This is going to suck for so many people. Rural, the blackbelt of Georgia Alabama, you name it. I don't have any doubt which areas will be targets for office closures. This is going to be rough.
I know this from my personal experiences for the past 3 years.
I know this from coaching others.
When you do this over the phone it is fast. It is quick. It doesn't waste time. It is efficient. The worse part is you can be on hold for much too long before you get to speak with someone. They have always been kind, courteous, and gone out of their way to help me, though.
You simply can't do many things on line. You just can't.
I've also had to use the fax (virtual fax) a LOT. How many people have that? Or even know how to use it?
It takes months to get a response for an SSA-44 for instance, and you can't fill that out online. Sometimes you don't hear a word - until you get your IRMMA adjustment and premium notification.
To have to schedule an office visit is nearly imnpossible as it is, nor is it anything to be desired.
And then to force people to find a way to get to the office which may not even been near you?
How do you schedule that appointment? Phone? Internet? If you aren't able or capable of using a computer? Have a landline? Just forget about doing it.
And what about older folks, disabled folks, folks that don't drive, don't have access to transportation.
And the morons deciding this are who? Musk? His Team Teen2Twenties? Clueless who the customer is? Living in their own perfect health and youth imagining everyone is just as able as they?
As I said:
This is nasty.
It is cruel.
It is evil.
It is punitive.
It is intended to deter people from getting what they are entitled to receive.
gravyamazed in the waiting room to hell