From an update to POMS, Social Security’s main manual:
The Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA) of 1996 authorizes federal agencies to administratively garnish up to 15 percent of a delinquent debtor’s disposable pay without obtaining a court order. In March 2020, the Social Security Administration (SSA) suspended administrative wage garnishment (AWG) because of the economic hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
With this release, SSA will resume issuing AWG packages to the employers of eligible debtors. These packages direct employers to withhold a portion of an employee’s wages to recover delinquent debts. The release also includes system and program enhancements that require corresponding updates to SSA policies and procedures.
This notice is for SSI. There’s a corresponding update for Title II benefits.
These also remove a ten year limitation on AWG.
Interesting that this comes out just after the election. Must be a coincidence.
5 comments:
I find it interesting that this administration went after the SSI beneficiaries first. Then again, the BBB legislation cut 800 million out of Medicaid in order to give tax breaks to the wealthy. I guess the BLUE TSUNAMI hasn’t registered yet. 🌊
This enforcement is another attack on our population that need our assistance.
The Big Beautiful Bill, which was officially signed into law on July 4th, makes drastic cuts to health care, food assistance, student loans, and energy programs to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest people on the planet.
This bill includes limited tax benefits for tipped workers and Social Security recipients that go into effect immediately and will expire in 2028. Most changes to health care will be implemented over time, with many of the largest changes not occurring until 2026 - after the midterm elections.
Seeing as how impossible it is to get a job these days, it's not like anyone actually has wages to garnish!
But, if they did, does SSA even have the staff to ensure this AWG program is being properly administered? I am foreseeing situations where an overpaid person's debt is 100% recovered but the money keeps coming out of their check for months and months, and it could take years to get a stop-collection and/or a refund after the fact.
SSI beneficiaries are in the worst position to fight back! This administration always targets the weakest who have no voice.
This is going to cause a new burst of non-medical appeals and waivers landing on local FOs, and we simply don't have enough staff to timely handle them. Heck, we're drowning as it is. Every change this administration has made has had a negative ripple effect at the FO level, which in turn, negatively effects our ability to properly serve our customers. Very, very frustrating.
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