Today, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson (D-CT) and Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny K. Davis (D-IL) sent a letter to Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Andrew Saul demanding that SSA forgive repayment of extra benefits paid to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This fall, SSA began notifying beneficiaries about these extra benefit payments, which were paid through no fault of their own. SSA also set up a limited process for some beneficiaries to have repayment of their COVID-19 overpayments forgiven. However there have been widespread reports that many beneficiaries have been unable to access even this limited relief.
“With the clock ticking, we urge SSA to immediately extend and expand the streamlined waiver process, providing all beneficiaries with immediate, automatic relief from COVID-19 overpayments. We also request that you provide us with detailed information on SSA’s actions and any relief that has been provided, to date,” wrote Larson and Davis.
“It is unfair and unjust for SSA to allow any hurdles to prevent beneficiaries from accessing relief from these COVID-19 overpayments,” continued Larson and Davis. “We urge SSA to immediately provide automatic relief for all beneficiaries with a COVID-19 overpayment, regardless of whether or not they apply for relief.”
The full letter can be viewed here.
3 comments:
If I am reading this correctly, the overpayments were caused by duplicate payments for the same month? And the people who received two payments for the same month were somehow unaware that they were paid twice as much money as other months? And that is why it is no fault of their own because they didn't realize they received two checks?? That seems pretty disingenuous. Someone who didn't notice getting two checks for the same month probably should not be managing their own money.
Perhaps I am not reading it correctly. What is the cause of these overpayments during COVID?
SSA did not process adverse actions during the pandemic period. So even if you reported something that would reduce or terminate your payment, we kept paying you regardless.
SSA did process adverse actions. I have seen OP notices and request for payments in records that were posted this year for cases that have been appealed, so there really should have been no overpayment issued. The claimant should have continued payments while their case was still being appealed but nope, attempts to collect a new 2020 OP (because their disabiltiy was terminated in 2019) are still being processed.
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