Social Security Records 'Substantial Progress' As Agency Boosts Efficiency, Technology

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has made significant progress in improving customer service, with reduced call times and field office wait times. The agency handled 1.3 million calls on its national 800 number last week, a 70% increase from the same week last year, with an average speed of answer of six minutes, down from 18 minutes this year and 30 minutes last year. Field office wait times have also decreased by 23% to 23 minutes from 30 minutes last year. The implementation of new telephone technology and other measures contributed to the improvement in customer service. The SSA has also eliminated scheduled downtime for its "my Social Security" service, allowing 125,000 more customers to access their accounts in the first week alone. Additionally, the agency has reduced the initial disability claims backlog by 25% to 940,000 pending cases and reduced the average processing time for initial disability claims by five days. The SSA has faced criticism from AARP over customer service, including website outages, high phone hold times, and long waits at field offices. However, the agency has made significant progress in addressing these issues and has completed sending over 3.1 million retroactive payments, worth over $17 billion, to beneficiaries of the Social Security Fairness Act, five months ahead of schedule.