobility issues or lack access to a computer or the internet.

“We’re thankful that SSA has committed to making the new process optional for most phone services,” said Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president for government affairs. “After a lifetime of hard work, Americans have earned their Social Security—and they deserve excellent customer service, whether they call, go online, or walk into an office. We are pleased SSA is taking steps to improve phone wait times, and we look forward to working with them to ensure every American can get the help they need, when and where they need it.”

The original proposal would have steered more than 3.4 million customers a year to local Social Security offices for services now fully available by phone, the SSA estimated in its July 18 regulatory filing. The change would have applied to callers who wish to:

Obtain a benefit verification letter.
Obtain an SSA-1099 or 1042S tax form.
Submit a change of address.
Get an update on the status of a pending benefit claim.

The proposal and its revision come three months after the SSA abandoned a plan to require people filing new claims for benefits to verify their identity online or in person at a field office. That proposal triggered fierce opposition from AARP and other advocates and was dropped a few weeks after it was announced. Beneficiaries calling in to change their direct deposit information for receiving Social Security payments are the only group required to verify their identity this way.

A digital-first push

In the July 18 filing, the SSA cited “fraud risk” associated with the four services as the impetus for the change. “SSA has assessed our telephone services and determined further need to mitigate fraud” for those functions, the agency said.

The policy appears to align with Bisignano’s push to transform the agency into “a digital-first technology-led organization,” as he told Congress in written testimony on June 25.

Kathleen Romig, a former SSA official now serving as director of Social Security and disability policy at the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, says the four services at issue are “very routine tasks” and limiting phone access for them would have had a real impact on people like her mother, who is nearly 80 and has mobility challenges.

“My mom doesn’t drive anymore,” uses a walker, and would need someone to drive her to a Social Security office and help her get in and out of the car, Romig said, a situation she calls “very typical” for older beneficiaries.

Michael Astrue, who served as Social Security commissioner during the George W. Bush administration, says SSA phone service has been “essentially fraud-free.” Government watchdog agencies repeatedly investigated Social Security operations and “identified very, very little fraud,” he says.

The proposed change comes as the SSA is reducing its staff by 12 percent, from about 57,000 employees to 50,000. That included nearly 2,000 departures from field offices as of April, when the agency stopped posting workforce updates on its website.

The SSA says it has been transferring employees from other positions to fill those frontline jobs, but Romig says it has also recently moved workers out of field offices to answer calls to the agency’s toll-free helpline, 800-772-1213, to reduce hold times.

Editor’s note: This story about the SSA’s proposed phone requirements was originally published on July 29, 2025. It has been updated with more recent information about the withdrawal and revision of that proposal.

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Deirdre Shesgreen is an AARP writer and editor covering Social Security. She previously worked as a state news editor for the AARP Bulletin and as a reporter and editor at USA Today, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other publications.