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Larson and Ways and Means Democrats Urge Social Security Administration to Create Beneficiary Advocate Position

May 18, 2022

Washington, D.C. – Today, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson (CT-01) led a letter of his Ways and Means colleagues to the Biden Administration urging them to create a new Beneficiary Advocate position within the Social Security Administration (SSA). The Beneficiary Advocate would act similarly to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Taxpayer Advocate, assisting beneficiaries by providing them a voice within the agency to champion their needs and highlight systemic problems interfering with access to benefits and services. Chairman Larson held a hearing this week with the Social Security Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee highlighting the resources and funding SSA needs in order to improve customer service.

“We recognize that every SSA employee is inherently an advocate for beneficiaries, but we believe that an office of ‘Beneficiary Advocate’ would greatly assist beneficiaries by providing a voice within the agency representing beneficiaries, elevating and highlighting systemic problems interfering with access to benefits and services, similar to the Internal Revenue Service Taxpayer Advocate,” wrote the representatives. “You have rightly called Social Security a ‘sacred trust’ between the federal government and the people, promising financial security in return for their contributions to the program in each and every paycheck. This position would help ensure that the ‘sacred trust’ between the federal government and its people is upheld.” 

You can find a PDF of the letter here.

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