Washington, Nov 15 (Prensa Latina) The US Social Security Administration (SSA) left half a million people unattended by keeping its offices closed this one and a half year of pandemic, The Hill daily warned on Monday.Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on whatsapp Share on telegram Share on email
The fact that 500,000 disabled Americans have been left behind is shocking and should raise a debate on this agency’s actions, the daily condemned.
The 1,200 SSA offices have been closed for 20 months, which has caused devastating effects for disabled people with low or no income, housing instability or little English knowledge.
According to The Hill analysts Jonathan Stein and David A. Weaver, this long closure prevents those people from presenting petitions and appeals to correct burocratic errors.
This situation has brought about an unprecedented decline in the number of individuals who receive social security disability benefits or from the Supplementary Security Income (SSI), the experts explained.
During the fiscal year of 2021, SSA benefit grants to disabled people and their families dropped by 25 percent compared to 2019.
SSI disability grants, given to people without a long working background, dropped even more (30 percent).
The SSA admited that decline is a problem and acknowledged that, a month after the offices clossed in March 2020, the assistance applications by adults in the retirement age and disabled children’s parents were reduced by more than half compared to the previous year’s figures.
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