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Misplaced Gripes About Letters From Social Security

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Misplaced Gripes About Letters From Social Security
People line up outside of the Social Security Administration office in San Francisco, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2005. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Tom Margenau
Updated:

I’ve pointed out many times how people are quick to gripe about the government in general and the services it provides in particular—when they don’t have the whole picture of what’s going on. For example, lately, I’ve been getting a lot of complaints about letters that people get from the Social Security Administration. And in most cases, their criticisms are unjustified. Here are some examples.

Q: When I get a letter from the SSA, those letters are always backdated. For example, I received a Social Security letter on Oct. 20 telling me I’ve supposedly been overpaid. But the letter was dated Oct. 24! If you ask me, this is incompetence and government deception at its worst!
Tom Margenau
Tom Margenau
Author
Tom Margenau worked for 32 years in a variety of positions for the Social Security Administration before retiring in 2005. He has served as the director of SSA’s public information office, the chief editor of more than 100 SSA publications, a deputy press officer and spokesman, and a speechwriter for the commissioner of Social Security. For 12 years, he also wrote Social Security columns for local newspapers, and recently published the book “Social Security: Simple and Smart.” If you have a Social Security question, contact him at [email protected]
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