BATON ROUGE — The Social Security Administration is changing its policies to reduce fraudulent claims.

Beginning March 31st, new and existing recipients will no longer be able to verify their identity over the phone. Instead many individuals will be required to visit the Social Security office for in-person identity verification.

Retired District Manager for Baton Rouge's Social Security offices Ricco Thomas believes this new change will be a disservice to those the administration is supposed to serve.

“If somebody's bedridden in the nursing home, or in some type of facility that may need to update their address, or telephone number, or direct deposit information, these folks will be disadvantaged and cut off from the Social Security Administration based on this new policy that they are implementing,” said Thomas.

The Trump administration plans to close 47 Social Security hearing offices, including the office in Houma.

Thomas said wait times were less than 30 minutes when he worked in the office. He predicts that these new changes will bring an influx of customers into the office, causing delays.

“Even if it's for a change of address, direct deposit, these people will wait for an exuberant amount of time just to get the most simplest things done,” said Thomas.

He said not only will these changes impact a vulnerable population, but they will put a strain on the employees.

“With more walk-in traffic, they will probably have to shut down the offices earlier to make sure to service customers waiting in the office to make sure they’re not exceeding the occupancy amounts,” he said.