Anxiety grows in Mass. over Social Security staff cuts, errors, long wait times
President Trump’s promises that Social Security benefits will not be cut are providing little reassurance to Massachusetts residents, advocates and employees who are witnessing changes to the program firsthand.
The Trump administration has slashed the nearly 90-year-old agency’s workforce as part of an effort to downsize the federal government. Though no cuts have been made to individual benefits, service delays and staffing reductions are creating anxiety for people across the state.
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“They may not be cutting the dollar amount that an individual has earned and is slated to receive, but it's still a cut if that individual can't access those funds,” said Betsy Connell, executive director of the Massachusetts Councils on Aging. “If you cut staff, and you cut access to the administration of those services, you're going to impede people from accessing those benefits.”
Nearly 1.5 million people in the state — about one in five residents — receive Social Security. The federal program provides retirement benefits and disability income to qualified people and often serves as their primary — or only — source of income, advocates say. Massachusetts is home to the highest percentage of older adults in the country living alone and in poverty, according to the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston.
In recent weeks, phones have been ringing at local councils on aging, elected officials’ offices and Social Security field offices. Often it’s people expressing concern and confusion, advocates say, but there have also been complaints about delayed benefits, long wait times and unexplained errors.
Changes at the agency
The Social Security Administration has cut some 7,000 jobs, including about 3,000 employees who accepted a buyout offer or early retirement. More staff reductions are expected at the agency in the coming weeks.
Rich Couture, a spokesman for the union representing Social Security workers, said the exodus has damaged the agency, which was already at a 50-year staffing low. He said it has caused rising wait times on the national information hotline and longer approval periods for benefits.
In Massachusetts, many field offices in and around Boston were not meeting the agency’s goal of processing 83% of claims within two weeks of filing before the cuts.
Camillie Piñeiro, who works in the Springfield office, said the site is already understaffed by 13 employees, and five more plan to take the early retirement offer.
“People with the most experience have been incentivized to walk away,” Piñeiro said. “The more understaffed we are, the bigger the burden on those that stay.”
The smaller workforce could pose an even bigger problem starting April 14, when many people seeking benefits will need in-person appointments to verify their identities. The new policy was scaled back after advocates and lawmakers raised concerns about barriers to service. Still, Piñeiro said half the calls she answers on the general inquiry line are from people worried their benefits will be stopped if they can’t make it into the office.
Some Social Security beneficiaries don’t live near a field office or lack access to public transportation. In Massachusetts, the Greenfield field office closed over a decade ago, leaving a gap in Franklin County, a largely rural area where 18,925 residents receive Social Security, according to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office.
Concerns about in-person service have been exacerbated by the Trump administration’s plans to close federal buildings. No Massachusetts sites are on the list of Social Security offices closing this year. But the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Federal Building in Boston, which houses a Social Security office, was on a list of buildings to sell that the Trump administration posted and later took down in March. Union spokesman Couture worries the federal government will again target the O’Neill building for closure.
“All these federal buildings — well, that’s one avenue for closure,” Couture said. “So the entire system is under attack.”
Another change causing concern is a new overpayment policy, Piñeiro said. In the past, the agency deducted 10% of a recipient’s monthly benefit if they had received more than they were entitled to. This can result from a mistake on Social Security’s part or a failure to make updates that might impact a person’s benefits.
Now, the agency is withholding all funds until any overpayment is addressed.
“That brings people into the office in a state of desperation,” Piñeiro said. “Retirees cannot afford to lose for one month their benefit.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, who is helming DOGE, the White House’s cost-cutting unit, has repeatedly cited Social Security fraud as a significant problem. But Couture said the fraud rate is far less than 1% of payments a year.
“One of the ways to mitigate this is to provide the agency with resources,” Couture said. “Overpayments could be avoided with adequate staffing.”
Delays and confusion
Some Massachusetts residents have reported long wait times, payment delays and confusing messages in their online account portals.
Carolyn Villers, executive director of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, said her organization joined a lawsuit filed last Wednesday alleging DOGE and the Social Security Administration’s actions violate laws protecting the benefit. Villers said her group has received concerning reports in recent weeks that include payment delays.
Two individuals who were set to receive benefits on March 26 didn’t receive their checks until April 1, leaving one woman unable to pay her rent on time, Villers said, calling it “alarming.”
“I have worked with Mass Senior Action 20 years this fall, and I have never heard of people getting delayed or late payments, certainly without explanation,” she said.
She said she has also heard reports of phone wait times exceeding three hours and limited availability for in-person appointments. One woman was told she would have to wait 40 days — more than a month — for an appointment at any of the six offices in her region, Villers said.
“Until recently, I had not heard of people who called and were told 'no available appointments,' ” Villers said. “We have seen and heard from our members and the larger community that there has been a noticeable shift in a lack of access.”
Error reports also appear to be on the rise, Villers said. Concerns have circulated on social media from people who found notices in their online accounts that said they are no longer receiving benefits.
Tom and Christine, a Westborough couple who asked WBUR to withhold their last name because they fear retribution for speaking out, received one such notice. They logged in March 31 to check the account of their son Ned, who has autism. He gets Social Security disability benefits that help pay for the group home where he receives 24/7 care.
The notice on his account caused them to panic, said Chistine. She said she worried that she might have to reapply for her son’s benefits. It turned out to be an error, and the payment arrived on time the following day.
The family also had to wait three weeks to schedule an appointment for Ned’s Medicare benefits. Christine said these experiences have shaken her confidence in the system.
“These are not people we need to stress more, and these are not families we need to stress more,” she said.
Taking action
Massachusetts’ two U.S. senators, both Democrats, say they’re fighting to preserve Social Security benefits.
Last week, Sen. Warren and three other Democratic senators launched a “Social Security War Room” to educate the public about cuts and encourage grassroots activism.
“It is about having a place to bring the stories, so we can have all of the American people privy to what we hear when we’re back home,” Warren told reporters.
Sen. Ed Markey said his office has contacted Social Security officials about complaints from his constituents.
“My office is contacted daily by senior citizens who are terrified that they will lose the earned benefits they rely on to eat and to keep a roof over their head,” he told reporters last month.
Musk and his DOGE team have yet to comment on the lawsuit the Massachusetts Senior Action Council and four other groups filed with seven beneficiaries.
“We keep hearing the administration and Trump say, ‘We’re not gonna cut Social Security.’ Well, they are,” Villers said. “These delays and disruptions that are creating barriers to people accessing their earned benefits are absolutely a cut.”
This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
Source: WBUR
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