One of the most frustrating parts of the disability system is overpayments.
Once approved for disability, Social Security can find they’ve overpaid you for any number of reasons. There could have been a miscalculation of assets for SSI, or a misunderstanding about work activity. In some cases, the fault is entirely on Social Security for paying out a higher benefit than they should have.
Regardless of the exact reason, when an overpayment is discovered, Social Security wants the money back. For many years, this could mean monthly disability benefits could be drastically reduced, if not completely eliminated, to cover the overpayment.
Last year though, Social Security finally reformed this system so that only 10 percent of a monthly benefit would be withheld to pay back what was owed.
It was a much better system that ensured disability recipients could receive most of what they were entitled to in order to cover their basic needs.
Unfortunately, that change is now coming to an end.
Under the new Trump administration, Social Security has announced that by default they will again begin collecting up to 100 percent of a monthly disability benefit to recover overpayments, potentially taking the only source of income millions of disabled Americans have. It could also result in losing Medicare coverage in some cases.
There are a couple of bright spots, though. The policy reversal will not extend to those on the need-based Supplemental Security Income program, and the changes will not be retroactive, so if you were already on a plan that put only 10 percent of your benefits toward an overpayment, that should still stay in effect.
