OMAHA (DTN) -- Elderly and disabled residents in rural America receiving Social Security benefits were about to face hours-long drives to Social Security offices if they don't know how to use the internet or have access to the Social Security Administration's website.

Then the Social Security Administration reversed course late Wednesday. The Social Security Administration pulled back on a plan to demand more in-office visits from beneficiaries after leaders said they would no longer allow benefit recipients to use telephone services to confirm their identification or change direct-deposit information.

Beneficiaries instead will maintain access to customer service over the phone if they cannot use a website or phone app.

The changes were set to start March 31, but the Social Security Administration on Wednesday pushed any changes back to April 14.

"We have listened to our customers, Congress, advocates, and others, and we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country's most vulnerable populations," said Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security. "In addition to extending the policy's effective date by two weeks to ensure our employees have the training they need to help customers, Medicare, Disability, and SSI applications will be exempt from in-person identity proofing because multiple opportunities exist during the decision process to verify a person's identity."

The SSA.gov website also has been crashing in recent weeks because of an overload of people trying to access their accounts.

The changes were set to affect millions of rural residents, including roughly one in five farm households, according to USDA data. Nationally, nearly 73 million people receive Social Security benefits each month.

AARP had called on the Social Security Administration or Congress to reverse the decision to cut over-the-phone services, citing the challenges rural seniors will face. AARP said the group has fielded thousands of calls in recent weeks over the issue.

Nancy LeaMond, chief advocacy and engagement officer at AARP, said the change would create more headaches and wait times to resolve routine issues. The challenges will be worse for rural seniors, she said.

"For Americans living in rural areas especially, this could mean taking a day off of work and driving for hours just to complete simple paperwork," said LeaMond. "The Social Security Administration needs to figure out a solution for Americans so they can get help in a timely and efficient manner."

Under the plan, people applying for Social Security or changing their banking and benefit information will use their My Social Security account at ssa.gov to verify their identity. If they cannot access or use the website, those people will have to visit their closest Social Security Administration office.

Dudek first announced the changes last week and stated the phone support would end March 31. Dudek has since said the White House demanded rapid responses to reduce alleged fraud from services provided over the phone. Dudek has said the cuts to phone services would save SSA as much as $100 million annually.

Under the updated policy, beginning April 14, individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) who cannot use a personal my Social Security account can complete their claim entirely over the telephone without the need to come into an office.

The decision to change requirements for Social Security beneficiaries also comes as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is pressing to close at least 47 Social Security offices nationally.

Rebekah Cash, manager of the Valentine, Nebraska, Senior Center, oversees deliveries of 20 to 30 Meals on Wheels every day to elderly residents in the area. The closest Social Security office is 131 miles away in North Platte, Nebraska. Cash wasn't aware of the changes until contacted by DTN.

"We have a lot of people who are shut-ins," Cash said. "Do they expect them to go down to an office?"

If Social Security is going to demand in-person check-ins, Cash said that's going to disrupt people who never leave their communities now. "If they need to do a physical in-person check-in then they should send somebody to go out to these people's homes," she said. "I don't know how they can expect all of these people to sign up for office visits."

Erik Gaikowski with AARP in South Dakota, told a TV station in an interview that people in the northwest corner of his state would face a three-hour drive to reach a Social Security office.

"If you aren't comfortable working applications on your iPhone or Android device, or getting on-line, you are looking at a full day driving to Rapid City or Pierre (South Dakota) It's a significant barrier to folks," Gaikowski said.

John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, said a lot of older residents would need family or someone else who could take them for office visits. It's not a good assumption to believe everyone has someone who can taxi them to a meeting and then shepherd them home, Hansen said.

"The office system that we have is not set up to service everyone through in-person visits," Hansen said.

Hansen said he remembers once a year having to take his father to a Veteran's Affairs office in Omaha when his father was elderly and suffering from Parkinson's Disease.

"This was just a killer day for him to go that far, go through that process and then come back," Hansen said. "This would wipe him out for a week."

Frank Bisignano, President Trump's nominee for commissioner of the Social Security Administration, told senators at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday that he would work to improve customer service at the agency, though he also acknowledged more staff cuts are coming. The Trump administration is looking to cut the agency's workforce by roughly 7,000 people, or 12%. Under criticism from Democrats, Bisignano told senators he would commit to having enough staff to provide people with their benefits.

Bisignano will inherit an agency in disarray. The Washington Post reported this week that the Social Security website has crashed at least four times this month from an overload of people checking their accounts. In local offices, so many staff have been lost that people who are left aren't answering the phones.

There is little hard data breaking down percentages of rural residents who rely on Social Security. A 2011 study by the Center for Rural Strategies showed rural counties rely on Social Security benefits nearly twice as much in terms of total personal income than urban counties.

USDA's Economic Research Service reported last year 23% of average off-farm income for farm households overall came from "transfer" income, such as Social Security or veterans' benefits. The bulk of that transfer income came from Social Security.

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., held a press call Wednesday to announce two bills he has introduced that would exempt veterans' benefits and Social Security from federal income tax. Ricketts said he would be briefed on changes to services by the Social Security Administration

"Yeah, we'll have to get briefed on the details of how that program works. And like I said, if you follow up with my office, we'll get you a statement to follow up," Ricketts said.

When asked about growing concerns over possible cuts to Social Security, Ricketts said President Trump will defend the program.

"The president has made it very clear he is not going to cut Social Security," Ricketts said. "Nobody in the house or the Senate is looking to cut Social Security. So we can absolutely assure all of our Social Security recipients that their benefits are going to be safe."

In another change of Social Security services, another half million people nationally also will have to stop receiving their payments by check and provide some details for electronic payment. The Social Security Administration will stop issuing paper checks at the end of September.

For more information, go to the Social Security website at https://www.ssa.gov/….

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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