Social Security Announces Four Key Updates to Address Improper Payments
Reading Time: 3 MinutesLast Updated: March 20, 2024
Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley today announced he is taking four vital steps to immediately address overpayment issues customers and the agency have experienced. Commissioner O’Malley testified before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance (excerpt):
“For 88 years, the hard-working employees of the Social Security Administration have strived to pay the right amount, to the right person, at the right time. And the agency has done this with a high degree of accuracy over a massive scale of beneficiaries. But despite our best efforts, we sometimes get it wrong and pay beneficiaries more than they are due, creating an overpayment.
When that happens, Congress requires that we make every effort to recover those overpaid benefits. But doing so without regard to the larger purpose of the program can result in grave injustices to individuals, as we see from the stories of people losing their homes or being put in dire financial straits when they suddenly see their benefits cut off to recover a decades-old overpayment, or disability beneficiaries attempting to work and finding their efforts rewarded with large overpayments. Innocent people can be badly hurt. And these injustices shock our shared sense of equity and good conscience as Americans.
We are continually improving how we serve the millions of people who depend on our programs, although we have room for improvement, as media reports last fall revealed. We have also embarked upon a deep dive into the extent of the overpayment problem at Social Security, the root causes of these administrative errors, and the steps we can take as an agency to address these individual injustices.
Our deeper understanding of the complexities of this problem has set us on the following course of action:
- Starting next Monday, March 25, we will be ceasing the heavy-handed practice of intercepting 100 percent of an overpaid beneficiary’s monthly Social Security benefit by default if they fail to respond to our demand for repayment. Moving forward, we will now use a much more reasonable default withholding rate of 10 percent of monthly benefits — similar to the current rate in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
- We will be reframing our guidance and procedures so that the burden of proof shifts away from the claimant in determining whether there is any evidence that the claimant was at fault in causing the overpayment.
- For the vast majority of beneficiaries who request to work out a repayment plan, we recently changed our policy so that we will approve repayment plans of up to 60 months. To qualify, Social Security beneficiaries would only need to provide a verbal summary of their income, resources, and expenses, and recipients of the means-tested SSI program would not need to provide even this summary. This change extended this easier repayment option by an additional two years (from 36 to 60 months).
- And finally, we will be making it much easier for overpaid beneficiaries to request a waiver of repayment, in the event they believe themselves to have been without any fault and/or without the ability to repay.
Implementing these policy changes — with proper education and training across the people, policies, and systems of the agency — is an important but complex shift. And we are undertaking that shift with urgency, diligence, and speed.
I look forward to working with Members to discuss ideas that could address the root causes of overpayments.”
Social Security launched a comprehensive review in October 2023 of agency overpayment policies and procedures to address payment accuracy systematically. Learn about Overpayments and Our Process on our website. These changes are a direct result of the ongoing review. Additionally, the agency recently announced it is working to reduce wage-related improper payments by using its legal authority to establish information exchanges with payroll data providers that will significantly reduce the number of improper payments, once implemented. The agency will continue examining programmatic policy and making regulatory and sub-regulatory changes to improve the overpayment process. More details on these updates will be shared as they become available.
To watch the testimony and read Commissioner O’Malley Statement for the Record, visit Keeping Our Promise to Older Adults and | Senate Committee On Aging.
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Laura
My social security office has been extremely rude and now refusing to talk to me. They have cut me off when I call say they will call back and “magically loose” paperwork. I was approved for benefits but have emails and proof saying I was going to get backpay first before overpayment since I had a Legal Aid in 2022 help me waive that. Instead they switched it and took all the retro backpay out lying and now with my appeal in place and me having up to 30+ emails from the congressman, social security, and disability determination now one wants to talk. Everything states I was supposed to get backpay first. I just am sick of lies. This waiting did no good for me and was pointless because I still have nothing and now they are making me still owe back. They don’t even have a bank account of mine because the one one file doesn’t exist. So right now I have nothing these two years were a waste, hassle, and this office made me sicker than I have been in the past 15 years.
Laura
My social security office had been extremely rude and not refusing to talk to me. They have cut me off when I call say they will call back and “magically loose” paperwork. I was approved for benefits but have emails and proof saying I was going to get backpay first before overpayment since I had a Legal Aid in 2022 help me waive that. Instead they switched it and took all the retro backpay out lying and now with my appeal in place and me having up to 30+ emails from the congressman, social security, and disability determination now one wants to talk. Everything states I was supposed to get backpay first. I just am sick of lies. This waiting did no good for me and was pointless because I still have nothing and now they are making me still owe back. They don’t even have a bank account of mine because they one one file doesn’t exist. So right now I have nothing these two years were a waste, hassle, and this office made me sicker than I have been in the past 15 years.
Lynn C.
I was informed in may that I owe $5,100. No fault of mine. They lowered my check of $300. I have appealed still waiting on how the determined that amount. It’s based on a year when I started to collect from my husband claim. So they figured the amount and now want me to repay. I feel it’s ss fault they need to eat the amount they say I owe. Then adjust my payment which they have already done. Being told this happens often doesn’t help me. Fire people if they make to many errors.
Warren L.
All you’re doing is messing up a lot of Seniors’ finances.
BELINDA M.
To whom this concerns
I retired Oct, 2020 received my first two payments Nov. & Dec.2020 I was still working part time until May, 2022 Every since I retired, I recieved two notices saying I owed $1,620.00, I allowed to be deducted from four payments that paid it off, from Jan. 2022 til Apr, 2022 my payments are direct deposited, unforturnately SSA only see’s two deductions, well May 2022 another notice came saying I $1,392.00 the same month I stopped working, I had a appointment in person and the rep, did not understand it herself, also on the SSA-1099 BENEFIT STATEMENTS YEAR 2022 it shows $2,085.00 taken for work Deduction and repaid then YEAR 2023 $468.00 Deductions , BENEFITS REPAID. I STOPPED WORKING MAY 2022 $39 HAS BEEN DEDUCTED MONTHLY AUG.2022 AND NONE STOPPED, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU GUYS OWE ME A LOT OF OVER DEDUCTIONS, THAT IS VERY UNEXPLAINABLE AND UNSEEN. A REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION CLAIM AS BEEN SENT, I ALSO FAXED ALL THE BANK STATEMENTS THAT SHOWS THE PAYMENTS DEPOSITED AFTER DEDUCTIONS FROM YEAR 2022-2023 ALONG WITH THE YEARLY BENEFIT STATEMENTS SHOWING DEDUCTIONS, I SERIOUSLY NEED TO SPEAK WITH SOME ONE HIGHER UP ABOUT THIS FINACIAL MESS, PLEASE! I HAVE KEPT EVERY PAPER AND NOTICES SENT!
S.S.
We’re sorry to hear about your experience, Belinda. For your security, we do not have access to private information in this venue. We encourage you to continue to work with your local Social Security office. You can ask to speak with a supervisor during your next call or visit. Or you can call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. You can also submit feedback by visiting our How can we help? webpage. From there, select the “Email Us” link. This will take you to the “Email Our Support Team” form where you can submit a compliment, complaint, or suggestion. We hope this is resolved soon.