Written by David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group. Originally published in Kaiser Health News.
In March, newly appointed Social Security Secretary Martin O’Malley criticized the agency’s “injustice” that “shocks the sense of fairness and conscience we share as Americans.”
As reported by KFF Health News and Cox, millions of recipients, including those living in poverty, the elderly, and people with disabilities, will seek to recover money they were overpaid. He promised to overhaul the Social Security Administration’s often-heavy-handed approach. Last year’s media group survey.
“Innocent people could be seriously injured,” O’Malley said at the time.
It’s been nearly eight months since O’Malley came to Congress to announce a series of policy changes, and with two months left in his term, his efforts to fix the system are making progress, but still. It is still developing.
For example, beneficiaries say the change from having to keep 100% of a person’s monthly Social Security benefits to recover overpayments is a major step forward.
“This is a tremendous change,” said Kate Lang of Justice on Aging. “It’s life-changing for many people.”
The number of people for whom the Social Security Administration is withholding their full monthly benefits to recover funds plummeted from about 46,000 in January to about 7,000 in September, the agency announced.
The SSA Press Office did not respond to requests to clarify whether these and other numbers provided for this article cover all programs administered by SSA.
Another potentially important change, which would reduce the burden on beneficiaries to prove that the overpayment was not their fault, has not been implemented. The agency said it is working on it.
Meanwhile, officials appear to be hoping Congress will take the lead on reforms that some observers say would limit how far back the government can go to recover alleged overpayments.
Barbara Hubbell of Watkins Glen, New York, said the lack of a statute of limitations is “despicable.” Hubbell said SSA mistakes dating back 19 years left her mother liable for $43,000.
“In what world is that legal?” Havel said. She added that the overpayments left her mother “virtually penniless.”
In response to questions for this article, Social Security spokesman Mark Hinkle said enacting legislation is the “best and quickest way” to set a deadline.
The policy changes O’Malley announced in March testimony to Congress did not include establishing a statute of limitations. In an interview at the time, he said he expected an announcement “in the next few months.” He said it could probably be done by regulation without an act of Congress.
Generally speaking, Hinkle said the agency has “made significant progress on overpayments,” alleviates the hardships caused by overpayments, and “remains diligent” in updating its policies.
The agency is underfunded and staffing is at its lowest level in nearly 50 years, he added, and could do better with more employees. SSA did not respond to requests for an interview with O’Malley.
O’Malley announced the policy change after KFF Health News and Cox Media Group jointly published and aired an investigative report on overpayments and reversals for millions of beneficiaries. announced.
When O’Malley, a former Democratic governor of Maryland, presented his plan to three congressional committees in March, it was met with rare bipartisan praise. But the past few months have shown how difficult it is to rebuild a large, complex, dysfunctional and, if you will, understaffed federal bureaucracy.
Now, O’Malley’s time may be running out.
Lang, from Justice on Aging, which is part of an advocacy group that has met with O’Malley and other Social Security officials, praises the secretary’s accomplishments in a short period of time. said. But he added that O’Malley was “not interested in hearing our feelings that things weren’t good enough.”
One long-standing policy that O’Malley sought to change involves the burden of proof. If the Social Security Administration alleges an overpayment and requests a refund, the beneficiary has the burden of proving that they were not at fault.
Beneficiary Cecilia Malone, 24, of Lithonia, Georgia, said she and her parents spent hundreds of hours trying to correct the mistake. “Why are we being burdened with the burden of ‘proving’ that we are not overpaid?” Malone said.
It can be very difficult for beneficiaries to appeal the decision. Suspected overpayments can amount to tens of thousands of dollars or more and often extend over several years. And people who are just struggling to survive may find it even more difficult to keep track of their financial records.
Additionally, governments typically do not spell out their claims against beneficiaries in letters seeking repayment, making it difficult to mount a defense.
O’Malley testified before House and Senate committees in March, promising to shift the burden of proof.
“That should be communicated to the agency,” he said.
The agency plans to finalize “guidance” on the matter “in the coming months,” Hinkle said.
