AARP Conversation with Social Security Administration Commissioner Bisignano

Thanks for having me.

Thank you for that and thanks for allowing me to be here. President Trump has a mandate to protect and preserve Social Security. And my vision for Social Security is to ensure that the more than 330 million Americans who have a Social Security number and the 75 million beneficiaries who rely on our programs receive best-in-class service. We are driving a digital-first agency, but we run on a platform that says we want to meet our clients where they want to be met. If it's on the web, if it's in a field office, if it's on the phone. So, we believe in an omni-channel experience that allows us to be there for the American public. We remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting the financial security of retirees, people with disabilities, and survivors. That commitment includes a strategic focus on transforming the Social Security Administration into a digital-first agency that operates at peak efficiency and delivers world-class service. However you interact with us, we're investing in technology and transforming systems to make benefits easier to access. Expanding our online services so individuals can do more business through their personal My Social Security accounts. This month we passed 100 million My Social Security accounts. And it's a way to interact with us while improving customer service across all channels, phones, field offices, and on the web. At the same time, we're working to make our processes simpler and more accessible for everyone while ensuring that the support people expect and deserve from Social Security remains strong as we modernize and transform.

Yes, sir. And I would say we are deep in the throes of tax season. We started on time and early and we're delivering for the American public in outstanding fashion and I compliment that team for their work. President Trump's Working Family Tax Cut Act has had a real effect in helping out seniors and I've seen it now through the eyes of the IRS also. But the 2025 federal spending bill introduced a new deduction specifically aimed at reducing the tax burden for seniors. This deduction allows a majority of Social Security beneficiaries to exclude a greater portion of their benefits from taxable income, which means many will owe less in federal taxes or receive a larger tax return. Seniors age 65 can get up to an additional $6,000 deduction per individual. This deduction is available whether you itemize or take the standard deduction on your income tax return. This change puts more money back in the pocket of seniors, helping them manage everyday expenses and maintain their quality of life. This was a major commitment made for our seniors and I am very proud to be the commissioner to be able to communicate this when it occurred and to talk about it here today.

Yeah. The way I like to say it is most Social Security beneficiaries are eligible for the deduction. Individuals with higher incomes may not qualify due to income limits set in the tax law. There is a phase out of this deduction for individuals with income from $75,000 to $175,000 or for joint filers from $150,000 to $250,000. Additionally, those who do not file federal income taxes or whose benefits are already non-taxable would not be affected by this change. If someone had federal income taxes withheld from their Social Security payments in 2025 and later owes less due to the new deduction, they would generally receive that money back through the normal tax filing process. When they file their 2025 federal tax return, the IRS will calculate the correct amount owed and issue a refund due. For questions about individual tax situations, people should contact the IRS guidelines or a qualified tax professional.

So why it's so important and you heard in the State of the Union the president talked about protect and preserve. It's the mantra that we run the organization under and why I thought it was so important to be a world-class service organization because we're investing in the protection and the preservation of Social Security for the long term. We celebrated our 90th anniversary in August of this year and the long-term financial health of our trust funds remains a top priority. I am committed to working with Congress and other stakeholders to protect and strengthen these vital programs. And we do that every day in the operations of the organization, ensuring that millions of Americans can continue to rely on Social Security for a secure retirement both now and in the future. We are committed to remaining transparent and continuing to educate the public so that people have access to clear factual information they can trust. We have also made many vital reforms at the agency such as cutting waste, fraud, and abuse from the program to ensure those who are receiving benefits are eligible to receive them while also reducing instances of improper payments. Every year, we release our annual trustees report which provides a clear picture of Social Security's finances. Additionally, we regularly update our website, conduct outreach, and work with organizations like the great AARP to help answer questions and address common misconceptions.

I want to assure you that protecting personally identifiable information is my number one priority at the Social Security Administration. Throughout my career at the largest financial institution in the world, I have consistently focused on safeguarding sensitive data and I bring that same commitment to the SSA. Contrary to much misinformation reported in the media, our systems are safe and highly secure. Our organization is committed to protecting sensitive information and maintaining the highest standards of data security. We have implemented robust cybersecurity controls designed to prevent data loss and unauthorized access. These measures include advanced encryption, regular systems monitoring, access controls, and ongoing employee training to ensure that your data remains safe and secure. As part of the AARP's commitment to protecting Americans' personal data and enhancing security, service, and control, the SSA's chief risk officer and a chief security and resiliency officer tasked with safeguarding SSA's technology and systems were added to my leadership team directly reporting to me. Both these positions never existed before and to me are mandatory to have to deliver safety and soundness to the American public.

I'm here for you, Bill.

Well, I think I've always been a deep believer that you can increase quality and by increasing it, it actually makes you more efficient. And the amount of phone calls we answered this year versus last year were 65 million more while reducing answer time over 40%. So callers were at one point over a year and a half ago taking 40 minutes and now it's in single digits. Now that was through deployment of new tools and technology. It's also about giving our staff the tools they need to be able to deliver their job. We had 29 hours of downtime on our website, right? That's double-digit percentage of hours. We fixed that in a few weeks with some good technical work. And today we're doing over a half billion transactions a year on the web where you can sit at home with a My SSA account and be able to transact. We have field offices and we've engaged more technology in there. We've done it on the phone and we've done it on the web and we want to meet our clients where they want to be met.

