Terry Savage: Social Security relief imminent for recipients of unexpected overpayments

New Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley has just taken a major step to offer immediate relief to those facing clawbacks from his agency.last November — and in our book “Social Security Horror Stories.” Millions of Americans have been or are due to be contacted by the Social Security Administration with a demand to repay past benefits based on SSA’s mistaken calculations, some going back as far as 30 years.

“We are developing the systems updates so that in a few months our systems will automatically use the 10% default rate for new overpayments. But for now, our systems will continue to initially withhold 100% of a person’s benefit to recover an overpayment. During this interim period, I am relying on our front-line staff to manually adjust the withholding for beneficiaries who request a lower rate. We appreciate you making these adjustments while we update our systems.

Of special note, until the clawback form can be adjusted in the next two weeks, the commissioner instructs SSA employees to immediately adjust the withholding amount if anyone calls to complain! Many clawback claims have been sent out without factual justification — a failure of due process required by law. How can a claimant asking for a waiver defend himself against an accusation of fraud or failure to report offsetting pensions, if the SSA loses the paperwork? Or if they cannot find a physician’s report saying the person is no longer disabled?In his testimony to Congress, Commissioner O’Malley also promised to look into a statute of limitations on clawbacks.

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