I warned this might happen. From Social Security’s blog:
The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced it will increase the default overpayment withholding rate for Social Security beneficiaries to 100 percent of a person’s monthly benefit. The Office of the Chief Actuary estimates this change will result in an increase in overpayment recoveries (i.e., a program savings) of about $7 billion in the next decade. …
As of March 27, the agency will begin mailing notices about the new 100 percent withholding rate, rather than the recent adjustment of just 10 percent. The withholding rate change applies to new overpayments related to Social Security benefits. The withholding rate for current beneficiaries with an overpayment before March 27 will not change and no action is required. The withholding rate for Supplemental Security Income overpayments remains 10 percent. …
They announced this late on a Friday afternoon. I wonder why.
O’Malley’s change should have been placed in the regs where it wouldn’t be so easily reversed.
Musk and the DOGE team at Social Security announced (at 5pm on a Friday), a return to the cruel-hearted policy of intercepting and clawing back 100% of a senior citizen’s monthly benefit check in the event of an accidental overpayment.
ReplyDeleteThis is the reversal of a policy that was urged and applauded by Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders alike upon its implementation last March.
But because of the mass firings and deep cuts to Social Security being made by the Musk/Trump co-presidency, the incidence of these sort of improper payments are now going up, again, instead of down.
So, the return to the 100% interruption and clawback of a beneficiaries monthly payments, will now inflict dire financial hardship on greater numbers of innocent seniors who depend entirely on their monthly Social Security benefit to survive.
The injustice of intercepting and clawing back 100% of an innocent retiree’s benefits to recoup overpayments, was the subject of widely seen 60 Minutes expose by Andy Court.
www.cbsnews.com · news · social-security-overpaymentHow Social Security's overpayment mistakes can become your ...
You are dearly missed, it was nice having an actual visionary and inspiring leader, if only for your brief tenure. Thank you for continuing to stand up for dedicated employees and the deserving public.
DeleteHold up. Is this really Martin O’Malley?
DeleteThank you for your relentless advocacy for the Social Security programs and the employees. You served the agency well and are missed. The current acting commissioner has no back bone and is unable to stand up for the programs and the American public. He is busy accommodating the wealthiest person in the world.
DeleteA Commissioner who worked to accomplish the real purpose of the program, to help provide financial security for our senior citizens and people with disabilities. We need you back, and a government that will fund the agency instead of trying to strip it bare.
DeleteI can’t tell you how much it means seeing you continue to fight for this agency, even after only a short tenure as its captain. Please do keep your voice up and out here!
DeleteAs if going after federal employees isn’t bad enough, we are now going after some of the most fragile members of our society. Mr O’Malley, you were and continue to be a class act. You truly cared about us and those who we serve. I wish you were still the Commissioner. We truly were Stronger Together. Those of us still standing on the front lines of this fight will continue to move forward together and stand for those we serve. Thank you for your service and for continuing to speak up to defend the work we do.
DeleteThey're going after vets, the elderly, and the disabled. Those are 3 groups I wouldn't mess with. They have the time and persistence to make life hell for these jokers. Sure hope Leland doesn't expect the frontline workers to take the heat when it comes. If it were me in the offices and on the phone I'd direct complaints directly to Leland, Congresspeople, the president, and the bunch of geniuses known as DOGE. I'm certain personal contact info on all of them wouldn't be too hard to find, what with the strong commitment to *transparency* this regime has.
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic news but not for the reasons cited by the first posters. The 10 percent withholding was a giveaway. It allowed people with full ability to repay to enjoy an interest free government loan. O'Malley gave away the farm on this one only because of some bad 60 minutes press.
ReplyDeleteI doubt you've ever set foot in a field office in your life, but I can promise you from experience that people with full ability to repay.......fully repay. By remittance. Full withholding does nothing there.
DeleteAnd if there is some dastardly retiree somewhere out there enjoying his 0% APR loan about to be caught by this policy, guess what? There's several hundred thousand seniors on fixed income about to be his collateral damage.
Good job, Kissinger. You destroyed the village to save it.
Sure, might even make up for the $200,000,000 spent on Kristi Noem's vanity immigration ads.
DeleteBeen in a field office a long time. You are crazy if you think everyone is honest.
DeleteThe 10% option was ok for a lot of situations, but there are T2 overpayments, caused by the claimant's actions, that are never going to be paid back at that rate. The 10% option should have been a tool in the CS toolkit, not the default. 50% or some other higher default amount maybe would have been ok, but 10% was too low for some overpayments.
DeleteOh, and the people in that 60 minutes episode were terrible examples because they were all at fault. It's not a "clawback" to recover taxpayer money from someone who is overpaid because they didn't follow the very, very basic rules. It isn't that hard to understand that when you're getting money because you can't work, you should probably check in with the people giving you money because you can't work, if you go back to work.
