In March, the Social Security Administration announced that it was reinstating an old rule that allows it to withhold 100 percent of a claimant’s disability benefits in the event of an overpayment.
The policy change, instituted under the advice of the Department of Government Efficiency, received immediate pushback from both disability recipients and advocates.
And just one month later, SSA has backed down, though things aren’t quite back to where they were before.
Effective April 25, the administration will now withhold a maximum of 50 percent of an individual’s Title II Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.
While that will at least leave those affected some income, it’s still a far cry from the 2024 rule change under the Biden administration that capped overpayment claw backs at 10 percent of an individual’s monthly benefit.
One of the biggest problems with SSA’s overpayment policy is that is that it does not take into account why an overpayment occurs. In some cases, a claimant doesn’t properly report earnings or a change in their living situation that would affect their monthly benefits.
But in other cases, the Social Security Administration miscalculates benefits, and there’s almost no way a claimant could know about the mistake until the agency contacts them looking for their money.
It is possible to contest the overpayment, or request a waiver, though this information can be difficult to find online, and then requires dealing with SSA’ labyrinthine bureaucracy.
So while this latest adjustment to overpayment rules offers some relief, it still does little to address a much bigger problem.
