No, Musk hasn't uncovered fraud at Social Security

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By Justin Fox / Bloomberg Opinion

Last year, it suddenly fell to me to manage the affairs of a couple of ailing and now deceased elderly people (my parents-in-law). As anyone who has been through this ordeal knows, it involves spending lots and lots of time on the phone and online communicating with banks, insurers, medical billing departments and other service providers.

The experience offers a useful perspective on the efficiency and responsiveness of various institutions. The worst were, big surprise, a cable company and a health-plan administrator. Banks varied in their customer service, with small banks generally more pleasant to deal with than big ones, although I did find it endearing of big bank Capital One that I could always tell my question was about to be answered or problem solved when my call was finally transferred to someone with a Southern accent.

One organization stood out from the rest for its sheer, ruthless efficiency: the Social Security Administration. I called only once, and with a predicted wait time of more than an hour opted for a callback. A representative did and informed me that the thing I wanted to ask her to do (adjust benefits to reflect the death of a spouse) had already been taken care of.

The SSA summarily pulled just-deposited payments out of bank accounts (because the recipient had died), in one case before I even had death certificates in my hands. But it also followed up quickly after the second of those removals, acknowledging that it now owed a little money and asking for details of next of kin to send it to.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-no-musk-hasnt-uncovered-fraud-at-social-security/