If someone isn't capable of understanding that, they need a payee. But if you suggest a payee, most of them suddenly become capable of understanding their responsibilities. Funny how that works.
Bottom line, it was a good idea, poorly executed. Reverting it back to full is a bad idea, also poorly executed. It's so frustrating how much these people get paid to be this bad at their jobs.
Only authority ACOSS *could* be appointed under is FVRA. But even if he had been validly appointed, this is beyond what he can do as an “employee” temporarily appointed under the FVRA. Why isn’t Congress or the Press pointing this out? How many weeks of decimation until these threshold issues are noticed?
ReplyDeleteSocial security used to care about protecting the trust fund. This move is well warranted. Good move Dudek and any others involved in reversing this disaster of a policy change by O'Malley.
ReplyDelete10% as the default was ridiculous. Many can't afford 100% repayment rate but they can make a timely request for a lower repayment.
DeleteActually, now that I think about it, the ACOSS’s actions would all be null and void. Man, even the administration might want to say ACOSS was not appointed — it would save the cancellation of the Maine and other state contracts
ReplyDeleteThe agency gives millions to WEP and GPO recipients but others get the 100% withholding on overpayments treatment.
ReplyDeleteWe have the significant responsibility to be good stewards of the trust funds for the American people,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “It is our duty to revise the overpayment repayment policy back to full withholding, as it was during the Obama administration and first Trump administration, to properly safeguard taxpayer funds.
Does this mean the informal waiver process is also coming back? I'm not sure that's a good idea. This change gives the customer three months to file a waiver or request a different rate of recovery. SSA often does a poor job keeping OP recovery moving after applying an informal waiver.
ReplyDeleteTranslation… privatization is coming sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteScott said during an appearance with fellow Republican Senators Ron Johnson, from Wisconsin, and Roger Marshall, from Kansas, at the Rescuing the American Dream Summit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, when talking about federal spending and how it might affect some programs, that he was "optimistic."
"I'm optimistic that we're going to get something done. I don't think it's easy. People are thinking the way Ron (Johnson) is saying that you can't cut, you can't cut, you can't cut. That's all great. Then you're not worried about any program you care about.
"Because Medicare is going bankrupt. Social Security is going bankrupt. Inflation can't go away. Interest rates can't come down. So, my belief is we're going to have to do this."
For fu**s sake. They aren’t going “bankrupt.” They’re being destroyed by cowards unwilling to fund them, because adequate funding requires that uber-wealthy campaign donors like the Kochs, Musks and Bezoses pay their fair share of taxes.
DeleteThink we can’t “afford” SSA or Medicare anymore? Explain how the hell we afforded them for decades despite a vastly lower GDP and overall level of wealth in the nation, then. Wake the hell up, republican sheeple!
Is zero too high to rate the SSA agency at this time? How the mighty have fallen.
ReplyDeleteThe Social Security Administration came in last place in the 2024 Best Places to Work rankings for the third year in a row. The agency received an overall score of 54.2 out of 100. SSA’s score last year still marked an increase in the overall engagement and satisfaction levels of its workforce. But now, SSA is outlining plans to lay off at least 7,000 of its employees.
Remember folks, Marty O'Malley did not spearhead the effort on his own initiative. He did so after a reaction to terrible press from 60 Minutes. And saying he continues to fight for SSA? He left SSA at the first possible chance to run for DNC. Consider his predecessor, Andrew Saul, refused to leave until he was fired.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are some beneficiaries at fault, but there are also some that are not and do not understand the frequent inconsistent notices. We are giving you a COLA. Next letter you owe us 50k. The process can be daunting even for the ones reviewing/adjudicating the cases. Imagine someone who has no agency knowledge. No, not everyone is honest, but all need the opportunity to explain and 100 percent in my humble opinion is too harsh. Oh and let’s have someone with no experience in this area help you with the overpayment process, as a mass exit of knowledge has let the agency.
DeleteSo the results that made common sense after the outcry were not worth it to make repayment less of a gd hammer to the back of the head? Reevaluate how you treat people because I don’t think you understand what the agency is meant to do.
DeleteIs this administration really worried about fighting crime, fraud and waste?
ReplyDeleteKRISTI NOEM SAYS $200 MILLION DHS AD CAMPAIGN THANKING TRUMP WAS HIS IDEA
Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary said he instructed her to make ads that “thank me for closing the border”
Let's face it, 10% withholding was way too low. Some of these overpayments were totally the claimant's fault, such as not notifying SSA when they were receiving workers' compensation. At 10 % withholding some of these overpayments would never be paid back before the claimant passed away.
ReplyDelete