From the portions of the President's proposed budget concerning Social Security:
- ... Reduce improper payments caused by barriers for beneficiaries to report income and assets. The Budget proposes to reduce improper payments in disability programs by targeting administrative resources to the development of a uniform system of reporting in mySocialSecurity. This is in addition to instituting a holistic view that provides all beneficiaries’ data, including income and assets, in one electronic location, while simultaneously developing a network of automated processes across other IT platforms for work-related benefit payment adjustments, work continuing disability reviews, redeterminations, and payments to Ticket to Work providers. In addition, future related legislative changes to address the root causes of these improper payments could include requiring suspension of benefits when beneficiaries neglect to report wages and resources, and instituting mandatory training for beneficiaries on reporting requirements prior to receipt of their first benefit checks. These administrative actions would result in $11 billion in outlay savings over 10 years. ...
- Increase the overpayment collection threshold for OASDI. The Budget would change the mini-mum monthly withholding amount for recovery of Social Security benefit overpayments to reflect the increase in the average monthly benefit since SSA established the current minimum of $10 in 1960. By changing this amount from $10 to 10 percent of the monthly benefit payable, SSA would recover over-payments more quickly and better fulfill its stew-ardship obligations to the combined Social Security Trust Funds. ...
- Simplify administration of the SSI program. The Budget proposes changes to simplify the SSI program by incentivizing support from recipients’ family and friends, reducing SSA’s administrative burden, and streamlining requirements for applicants. SSI benefits are reduced by the amount of food and shelter, or in-kind support and maintenance, a beneficiary receives. The policy is burdensome to administer and is a leading source of SSI improper payments. The Budget proposes to replace the complex calculation of in-kind support and maintenance with a flat rate reduction for adults living with other adults to capture economies of scale. The Budget also proposes to eliminate dedicated accounts for past due benefits and to eliminate the administratively burdensome consideration whether a couple is holding themselves out as married. This proposal costs $13 million over 10 years. ...
- Exclude SSA debts from discharge in bankruptcy. Debts due to an overpayment of Social Security benefits are generally dischargeable in bankruptcy. The Budget includes a proposal to exclude such debts from discharge in bankruptcy, except when it would result in an undue hardship. ...
- Establish replacement Social Security card fee. The Budget proposes to collect fees on replacement Social Security cards. First-time Social Security cards including cards issued at birth would not be subject to the fee....
Make no mistake. These changes are NOT about improving the SSA programs. They are all about CUTTING BENEFITS to families who live in poverty already. Every single policy change is designed to slash benefits and hurt low income seniors and people with disabilities.
ReplyDeleteDo not get sidetracked.
"incentivizing support from recipients’ family and friends"
ReplyDeleteIs that Trumpspeak for lets cut Social Security benefits to the impoverished elderly and people with disabilities? What if a person does not have a rich generous family member or friend who is willing and able to support them? In my experience dealing with SSI recipients, few do.
If by this, they mean lifting restrictions on ABLE accounts, then that is great although most SSI recipients still don't have friends or family who could fund such accounts.
@7:21
ReplyDeleteHa, I appreciate the sentiment, but no. The change would be to eliminate the reduction for "in-kind support and maintenance," meaning rich generous family members or friends who are already willing to support beneficiaries will be able to do so, without the government cutting benefits, which is the system currently in place.
As to ABLE accounts, I don't think there is any proposed change to that system.
SSA has stopped explaining overpayments, failing to state in the overpayment letters why there is an overpayment and for which month(s). This is ludicrous, as SSA now sends letters "You are overpaid XXXX dollars. Refund in 30 days." When a request is made for a breakdown of the amount listed, SSA takes years to respond. This does not give due process to beneficiaries. Yet this administration wants to make it even more difficult to contest such arbitrary actions by SSA.
ReplyDeletePeople aren't hired that can do that kind of critical thinking and problem solving. I took over an office that the previous manager was doing production and this kind of work.
DeleteThe most pressing need regarding reports of wages is for SSA to get their act together and provide a way for beneficiaries to report wages/self-employment and get a receipt from SSA to prove they reported. Up til now, it's often been like a black hole; beneficiaries reported but had no way to prove it,and who knows where the reports went. MyAccount is a good start, but more needs to be done.
ReplyDelete@10:26
ReplyDeleteOh, ok, I see. That's good for SSI recipients who have family and friends providing support. What about "a flat rate reduction for adults living with other adults to capture economies of scale"? If you are living with other adults, the SSI benefit would reduced by a designated amount I presume. That would be in lieu of tracking in-kind support and maintenance from others. I can see that being easier to administer. It may be tough on people though. Currently, lets say 2 SSI recipients live in an apartment with expenses of $600/month. As it stands now, if both pay $300 towards the $600 household expense, then no in kind support and maintenance is owed. They each get the full SSI benefit. Different result under the proposed change?
I worked in an FO for a time. I can tell you that there are a lot more SSI recipients that avoid reporting income/work, and have to be caught up on (and then hit with an overpayment) than actually report. I have to wonder where the strong emotions from posters come from, who seem to think that nearly every SSI recipient is somehow getting the short end of the stick. Keep in mind SSI is 100% a handout from the general fund. Vent instead on the political and economic forces that cause income disparity.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in all honesty, the rules for SSI computations are too baroque. I think it would make most sense to remove a lot of the things that cause a reduction in SSI payments, just to relieve the paperwork needs. When there is far too much to do to document all the thousands of SSI recipients' living arrangements, income, assets, etc., it leads to more spurious application of the rules, because some people get overlooked for the reductions.