American families fell into financial ruin after Social Security clawbacks. Now 4 changes offer a reprieve
Close to 70 million Americans rely on Social Security benefits every month. According to official estimates, around $1.5 trillion will be distributed this year to the country's economically insecure, which includes retired and disabled workers, their dependents and survivors of deceased workers.
However, the federal agency that runs this key program came under fire from lawmakers recently. News reports revealed it was aggressively trying to claw back billions of dollars from those it now says it overpaid, often through no fault of their own.
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As a result, it has announced four steps it will be taking to immediately address overpayment issues and make things easier for beneficiaries.
According to the investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group, the Social Security Administration (SSA) demanded repayments from millions of Americans and sometimes the amounts they had to repay reached tens of thousands of dollars. When they didn't respond to this demand for repayment, 100% of their monthly checks were withheld until it was enough to cover the debt.
As Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley acknowledged this week, recovering overpaid benefits "without regard to the larger purpose of the program can result in grave injustices to individuals." Some of those affected even lost their homes.
The first of the four changes revealed this week is a 10% cap on the monthly Social Security benefit that will be withheld by default if an overpaid beneficiary doesn't respond to the demand for repayment.
The duration of repayment plans will be increased from up to 36 months to up to 60 months. To qualify, 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.
Beneficiaries will no longer bear the burden of proof in determining whether they were at fault in causing the overpayment.
"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," said O’Malley.
The SSA’s overpayment problem
These changes have been a long time coming. In October, the agency launched a review, and in December, the Senate Finance Committee said it's "going to watchdog Social Security’s overpayment program, and will meet with Social Security every month until it is fixed."
In the fiscal year 2023 (Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023), the SSA recovered over $4.9 billion in overpayments, but it ended the year with $23 billion of overpayments still uncollected.
According to KFF Health News, the agency has admitted in the past that many overpayments were the result of errors by the government rather than the people — often elderly, poor or disabled — receiving the extra money.
Those getting Social Security benefits typically spend their checks on critical living expenses and health care. They’re not stashing it away to cover unexpected four- or five-figure repayment bills from the SSA.
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For some, the repayment burden is life-altering. As part of its probe into the matter, WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News spoke with Nicole Eberhart at an extended-stay hotel, where the legally-blind mom is now living after losing her $1,700 monthly disability check from the SSA due to overpayments.
“I was using that money to actually pay for the apartment we were living in,” she told consumer investigator Justin Gray, who has been digging into the overpayments issue for three years.
Here’s what you can do if you receive a dreaded repayment notice in the post.
Paying back benefits
As of December 2023, there were 67 million Americans receiving Social Security benefits. Of that total, over 8.5 million Americans were claiming disability insurance from the SSA, receiving an average monthly benefit of $1,395, according to federal data.
With numbers like that, it is only natural that mistakes can and do fall through the cracks — but the SSA does have official procedures in place to resolve payment issues.
“Benefits are overpaid when we can't accurately calculate your benefit amount because our information is wrong or incomplete,” the SSA explains online. “It can happen if you don't share updates with us about what's changed in your life, like your ability to work, living situation, marital status or income.”
If you receive a letter from the SSA which says you got more money than you should have, you have at least 30 days (plus five mail days from the date of the notice) to pay back the full amount. If you fail to do so within that time frame, the SSA will start collection of the overpayment — potentially by reducing Social Security monthly benefits, or garnishing wages and federal tax refunds — unless you submit a timely request for a waiver or reconsideration.
How to reduce or appeal your repayment
A shock Social Security repayment notice doesn’t have to end in your financial ruin. There are ways to request help from the SSA.
If you receive a valid overpayment notice but are unable to pay the SSA back within 30 days, you can request to repay your debt in smaller and more manageable monthly payments.
If you don’t agree you’ve been overpaid or the overpayment amount is incorrect, you can submit an appeal online or by mail. Make sure you have all of your medical information and supporting documents (including forms, legal documents, and written statements) ready before requesting a repayment consideration.
You can also ask the SSA to waive your repayment if you can’t afford it and feel the error wasn’t your fault, or if you think the overpayment is unfair for another reason. Again, the SSA may ask to see evidence of your income and expenses before they agree to waive your debt.
Receiving any type of payment demand can be scary — especially if you’re not expecting it — but the worst thing you can do is run from it. It is always worth contacting your collector to see if you can come up with a repayment plan that works for you and exploring other ways to improve your situation.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