Yeah, it's my honor to serve and I think we have the best platform to deliver services the way people want to be served. So let's have a digital-first agency with a human touch. People need to come in. We have not closed one field office. We were so committed to our field offices. I view us as sitting in 1,250 communities across America, but meanwhile being accessible all over the world if you're traveling on the web. You know, we are really the largest digital financial services firm in the world, 100 million digital users, and we're going to roll out a mobile app over the next three or four months so you can access all your information that you need on your phone. We want to do a great job for the American public. We love what we're doing. We have great career people in the organization. And I'll tell you what, if you want to talk about morale, the 24th and the 26th had an executive order in December as holidays. We gave out people the option to come in and serve the American public and 66% of them volunteered to do it. And I thought that was a statement of a team that feels like they're winning. This is an organization with a real mission-driven sense, a sense of being there for every American. That Social Security number you need when you get working papers. You need it when you get a driver's license. And you need it many other times. We're the number one personal identifier for humans in America. And that's why we take our jobs so darn seriously.

Well, I'm going to do something. I'm going to ask you to send me an email and I will respond to you by tomorrow morning, ma'am.

I got to look at the situation and understand it. I would say, you know, it's well overdue. There's no reason for it. And that's why I'm happy to respond myself back.

Well, it seems to be a September rally right here between Colorado and Maryland. And as you know, we're headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland. I won't ask you to drive up and see us, but I would give the same recommendation if you send me an email with the facts and the details. We'll have an answer to you tomorrow, sir.

Well, you know, I think the best way for you to get help is one of two avenues, whichever you're most comfortable with. Obviously, our field offices are always open and they do have an excellent mannerism in helping everybody. They want satisfied clients leaving there. But it's highly possible that you can dial our 800 number where, you know, our average speed of answer is less than 10 minutes right now and a representative will stay on the phone for as long as you need to help you solve your problem.

Well, first of all, I think my immersion into Social Security, the acceptance from the career staff and then the augmentation of some appointees that came in with me really gave me an understanding how to operate within the federal government. And we got off to a very strong start as a team. And when I was asked by the Secretary of the Treasury and the president to take on this other leadership role, of course I said yes, I'm honored to serve. You know, I like to say I grew up in a multi-generational immigrant household. My grandfather came over to America and joined the US Army to become a citizen. My dad was an orphan. My grandfather ultimately by the time I was born was disabled. So Social Security... my father was an orphan in '37 and in the '40s the first time orphans, he was one of 15 and his parents died. He served 44 years in the federal government wearing a US uniform and ultimately protecting our country. So the opportunity to serve is such an honor and a pleasure. So to be asked to do more and have the president put that confidence in me was an honor of a lifetime. They both really are serving the consumers of America. They both are turning into digital agencies. We're using the same governance methodologies on both as I did running large consumer businesses and financial services my whole career. You know, so I look back after approximately nine months on the job. I'm pleased to report that we're delivering a dramatically better customer experience at SSA. We're meeting our customers where they want to be met, online and in person and on the phone. We've improved our accessibility, the 800 number, and wait times are now, as I said, in single digits. Reduced our wait times in field offices and reduced our processing center inventory through technology enhancements. This is a technology agenda for both agencies and there's no thought of putting together but the thought of leveraging experiences. And I give the president so much credit for having a team that actually collaborates across... you know, I talked before about unscheduled downtime of 29 hours a week on the web. We're getting both webs to be up 100% of the time. That's what the American public expects. That's what they have in their regular day-to-day experience. And for me, you know, getting our workforce to be engaged because we're investing in them by bringing better tools, making their job easier but yet more satisfying. Taking the mundane out and having them be able to deal with the American public by having better systems.

Well, I think the major accomplishment really is first and foremost, you know, we have changed the paradigm of the org. We had silos. We have one disability head who oversees both the state DDS's and all of the disability process and all the judges. We have cut disability pending by more than 35%. Right? We've increased the phone servicing times across the place. And like I said earlier by serving lots more Americans, right? And the idea that our people now feel we are client first or right and we took billions of dollars of fraud, waste and abuse out of the system while providing better service. So, I think, you know, it's been an honor to do the job. I do have to tell the American public that the people who work at Social Security love their job and love serving the people and that's why they showed up on days that were holidays that they wanted to be there and volunteer and get the benefits of it.

Yeah, a personal My Social Security account is a free, secure online service that allows you 24/7 access to your Social Security information. As I mentioned when I learned that My Social Security had scheduled downtime of 29 hours and I know I keep repeating that but you know of no online service that has service hours and we had them forever and it was interesting because nobody...

We ever talked about it until we stumbled on it, and I'm like, we got to get rid of that. And we did in a couple weeks with good engineers who knew how to do their job right. We took immediate action, and now it's 24/7. It's imperative for Americans to have access to their information. And if you have a My Social Security account, you can do it when you want.

I mean, to personify where we are on this, we surpassed 100 million, and we have more than a half billion transactions done last year by Americans through the account, getting satisfied by the account and not having to come to a field office or call.

Well, I mean, like I said, we haven't closed a field office in the past year. We like the idea of being in the community. Our field office is always there. But you can also call us at 1-800-772-1213. Right. So phone's an option, field office is an option. We like the personal touch, but many times people can transact without the personal touch. And with us bringing out a mobile app during the course of this year, my deep belief is AARP and Social Security will partner both on My SSA and a launch of a mobile app to your members that we will have capability that parallels anybody in the world's ability to interact in financial services with their client base.

I'm here working.

You know, all of it. I mean, I can't... I mean, look at protecting and preserving, which is the president's mandate is how I think about it. And that means protecting your information, protecting the trust fund, protecting our people, protecting the promise to pay that FDR created this program under 90 years ago. But it's an honor to serve and it's an honor to be here with AARP today. You know, I like to think that every day we're making progress serving the American public better and ensuring that we're eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse and building a much stronger control environment. It's part of our discipline, a good control environment.