Sequestration: What It Means For Social Security

First it was the "Fiscal Cliff"....Now "Sequestration" gets to take center stage. 

"Sequestration" — a set of mandated federal spending cuts due to take effect Friday if Congress and President Obama cannot reach an agreement — will not include cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security.

But that doesn't mean Social Security is immune to the situation, and it could have an impact on the agency's Creve Couer office, which serves 20 ZIP codes in the region, including the Chesterfield area.

According to CNBC:

"The Social Security Administration would have to furlough workers for ten days or more. That would likely delay the processing of retirement and disability claims and a smaller staff would mean offices would be closed early or permanently, resulting in longer wait times for service. Social Security checks are still expected to be mailed."

The Baltimore Sun reports the cuts would leave people who call the agency's hotline on hold for 10 minutes and delay some disability decisions by a month.

Patch left messages seeking comment from the agency's press office and was directed to the Office of Management and Budget. Patch will update this story when comment is received from the OMB.

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