Earlier this month, Elon Musk targeted Social Security, calling it the “biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” without backing his allegation with any credible evidence. Since then, James McCaffrey, a 66-year-old US man, has also spoken out against losing his benefits without any warning.
The Oklahoma City retiree was born to an active-duty US solider at an overseas Army base, according to KTLA. His fears seemed to have come true after NBC News reported earlier this month about former Social Security administrator Martin O’Malley’s warning that DOGE‘s cutbacks could overturn millions of Americans benefitting from Social Security. In light of the US government’s recent crackdown, McCaffrey believes that his benefits’ suspension may have to do with his place of birth.
During an interview with NewsNation, he said that he was served with an unexpected Medicare bill, which asked him to pay $740 “before the 25th of this month” or he would lose his Medicare. McCaffrey never saw this warning coming since his Medicare payment is deducted from his Social Security check.
US retiree shares his Social Security woes amid Elon Musk rants
“So I called Medicare,” he shared. “They returned my call after a wait and told me that they were unable to process it through my Social Security payment, that there was some problem with it. We talked for a bit. He kind of let it out that he thinks it’s a possibility that my Social Security was suspended.”
Shortly after that, he called Social Security. But they put him on hold for more two and a half hours. Once he got a callback, officials confirmed that his account had been suspended. On Wednesday, a Social Security Administration rep called the old man to inform him that his benefits had been terminated. They did not give him any explanation. The Oklahoma City man couldn’t confirm the day his benefits were cancelled as Social Security never actually sent him any intimation for the same.
When asked if anything could be done to rectify the issue, a Social Security agent informed him that she would input “some stuff,” hoping that would fix the mishap. The next morning, McCaffrey got a “simple email” on his phone, saying that his normal payment would be resuming in April. The message did not refer to the March payment he had missed out on. Soon after that, he checked his bank account, only to find that his March check had since been deposited.
The incident brought back memories of his past experience with a Social Security office when he first went to apply for benefits. “The first person I talked to at the Social Security Administration told me that I was not an American citizen,” he added. “I was on American soil,” he said. “I’m American. She told me I was going to need to hire a lawyer, get a naturalization before I could even apply for Social Security.” The next day, he came back with all the documents that were asked of him, only to be told by another employee that he never needed them. “She’s just misinformed,” said the other person of contact.
According to KTLA, McCaffrey has an American birth certificate, which has been officially stamped and sealed by the federal government.
The elderly retiree also traced back his recent experience to Elon Musk’s March 10 interview with Fox Business. During the interaction, the billionaire heading DOGE doubled down on attacking Social Security. He said, “[Federal entitlements] is also a mechanism by which Democrats attract and retain illegal immigrants, by essentially paying them. If we turn off this gigantic money magnet for illegal immigrants, then they will leave.”