JENKINTOWN PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS

In an attempt to save money, the Social Security Administration has announced a plan to reduce hours of operation at 1,400 offices across the county.

In Pittsburgh, the office on Penn Avenue will close at 3 PM on weekdays, beginning on November 19. More cuts are supposed to be made on January 2 when the office will be closed to the public at noon on Wednesdays. Employees are going to continue to work the same hours, but they will spend less time dealing with the public, which will help them process claims without getting any overtime.

In a statement, the agency said that federal budget cuts “makes it impossible for the agency to provide the overtime needed to handle service to the public as it has done in the past.” They also said that in the fiscal year that began in October, the agency requested $11.760 billion for administrative expenses. In the fiscal 2012 year, Congress cut that budget by $400 million compared with what was allocated in the fiscal 2010 year.

It seems like the agency is trying to encourage more people to visit the website and take care of their issues online, but some people worry about the elderly who don’t know how to use the Internet.

Records show that 588,590 people received Social Security benefits in Pennsylvania in 2011 in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. Almost 370,000 of them are retirees and more than 85,000 are disabled.

Pennsylvania residents who have difficulty applying for the Social Security Disability Insurance program—including people whose application was denied—are invited to call 215-545-1870 or 215-545-1870 to connect to Mednick, Mezyk and Kredo, a Philadelphia Social Security law firm. We offer a confidential FREE consultation to new clients.