To the editor:

I am writing about the recent erroneous reports and statements from the President and Mr. Musk about possibly millions of dead people receiving Social Security benefits. I worked for Social Security for over 40 years, and these reports and comments are concerning to me because they serve to undermine confidence in a program which is so important to so many people.

Back in the ‘70’s when I started my career, I used to come to Warren on Friday mornings to take benefit claims and Social Security Number applications at Town Hall to save people in the East Bay trips into Providence. I know firsthand about the critical support the program provides to people here and across the country. It is a terrible disservice to the hard-working people who pay into the system to imply that the program is rife with waste, fraud or abuse of funds.

Less than 1% of total payments made by the program are found to be improper, and a substantial portion of those are recovered. As to efficiency, the total cost of running the program comes to ½ of a percent or less of total benefit payments, and the costs are funded from Social Security payroll contributions, not from general tax revenues. The agency’s staff is currently at a 30 year low despite the substantial increase in benefit claims as the population ages.

Cutting staff or freezing hiring will not improve efficiency but will only make it harder to provide the kind of timely and accurate service the public deserves.

Americans depend on Social Security, and they deserve honest information about the program, not misleading reports and statements made to serve political interests.

Rock Singewald
10 Taylor St., Warren