Key Point: “In less than one week, many Americans will no longer be able to apply for Social Security benefits over the phone, setting the stage for disruptions and upheaval for millions of seniors. … The abrupt change, implemented at breakneck speed at White House request, increases the likelihood that some eligible people will miss out on benefits; others could simply not get them at all.”

Axios: Exclusive: As Social Security services are cut back, millions of seniors face long drives

• In less than one week, many Americans will no longer be able to apply for Social Security benefits over the phone, setting the stage for disruptions and upheaval for millions of seniors.

• The abrupt change, implemented at breakneck speed at White House request, increases the likelihood that some eligible people will miss out on benefits; others could simply not get them at all.

• More than 4 in 10 retirees apply for benefits by phone, per agency data cited by the Center.

• Nearly 6 million seniors live more than 46.6 miles, roundtrip, from a field office, per the analysis of agency and Census Bureau data.

• Those in rural areas face the longest journeys

• The agency, in an internal memo viewed by Axios, acknowledged cutting off phone service could drive as many as 85,000 people per week to its already backlogged field offices. 

• There is no way right now to apply for Social Security survivors’ benefits online. That means “grieving family members must visit offices soon after the deaths of their loved ones to apply,” CBPP points out in their analysis.

• Children cannot have online accounts, so their parents or guardians will now have to come in person. They are entitled to benefits after the death of a parent.

• The tech disruption means “you are going to start impacting people’s paychecks and people’s money,” Marcela Escobar-Alava, the agency’s former chief information officer, tells Axios.