Meryl Kornfield and Hannah Natanson report for The Washington Post that millions of people are finding it impossible to speak to someone at Social Security over the phone. The estimated hold time can be 90 minutes or more or their calls go unanswered. They are forced to listen to musak or robotic messages.
It has never been easy to reach a customer representative at Social Security, but it is not getting easier. Wait times are long. People typically waited two and a half hours for a call back earlier this year. Now, it’s about an hour. Social Security has more field office workers answering the 800 number.
Callbacks from Social Security are three-times more common now than they were when they were first introduced a year or so ago. It’s helpful for some. But, many cannot be reached by the time of the callback, which can be as long as three and a half hours later.
About five percent of the time, people get a “polite disconnect” message, telling them that Social Security is too busy to answer their call. Over three million callers received that message out of about 76 million callers between January and September of this year.
If you have a Social Security question, you might be better off calling your local area agency on aging for assistance. You can also contact the Eldercare Locator by calling 1-800-677-1116 for help finding local resources in your area. You might also contact your local Congressperson. Congressional staff are there to help with these kinds of questions. You can also let your Congressperson know that you want and deserve swift assistance from Social Security.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- 2025: Our Social Security system remains strong!
- Expand Social Security, don’t means test it
- Health care costs are devouring Social Security’s cost of living increase
- John Oliver explains Medicare and the dangers of Medicare Advantage
- 2026: Five things to think about when choosing between Traditional Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan
