Recent Changes at the Social Security Administration

In the past several months, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has made several changes that are impacting beneficiary experiences.

Chatbots

Earlier this year, SSA began using an AI-based Chatbot for its national 1-800 phone system. This means that immediately upon calling the national number, individuals must respond to telephonic prompts in order to receive assistance. In August, the automated prompts began for regional numbers for local field offices, as well.

Call Rerouting

Also this year, many individuals calling their local SSA field offices learned their issues were being rerouted to different field offices – sometimes states away. SSA explained that rerouting calls from busier field offices to offices with lower call volumes would help resolve issues more efficiently. However, this caused immediate problems for beneficiaries because SSA employees in other offices did not have the necessary clearance to handle all issues from outside their areas. SSA states that this issue has been resolved, however, the procedures are still so new that ongoing problems are likely to arise.

Optional Identity Verification

In August, 2025, SSA announced it had rolled out an enhanced security feature called the Security Authentication PIN (SAP). SSA stresses this feature is optional, and only for individuals who already have an online my Social Security account. These individuals can elect to establish a Personal Identification Number (PIN), that, according to SSA, should save approximately three minutes after connecting with a Social Security representative. This new SAP feature is unrelated to the anti-fraud measures announced in April, 2025.

Paperless Checks

Starting September 30, 2025, SSA will no longer issue paper checks for benefit payments. SSA reports that less than one percent of beneficiaries currently receive paper checks. Those individuals should either enroll in direct deposit with their financial institution, or for individuals without bank accounts, opt to receive their payment in the form of a Direct Express Card, which is a prepaid debit card for federal benefit payments.

Many of these changes have already faced criticism. For example, former SSA employees report that although a Chatbot feature was tested during the Biden administration, it was deemed not ready to implement. On June 24, 2025, several Senators raised alarm over SSA’s recent changes, calling them “hasty,” and asking SSA to “implement effective guidelines for procuring, deploying, and monitoring all of its AI systems to mitigate the risks of associated with using this technology across such important programs.”

Likewise, rerouting local calls to other cities and states may cause confusion for beneficiaries, who may be reluctant (or even advised) not to answer calls from numbers they do not recognize. Additionally, changes with SSA features and procedures often create more opportunities for scams.

It is important for advocates to inform beneficiaries about these changes, as their experience working with SSA might be much different than it was just earlier this year.

Contact a certified elder law attorney(*), such as Linda Strohschein and her team at Strohschein Law Group for assistance. To set up an appointment, contact Strohschein Law Group at 630-300-0627.