Summary
The Social Security Administration (SSA) shared updates about its service improvements for 2025, including faster payments and shorter wait times. Changes also include upgrades in online access and a reduction in the disability claims backlog. These improvements are part of efforts to enhance user experience and efficiency.
Key Facts
- The SSA plans to provide faster payments and shorter wait times in 2025.
- A bipartisan bill, the Social Security Fairness Act, repealed certain limits on retirement benefits, affecting various workers.
- Over 3.1 million payments, amounting to over $17 billion, were sent to beneficiaries eligible under this act ahead of schedule.
- SSA's online portal is now accessible 24/7, after previously being offline for long periods every week.
- Phone response times improved, reducing average call wait times from 28 to 15 minutes.
- In-office visit wait times went down from 30 to 22 minutes, benefiting visitors with appointments.
- The disability claims backlog, which peaked in 2024, was reduced by over 25% to 865,000.
- Online improvements and resource allocation played a key role in these changes.