The agency points to shorter wait times and other improvements to a phone system that is known to put beneficiaries on hold. “In September, calls to national 800 numbers were answered in an average of 11 minutes, a significant improvement from 42 minutes a year ago,” Hinkle said.
Still, a non-representative survey by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group focused on overpayments found that about half of respondents who said they had contacted authorities by phone since April described their experience as “bad.” Very few people rated it “good” or “good”. “wonderful.”
The survey was sent to approximately 600 people who contacted KFF Health News from September 2023 onwards to share their stories of overpayments. Approximately 200 people responded to the survey in September and October of this year.
Most people who said they had contacted the agency by email since April rated their experience as “poor.”
Beneficiary Jennifer Campbell, 60, of Nelsonville, Ohio, said in late October that she was still waiting for someone from the agency to follow up as described in a May phone call.
“Very poor customer service!!!!!!” Campbell wrote.
“It’s almost impossible to reach anyone,” wrote Katherine Duff of Colorado Springs, Colorado. She has helped families with disabilities.
Duff was confused when he saw the letter from the SSA. One was postmarked July 9, 2024, which was more than two years ago. Another woman, dated Aug. 18, 2024, said her family received benefits from the Supplemental Security Income Program, which provides funds to people who are disabled, visually impaired, or over 65 and have little or no income or other assets. He said he overpaid $31,635.80 in benefits. Duff said none of her relatives have ever received SSI benefits.
Additionally, with respect to the dates in question, the payment amount listed in the letter to support the Agency’s calculations did not approach $31,635.80. The total amounted to about a quarter of that amount.
Regarding the 100% revocation, O’Malley said in March, “It is unconscionable that someone is left homeless or unable to pay their bills because Social Security has withheld full payments to recover overpayments. ” he said.
He said that starting March 25, if beneficiaries do not respond to new overpayment notices, the authorities will withhold 10% by default. The agency warned that “the transition period is short.”
The change wasn’t automated until June 25, Hinkle said.
According to data provided by the agency, the number of people who newly decided to hold the full amount plummeted from 6,771 in February to 51 in September.
The SSA said it will notify recipients they can request a reduction in withholding if they have already collected more than 10% of their monthly checks.
Despite this, dozens of beneficiaries and their families told KFF Health News and Cox Media Group that they had not heard they could request a reduction in their tax withholdings. About half of those questioned said their request had been approved.
The number of people facing repossession of 10% or more but less than 100% of their monthly checks decreased by almost 20%, from 141,316 as of March 8 to 114,950 as of October 25, according to the SSA. I did. Spokeswoman Nicole Tiggemann said.
Meanwhile, the number of people for whom the agency was withholding just 10% jumped more than 40 times, from just over 5,000 to well over 200,000. The number of beneficiaries whose benefits are being withheld in order to recover overpayments rose from about 600,000 to about 785,000, according to data provided by Tiggeman.
Lorraine Ann Davis, 72, of Houston, said she has not received her monthly Social Security payments since June because of an alleged overpayment. Her Medicare premiums were deducted from her monthly benefits, so she ended up paying the full amount out-of-pocket.
Davis said she was going to need a kidney transplant and was trying to save money for when she was no longer able to work.
A letter from SSA dated April 8, 2024, two weeks after the new 10% withholding policy was scheduled to go into effect, said SSA had overpaid her $13,538 and asked her to pay it back within 30 days. I asked for it.
Apparently, the SSA did not account for the pension Davis received from overseas. Davis said she disclosed that when applying for benefits.
In a June 29 letter to her, the agency said that under the new policy, it would reduce its stake to just 10% if she requested.
Ms Davis said she had repeatedly asked on the phone to no avail.
“It seems like no one knows what’s going on,” and “no one can help you,” Davis said. “You’re just being held captive.”
The agency announced in October that it would receive payments in March 2025.
Marley Preciado, research assistant with KFF’s public opinion research team, contributed to this report.
[Clarification: This article was revised at 9 a.m. ET on Nov. 18, 2024, to add the word “partial” in this sentence: “And the number of beneficiaries having any partial benefits withheld to recover an overpayment increased from almost 600,000 to almost 785,000, according to data Tiggemann provided.”]
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