At a Wednesday Senate Aging Committee hearing, Senator Reverend Warnock asked Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Martin O’Malley to explain how the Administration is working to address benefit overpayment clawbacks
During the hearing, Senator Reverend Warnock highlighted the story of a Savannah resident who owed $58,000 in benefits overpayments and had her benefits slashed due to the debt
Following Senator Reverend Warnock’s questioning, Commissioner O’Malley outlined the first steps SSA is taking to mitigate benefits overpayment clawbacks
Senator Reverend Warnock: “I think it is always important that we center the people as we discuss policy […] Savannah resident, Denise, got a letter from the SSA informing her that she owed the agency $58,000 in overpayments, through no fault of her own […] The agency reduced her monthly benefits to the point where she can no longer afford her rent. That’s the human cost, the human face”
ICYMI from CNBC: “Social Security commissioner vows to end ‘clawback cruelty’ with new plan for benefit overpayments”
Watch video of Senator Reverend Warnock’s questioning at Wednesday’s Senate Aging committee hearing HERE
Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, questioned Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Martin O’Malley about the urgent need to address SSA overpayments that can lead to Social Security beneficiaries having a significant portion of their monthly benefits withheld.
During the hearing, Senator Warnock highlighted the story of Savannah resident Denise Woods who received a letter from the SSA asking her to pay back $58,000 in overpayments that the agency mistakenly sent her. Woods couldn’t pay, which resulted in the SSA cutting her benefits to the point she was unable to afford rent and forcing her to live in her car, according to reporting from WSB-TV 2 and KFF Health News in December.
“I think it is always important that we center the people as we discuss policy, remember the human face of the issues we talk about. A few years ago, Savannah resident, Denise, got a letter from the SSA informing her that she owed the agency $58,000 in overpayments, through no fault of her own,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “She wasn’t aware of it until she got the notice years later, she couldn’t afford to pay that amount back and the agency reduced her monthly benefits to the point where she could no longer afford her rent. That’s the human cost, the human face of these policy issues,”
Senator Warnock’s questioning uncovered that the SSA is implementing several plans to address the overpayment problem, including:
- Ending the practice of intercepting 100% of a payment if a beneficiary does not respond to a notice of overpayment;
- Shifting the burden of proof that a beneficiary is at fault to the SSA;
- Extending the SSA’s overpayment recoup period from 36 months to 60 months, in line with other federal agencies, and;
- Making it easier for beneficiaries who have received an overpayment to apply for waivers.
Overpayments are a significant issue for SSA. During FY2022 alone, SSA made roughly $11.1 billion in new overpayments, the majority of which were to Social Security beneficiaries. As of October 1, 2023, SSA had an uncollected balance of $23 billion in overpayments. This is up over $1 billion since the beginning of FY2023.
Overpayments negatively impact beneficiaries who may have been unaware that they owed money to SSA—many beneficiaries cannot afford to pay SSA back by the time they are notified of their overpayment, which can happen years after the overpayments began.
Watch the Senator’s full remarks and line of questioning HERE
See below transcript of key exchange between Senator Warnock and Commissioner Martin O’Malley
Senator Reverend Warnock: “My office frequently hears from Georgians about benefit overpayments and subsequent claw-backs […] but I think it is always important that we center the people as we discuss policy, remember the human face of the issues we talk about.
SRW: “A few years ago, Savannah resident, Denise, got a letter from the SSA informing her that she owed the agency $58,000 in overpayments, through no fault of her own. She wasn’t aware of it until she got the notice years later, she couldn’t afford to pay that amount back and the agency reduced her monthly benefits to the point where she can no longer afford her rent. That’s the human cost, the human face of these policy issues.”
SRW: “If you were to outline the top two or three things that you think about, that need to be done right now, to begin and resolve this. What would those [be]?”
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Martin O’Malley: “On January 2nd I sent a ‘now hear this’ sort of welcome back after the New Years holiday to the command staff, the Senior Executive Service, I said our top priorities are […] to address the injustice we do to real people, who, through no fault of their own, who find themselves in the position of having 100% of their benefits, that they live on, intercepted until they can make other overpayment arrangements.”
MO: “[…] What can we do right now so that our obedience to the congressional mandate, that we take actions to recover overpayments when there has been a mistake, doesn’t run contrary to the whole purpose of the act itself – […] is to keep seniors from being put under a bridge, through no fault of their own.”
MO: “Today I’m able to announce that we are no longer going to have that claw-back cruelty of intercepting 100% of a payment, if people do not respond to our notice to call us and work out other terms.
MO: The second thing we are going to do is shift the burden from asking the claimant to prove that they didn’t contribute to it, instead to a neutral decision, if we have reason that says they were at fault, we should have to produce that reason, no them.
MO: “Just as the VA, when they make mistakes, has a 60-month period to recoup that overpayment – we had been operating on 36 months – we are going to extend that to 60.
MO: “We are going to make it easier for people that have received an overpayment to be able to file for a waiver. […] Those things will all have a big impact on some of the people who find themselves in the positions like the women who called your office.”
SRW: “It’s good to hear the ways in which you are focused on this, and we’ll remain vigilant alongside you in this effort. People like Denise and others shouldn’t have to be penalized for a situation they did not create.”