Letters To The Editor

To the Editor:

It’s an outrage!

Effective as of September 30th, the Social Security Administration changed their nationwide toll-free telephone number.  Should anyone call the old phone number, a five-cent charge will be assessed to Social Security by the telephone contractor, MCI.

That’s the outrage!  Taxpayers  will be responsible for the bill—potentially $75,000 per day!

On average the Social Security toll-free number receives about 1.5 million calls per day.  To divert that colossal number of callers is a challenging task.  Social Security did not plan ahead.  When questioned how consumers have and will be informed, Social Security stated that they have utilized public advertising through T.V., radio, newspapers, and grocery bags.  But as a professional provider to persons with disabilities, my clients were not even aware of the new number.  The most common sense approach appears to be notifying Social Security recipients by sending a notice with each check.  Social Security relayed that it would take a lead time of approximately 2 years to send notices in all checks mailed.

Given the current cuts in program funding for persons with disabilities, I am appalled at this waste of the already limited monetary resources.  We’ve all heard of the $500 ashtrays and $1,000 toilet seats purchased with disregard by our government — who’s responsible for this fiasco?!!

Please inform your readers of the new Social Security Number

1-800-722-1213

Sincerely,

D. Ordemann

Minneapolis