(Editor’s note: the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the Social Security Administration or the Federal Government).
By John Oertel
I worked in the Redding Social Security office for more than 32 years before retiring. When I began there in July 1989 the office was fully staffed with trained professionals who’d been there for decades. It was not a job – it was a career. Today, that same office has far fewer employees, even as the number of baby boomers nationwide is increasing at the rate of 10,000 a day.
According to the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the Union that represents Social Security employees across the United States, SSA’s staffing is at the lowest level in 25 years and the agency’s operating budgets have dropped by 17% (when adjusted for inflation). Congress is essentially starving Social Security at a time when more resources are desperately needed.
As a retired employee, people often ask my advice on when to file for benefits. We “run the numbers” and they make a decision that is best for them.
Then comes the difficult part.
Very often my friends, neighbors, and relatives go into their local office and then have to endure a long wait. Finally, when an employee does speak to them, that person is encouraged to go home and file their own application online.
My suggestion to anyone who wants to file for any kind of Social Security benefit or Medicare: NEVER file your own application! If you have to (and it does happen), DEMAND that an employee help you through the process, even if you have to wait a month or more for an appointment. There are two very simple reasons why:
Social Security can be a very complex program. There are many rules and regulations that most Americans are not familiar with. There are also many exceptions to those same rules and regulations. How can we expect the average taxpayer to work through that kind of system all by themselves?
I would often ask my supervisors, how would you feel if you had car trouble, went to your mechanic with questions and instead of being helped, were handed the owner’s manual and told to go home and diagnosis the problem yourself? That is essentially what Social Security is doing, and it happens time and time again every day.
Another reason NOT to file an application by yourself and online: it could go to your local office, or it might be sent to one of several Payment Centers (PCs) located throughout the United States. The benefits you’re so eager to receive may be stuck on someone’s desk in Richmond, Calif., or Jamaica, New York; Philadelphia; Birmingham, Alabama; Chicago; or Kansas City, Missouri.
Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report in February 2024 which showed that the number of backlogged (not completed) actions throughout the agency had reached an all-time high of 5.2 million. The result: $1.1 billion in improper payments.
The OIG report also stated: “As the backlog grows, many processing center (PC) pending actions remain unresolved for long periods of time resulting in larger improper payments, including growing underpayments or increasing overpayments to beneficiaries. SSA cited unexpected staff reductions, increased workloads, and less than expected overtime funding that would have been used to pay employees to process more PC pending actions, as explanation for the record-breaking backlog.”
One possible reason for the understaffing at Social Security could be the pay. Beginning in January, a person hired as a GS-6 (a mid-level position) in Redding could only expect to earn $38,407 a year. That’s $3,200 a month gross – before any deductions are made for state and federal taxes, health insurance, etc. Try living on that salary when (according to Zillow) the average rent in Redding is $1,623 a month.
My final suggestion: don’t despair. These problems can be fixed, but it will take all of us to lobby our members of Congress and Senate to do the right thing. If they don’t, our children and grandchildren will suffer the economic consequences.
John Oertel
Redding, CA
