Emilia Sykes urges Social Security to reverse overpayment recovery policy that slashes benefits
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes wants the Social Security Administration to immediately reverse its decision to recover overpayments it issues to beneficiaries by withholding 100% of recipients checks until the overpayment is repaid.
In a letter sent Monday to Acting Social Security Administration Leland Dudek, the Akron Democrat asks that the withholding rate for overpayments be restored to the 10% level it was during President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Social Security payments are often a recipient’s only source of income and denying someone their monthly income means they may be forced to skip meals, forgo buying essential medicine or lose their housing,” Sykes wrote. “To hold seniors responsible for mistakes made by the Social Security Administration is a cruel and inhumane response.”
Social Security’s actuary office estimates the change, which became effective on March 27, will result in an overpayment recovery increase of about $7 billion over the next decade.
“We have the significant responsibility to be good stewards of the trust funds for the American people,” said a statement from Dudek. “It is our duty to revise the overpayment repayment policy back to full withholding, as it was during the Obama administration and first Trump administration, to properly safeguard taxpayer funds.”
SSA says it strives to pay the right person the right amount at the right time, and issues correct payments to most beneficiaries. When an overpayment occurs, it is required by law to seek repayment.
On March 27, SSA started mailing notices about the new recovery rate to its beneficiaries. The change applies only to new overpayments related to Social Security benefits. The withholding rate for current beneficiaries with an overpayment will remain at 10%. The withholding rate for Supplemental Security Income overpayments also will remain at 10%.
People who are overpaid after March 27 will automatically be placed in full recovery at a rate of 100% until the overpayment is recouped, the agency said.
Recipients have a right to appeal an overpayment decision or the amount in that decision. They can ask Social Security to waive collection of the overpayment, if they believe it was not their fault and can’t afford to pay it back.
If someone cannot afford full recovery of their overpayment, they can contact Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or their local office to request a lower rate of recovery.
Sykes says SSA contacts over 1 million Americans annually to recoup funds disbursed in error to beneficiaries. She says SSA hasn’t given Congress adequate statistics on the total number of people that will be affected by the change.
Although it can take SSA months or years to realize it has made an overpayment, Sykes says its actions to recover that overpayment cause nearly instantaneous adverse effects for affected beneficiaries when their benefits are frozen or cut.
Last year, Sykes introduced the Protecting Americans from Social Security Claw Back Act, bipartisan legislation that would prevent SSA from collecting a mistaken overpayment if the payment occurred more than three years before the SSA notified the beneficiary.
“There are more than 175,000 Social Security recipients in my district,” said a statement from Sykes. If any one of these recipients on a fixed income were to lose their only source of income, due to an error made by the government, through no fault of their own, the situation could literally be life or death. The Social Security Administration must immediately change this policy."
By: Sabrina Eaton
Source: Cleveland.com