Congress weighs Social Security changes on key terms, ID theft services

Even before they start receiving Social Security checks, millions of Americans rely on the Social Security Administration for information on when they can claim retirement benefits and for assistance if their Social Security numbers are compromised.

This week the House of Representatives several bills passed It aims to improve the agency’s services not only for would-be retirees, but also for victims of identity theft and children whose cards have been lost or stolen. more than 300 million Americans have Social Security numbers.

It is now up to the Senate to consider the proposed changes.

Here’s what the bills will do if they become law.

For many people, waiting pays off, especially because the amount of monthly benefits they receive increases over time. Claiming what is now called full retirement age Beneficiaries – typically ages 66 to 67, depending on year of birth – are eligible to receive 100% of their earned benefits.

And with an even longer delay until age 70, they’ll be able to get an 8% benefit increase for each year they pass full retirement age.

Yet many Americans don’t wait that long. Research published in 2022 found that: 10% of plaintiffs Wait until age 70. According to the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, the share of retirees filing claims at age 62 has fallen over the past two decades. But data from earlier this year showed more people may be making that claim. As early as age 62That includes high-income earners, according to the Urban Institute.

A new bipartisan bill Age Disclosure Law RequestReps. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa. and Don Beyer, D-Va. — will change the way retirement ages are defined to better reflect these trade-offs:

• Age 62, currently called the “early eligibility age,” will instead be called the “minimum monthly benefit age.”

• The full retirement age will instead be called the “standard monthly benefit age”.

• Age 70 will be referred to as the “maximum monthly benefit age”.

“People are making an irreversible decision that will affect their interests for the rest of their lives, and they may not have all the information they need to make that decision in the best way possible,” said Shai Akabas, vice president of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C., think tank that advocates the bill.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. The Senate version, led by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, currently has support; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Tim Kaine, D-Virginia; and Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.

“The unanimous vote in the House was very persuasive and hopefully provides the momentum for fairly rapid action in the Senate in the coming months,” Akabas said.

Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tenn. A bill proposed by Act to Improve Social Security Service for Identity Theft VictimsIt will require the agency to provide a single point of contact to better assist consumers in resolving the situation in a timely manner.

“Victims of identity theft should not have to fight through government bureaucracy just to get their identities back,” Kustoff said. expression.

More than 1.35 billion victim notifications were sent to individuals following more than 3,100 data breaches in 2024. Identity Theft Resource Center. More than 1,800 of those breaches involved Social Security numbers.

The Senate version of the bill, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, currently has nine bipartisan co-sponsors.

A third bill, Social Security Child Protection LawIt would require the Social Security Administration to issue children under 14 a new Social Security number if their Social Security card is lost or stolen in the mail.

“Every child is given a Social Security number that will follow them for the rest of their life, and every year there are children whose Social Security numbers are lost or stolen in the mail and fall into the hands of fraudsters,” said Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., who introduced the bill. during a conversation ahead of the House vote on December 1.

2022 Javelin Strategy and Research to work It found that 915,000 children were victims of identity fraud that year, costing a single household an average of $1,128 and taking an average of 16 hours to resolve.

It can take years for young adults to realize their Social Security numbers have been stolen or compromised, he said. Currently, the Social Security Administration changes these numbers only after owners become victims of fraud.

Smucker said the proposed bill would provide “a simple solution to protect our children.”