New Social Security Requirements Pose Barriers To Rural Communities
HuffPost
Advocates say the changes will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable Americans.
WELCH, W.Va. (AP) — Veronica Taylor doesn’t know how to turn on a computer, let alone use the internet.
The 73-year-old can’t drive and is mostly housebound in her mountainous and remote West Virginia community, where a simple trip to the grocery store can take an hour by car.
New requirements that Social Security recipients access key benefits online or in person at a field office, rather than on the phone, would be nearly impossible to meet without help.
“If that’s the only way I had to do it, how would I do it?” Taylor said, talking about the changes while eating a plate of green beans, mac and cheese and fried fish with a group of retirees at the McDowell County Senior Center. “I would never get nothing done.”
The requirements, set to go into effect March 31, are intended to streamline processes and combat widespread fraud within the system, according to President Donald Trump and officials in his administration.
Only a "fraudster" would complain if they missed a check, Howard Lutnick proclaimed.
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An attorney representing Ashley St. Clair said the Tesla founder had also filed an emergency gag order against her client, but was denied.
"I want to turn it off and let the courts figure out how they want to run a federal agency," acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek actually said.
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"This isn't just about Republicans," the New York Democrat said during an event with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Nevada.
Trump's administration recently sent more than 250 Venezuelan migrants there, even as a judge issued an order temporarily blocking the deportations.
Paul Burke detailed the "punitive" way his daughter Rebecca was treated prior to her deportation.
There’s no greater evidence that "know-your-rights" training is working than from what Trump officials themselves have said.
Democracy Forward has emerged as a leading legal organization that’s been slowing, if not stopping, some of Trump’s recklessness.
Since Donald Trump took office, there have been high-profile incidents of tourists being held for weeks at U.S. immigration facilities before being allowed to fly home.
The congresswoman had an "intelligent" takeaway after the Trump adviser mocked her time in the service industry.
The John F. Kennedy assassination documents released this week disclosed sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers.