Social Security Offices Now Requiring Appointments for In-Person Visits

There are changes afoot in your ability to visit a local Social Security (SS) office and speak in person with a SS agent. It used to be that you could just show up and wait to talk to a SS agent about your Medicare enrollment. (Remember, SS is the gatekeeper for Medicare, so your Medicare enrollment starts with SS.) Rolling out now and already in effect for many offices, you MUST have an appointment to talk to a SS agent at a local office. Depending on the office you may have to call the local office number to make an appointment. And again, depending on the office, there may be a way for you to make an appointment online.

To find out specifics for your local SS office, use the SS office locator at link below. The online page for that office should have additional information about making appointments. https://www.ssa.gov/locator/

And here's what the SS website has to say about making appointments: https://www.ssa.gov/manage-benefits/make-an-appointment

Source Material for This Article

The source information for this article was taken from the Social Security Administration update for December, 2024, available here: https://www.ssa.gov/news/newsletter/archive.html The SSA article is titled: Changes to Accessing Our In-Person Services. An excerpt from the article follows:

"We are expanding appointment-based services at our local Social Security offices. By scheduling appointments, we aim to reduce wait times, streamline service delivery, and improve customer experience. Nearly 400 local offices have already moved to appointment-based service this year (meaning 2024). [...] We are implementing the appointment-based services nationwide in 2 phases. Phase 1: The first phase is a transition period from now through January 5, 2025. The purpose of this transition period is to educate your clients about the need to schedule an appointment for our services. Phase 2: The second phase takes effect January 6, 2025. This phase will require customers to schedule an appointment for service in our local offices, including requests for Social Security cards."

Of course, it is usually not necessary to visit a SS office to enroll in Medicare. For most, this can be done easily online. Helping folks to enroll in Medicare as easily as possible and walking them through the steps is one of the many services I offer to my clients. Need help enrolling in Medicare? Feel free to contact me here.