WASHINGTON — Social Security has been so overwhelmed helping seniors cope with the new Medicare drug program that other services are starting to suffer, a senior government official said in a candid internal e-mail released Friday.
A large backlog of cases is getting worse, and the agency is cutting back on audits that save the government money.
"It's not a rosy picture, and the news doesn't get better," Deputy Commissioner for Operations Linda S. McMahon wrote to operations employees.
The Social Security Administration is scrounging for money to pay overtime, McMahon wrote, and will have to cut back on other priorities, though monthly retirement checks for 48 million Social Security beneficiaries will not be affected.
"I won't try to kid you," McMahon wrote employees. "This is going to be a very difficult year."
On some days, about one in three callers to Social Security's 800 number has been getting a busy signal, she wrote. The agency's 1,300 local offices have been getting as many as 60,000 extra visitors a day -- a 40% increase from the fall.
McMahon's Jan. 21 e-mail was released by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles). His office said it verified the authenticity of the message, which is labeled "Difficult Times." Waxman called for immediate congressional action to restore a recently enacted cut of about $200 million in Social Security's administrative budget.
"The problems faced by the Medicare program in implementing the benefit are spilling over and having significant impacts on the Social Security program," he said in a letter to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
McMahon testified Thursday before the Senate Special Committee on Aging about her agency's effort to assist Medicare with financial subsidies for low-income seniors, called "extra help." At least 4 million people have applied for the aid, of whom about 1.4 million qualified.
In her testimony, McMahon did not recite the litany of problems detailed in her e-mail. Instead, she thanked Congress for "providing [Social Security] with the resources we have needed to begin this challenging process."
In a statement issued Friday, the agency said: "As the Social Security Administration handles the increased phone calls and office visits associated with the new Medicare prescription drug program, we continue to provide [financial] benefits and assistance with timeliness and professionalism. As always, we remain dedicated to providing the best possible service to the American people."
