By ISABELLA SCHOONOVER
Medill Illinois News Bureau
[email protected]
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois chapter of AARP played a role in the Trump administration reversing itself and allowing Social Security beneficiaries to have the option of filing for benefits over the phone.
The continuation of phone-based filing is an about-face of a plan set forth in mid-March by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to restrict telephone services for beneficiaries nationwide. Nearly 100,000 Illinoisans mobilized against the plan by writing to Congress during the month of March. Nationally, AARP members sent more than 2 million emails denouncing the proposed changes.
In response to the widespread pushback, the SSA issued a series of updates on X, formerly Twitter, withdrawing its previously announced plan and reinstating phone services for all claim types—including those applying for retirement, Social Security disability insurance (SSDI), Medicare and supplemental security income (SSI).
The new plan now requires in-person claims processing and identity proofing only for calls flagged as potentially fraudulent, according to a press release Monday from Illinois AARP. “This is great news for older Americans,” said Ryan Gruenenfelder, senior director of advocacy and outreach at AARP Illinois.
New rule caused web crashes, service disruptions
AARP Illinois and its members came to the Illinois state Capitol on April 10 to express their frustration with the recent federal actions and call on lawmakers to strengthen SSA customer service. Members have reported significant disruptions in service in recent months, including long wait times at SSA field offices, frequent website crashes and an increase in calls getting disconnected due to a lack of available representatives.
“As a retiree, I count on my Social Security benefits, and they actually provide more than half of my monthly income,” said Sandra McAvoy, an AARP member and volunteer with the Illinois state legislature. “That income has enabled me to live independently and very comfortably.”
In Illinois, about 2.3 million people receive some form of Social Security benefits. More than 40% of Illinois residents age 65 or older rely on Social Security for at least half of their income, while around 20% rely on it for at least 90% of their income, according to AARP.
The SSA was planning to end phone-based claims as an anti-fraud measure, saying the move would strengthen fraud prevention by forcing individuals to go online or visit local field offices to prove their identities and file for benefits.
AARP said this would have made it difficult for older adults, people with disabilities and those in rural areas to access their benefits.
“The proposed changes were unacceptable,” said Gruenenfelder.
About 140,000 people age 65 and older in Illinois live more than 45 miles roundtrip from the nearest Social Security office, according to an April 8 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Once there, individuals report having to wait for hours in long lines to see an available customer service agent.
The only alternative to in-person and phone services — the SSA’s online portal system — is not a reliable option for many beneficiaries. Roughly 28% of households in Illinois do not have subscriptions to high-speed internet, according to a 2024 report from the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society.
Some callers to SSA waited hours to get help
These challenges were in place long before the now-rescinded changes. But AARP said there has since been a recent “rapid deterioration” in customer service that has resulted in callers waiting hours at a time to get connected with an available representative.
According to SSA data, the agency had a busy rate of 0% in 2024, meaning no callers received a pre-recorded message when trying to reach a service agent over the phone. But in March, that number spiked to 28.4%, indicating nearly 1 in 3 callers received a message saying the office’s lines were too busy to take their call.
The sudden disruption to customer service came after the agency’s announcement in February of a 12% target reduction of the SSA workforce and permanent closure of six of 10 regional offices by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). These workforce reductions were announced despite promises by President Donald Trump not to cut or disrupt Social Security payments with his policies.
In his first speech since leaving the White House on Tuesday, April 15, former President Joe Biden spoke out against the Trump administration’s latest actions on Social Security, including sweeping workforce cuts, permanent closures of regional offices and the current customer service crisis.
“In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage,” the former president said in Chicago, according to the AP. “They’ve taken a hatchet to the Social Security Administration.”
AARP celebrates the SSA’s decision to walk back its proposed changes to phone-based services, but Gruenenfelder said more oversight and resources are needed to improve the agency’s customer service moving forward.
“We’re urging Congress consistently, and the White House consistently, no matter who’s in the White House, to take actions to prioritize Social Security and protect it for the long term,” Gruenenfelder said.
Isabella Schoonover is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
