Congress has passed a Continuing Resolution effectively freezing funding for the Social Security Administration for the first half of fiscal year 2013 at the fiscal year-2012 level. To accommodate these budget reductions in the face of growing demand for Social Security services, the Social Security Administration has modified the business hours of field offices. Beginning November 19, 2012, field offices will close to the public 30 minutes earlier than usual each day. Beginning January 2, 2013, field offices will close on Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. These reductions in hours are being made to allow field office employees to complete interviews and claims work during regular hours without incurring overtime.
Additionally, the SSA has suspended the ability to request a Social Security Statement and the mailing of annual Statements to workers age 60 and older. The SSA suspended the mailing of annual statements in March 2011, and had resumed mailing statements in February 2012, only to workers age 60 or older.
By the Numbers: Facts About SSI
- SSA paid benefits to about 60.4 million people in 2011.
- Social Security provided at least half the in¬come for 65 percent of the aged beneficiaries in 2010.
- Social Security benefits were awarded to about 5.6 million people in 2011.
- Women accounted for 56 percent of adult So¬cial Security beneficiaries in 2011.
- The average age of disabled-worker beneficia¬ries was 53.0 in 2011.
- Eighty-five percent of SSI recipients received payments because of disability or blindness in 2011.
Source: Office of Retirement and Disability Policy Publication No. 13-11785, Released August 2012
