Here's a good one from the Trump budget proposal. "The Budget proposes increasing the minimum monthly overpayment collection from $10 a month to 10% of the overpayment amount." (I don't have a link to this yet but it's for real.) Let's see how that might work. The claimant owes $25,000. The least that can be collected is $2,500 per month? Do they realize that this would deprive that claimant of all their monthly benefits for a period that would probably be well over a year even though the overpayment may not be the claimant's fault? To make it even better, there's another proposal to exclude Social Security debts from discharge in bankruptcy! If this is all adopted, it may be necessary to double the number of security guards at the field offices.
It's not 10% of the total amount of the overpayment. It's 10% of the monthly benefit....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ssa.gov/budget/FY17Files/2017BO.pdf
This is pretty standard in other programs (such as food stamps).
Charles, please be more responsible in providing facts in your posts. Amazing how quickly you jump from a totally false reading of the budget proposal to finding it necessary to double the number of security guards at field offices.
ReplyDeleteIt actually appears these two different ways - 10% of the overpayment amount and 10% of the benefit amount - in different budget documents.
ReplyDeleteHere (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2018-APP/pdf/BUDGET-2018-APP-1-30.pdf), on p. 1116, it says 10% of the overpayment amount. Like Charles, I was shocked to see this.
But in SSA's own budget justification materials here (https://www.ssa.gov/budget/FY18Files/2018BO.pdf), on p. 26, it says 10% of the monthly benefit payable.
Anon 12:04 is absolutely right. The documents say two different things. And under the scenario that repayment goes from $10 month to 10% of the amount owed per month, I can see that having more guards isn't out of bounds.
ReplyDelete