The federal agency that oversees Social Security announced Wednesday that it will review the way it handles “overpayments” — money it sends beneficiaries that it later determines they weren’t entitled to receive.
The Social Security Administration made the announcement weeks after KFF Health News and Cox Media Group reported that the agency has been trying to reclaim billions of dollars from beneficiaries, including many poor, retired, and disabled people who have spent the money and are unable to repay it.
“Despite our high accuracy rates, I am putting together a team to review our overpayment policies and procedures to further improve how we serve our customers,” Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a news release.
Kijakazi said she had chosen a “senior official” to lead the team and report directly to her. …
This issue will certainly come up when there’s a confirmation hearing for Martin O’Malley’s nomination for Commissioner. I hope that’s coming up soon.
It's not rocket science, but of course, since this is government, it has to become a mountain.
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority of overpayments are related to work, primarily on the DIB/DI side, but also RSI with the AET. spend the next two years and significant resources, and develop an automated system that allows people working while receiving benefits to report their wages, and make it mandatory. If you say you're working and we don't get a report for, let's say, 3 months, you get a 30 day due process letter then you're suspended until we receive them. Congrats, I just solved 75% of all overpayments.
Thanks but no thanks. The amount of chaos that would cause would be unmanageable.
DeleteThe agency said it had just released a “streamlined waiver request form that is easier to understand and less burdensome.” They did? I must have missed that email.
ReplyDeleteWhere’d you hear that?
Delete@12:09 https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/federal-government-to-review-social-security-overpayments/
DeleteThanks…now where is that streamlined waiver hiding? I must have missed that email as well.
DeleteAre they talking about the waiver form we use now versus the old one from a few years ago? I bet that’s it…lol.
Typical government garbage.
There are so many ways Congress could change the laws to encourage work and reduce overpayments at the same time. Also, allowing benefits to be payable for the month a person dies rather than considering it an overpayment and clawing it back would measurably increase payment accuracy.
ReplyDeletePutting some oomph behind near-time wage reporting (and entitlement processing) would eliminate so, so many of these overpayments.
ReplyDeleteGet rid of ISM and the AET, and now you've eliminated 90% of overpayments.
Eliminating ISM and the AET would be a good start to lowering overpayment creation.
DeleteOh sure, and close banks to prevent bank robberies.
Delete