Social Security Increases Minimum Repayment Of Overpayments From $10 A Month To $50

      Per an issuance in Social Security’s manual made on October 1 but just now posted online.

45%? Are You Kidding Me? That's Insanely High!

     From David Weaver, a former Social Security executive writing for ICT (emphasis added):

Just-released data indicate that about 25 percent of children in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, have lost a parent or sibling to death. 

The childhood bereavement picture is very different in Union County, South Dakota, where about 2 percent of children have lost a parent or sibling to death. Ninety-three percent of individuals in Oglala Lakota County are American Indian (alone) and 94 percent of individuals in Union County are White.

South Dakota is not an isolated example. In western states, childhood bereavement is far more likely in tribal areas.  ...

Parents who work and pay Social Security taxes earn benefits for their children in the event of death. The benefit amounts are substantial, averaging $1,100 per month per child or $13,200 annually. 

Unfortunately, a lack of awareness about these benefits and administrative errors by the Social Security Administration have left many bereaved children behind. Nationally, about 45 percent of bereaved children are missing out on Social Security survivor benefits.

Many families are simply unaware that bereaved children may be eligible for Social Security benefits. This, in turn, is because the Social Security Administration has scaled back its communication efforts. 

For example, the agency no longer mails the Social Security statement to households each year. The statement provided detailed information on all types of Social Security benefits, including child benefits. ...

     It's almost as if they need attorneys to help them file claims or something. They certainly need for someone to tell them to file.

Back Pay For SSA Employees Coming Monday

      Social Security employees may already know this but they can expect their back pay on Monday.

SSAB Still In Business

      From American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries:

Amy Shuart is the new Chair of the Social Security Advisory Board, having been appointed by President Trump to that position on Nov. 12. She is the youngest Chair in the history of the SSAB. …

Shuart is not new to the SSAB, however. She had been appointed by the Speaker of the House effective Oct. 9, 2022 to a six-year term as a member of that body. She filled the vacancy created by the expiration of Hildred’s appointment to the SSAB, which ended in October 2022.

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Shuart also is no stranger to policy. Her nearly 20-year career in policy roles includes those of Staff Director of the Social Security Subcommittee of the Committee on Ways and Means, and Vice President of Technology & Innovation at Business Roundtable. Before that, she served as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Social Security Administration in the Office of Retirement Policy. She earned two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Virginia Tech and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. …

Threats Bring Charges In Cleveland

     From Cleveland.com:

A Cleveland man faces federal charges after authorities say he threatened to kill Social Security employees after he didn’t get his emergency disability check.

Aharon Meir Michoel Schur, 39, went to a Social Security Administration office twice and called the administration’s hotline several times to get his October check delivered to a new bank account, according to court records. 

When that didn’t happen, he made several threats— including threats to kill that he made on the phone and while he was at the Social Security Administration’s office on Waterloo Road in Cleveland, according to court records. …

On Sept. 30, Schur went to the Waterloo Road office to update his direct deposit information to a new bank account, according to court records. 

He hadn’t received his check by Oct. 6 and called the administration. The call was recorded, and an employee in Arizona told Schur that he needed to go in person to an office and take steps to obtain a “dire need” payment. 

Schur became upset during the call, saying that the delay put him and his son in dire need of money and that he may not be able to pay his rent, court records say. …

He said on the call several times that he was going to attack workers at the Waterloo building and burn the building down, court records say. 

“Play with my m-------------g family, I will kill everybody over my family and their well being, ma’am,” he said, according to court records. “I don’t give a f—k if this is a recorded line.” 

Schur made the threats while driving to the office, according to court records. 

He told the employee on the phone that he arrived at the office, that he was going to kill everyone inside and wanted her to stay on the phone so she could listen to it, court records say. 

Employees at the Waterloo Road office didn’t know of the threats until after Schur left, according to court records. A security guard stopped Schur after noticing he was yelling on the phone, court records say. 

An employee ultimately reissued the payment to Schur’s new bank account. …

Veterans Day

 

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Senators Want Answers

      From Government Executive:

… In a letter to [current Fiserv CEO Mike] Lyons, Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the top Democrats on the Senate Finance and Banking committees, respectively, demanded information about the circumstances that led to Fiserv’s issuance of overly rosy revenue projections and the subsequent decision to reevaluate those goals.

“At a minimum, Mr. Bisignano appears to have failed to manage Fiserv effectively, and may have misled investors and the public about the company’s financial status, raising concerns about his ability to serve as a key Social Security and IRS official in the Trump administration,” they wrote. “Because of Mr. Bisignano’s mismanagement, many Fiserv investors, including retirees and members of the public, lost money—a fate Mr. Bisignano avoided. Bisignano’s required divestment of company stock helped him avoid about 300 million in losses cause by the stock’s price decline by over 50%.” …