Social Security’s overpayment fixes help many but remain unfinished

ATLANTA — Tens of thousands of people are having less money withheld from their Social Security checks because of changes the agency made after a series of Channel 2 Action News investigative reports.

Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley promised to overhaul the Social Security Administration’s often heavy-handed efforts to claw back money that millions of recipients — including people who are living in poverty, are elderly, or have disabilities — were allegedly overpaid, as described by a Channel 2 Action News investigation in partnership with KFF Health News and our Cox Media Group sister stations last year.

“Innocent people can be badly hurt,” O’Malley said at the time.

Nearly eight months since he appeared before Congress and announced a series of policy changes, O’Malley’s effort to fix the system has made inroads but remains a work in progress.

O’Malley announced on Monday that he will be resigning from office at the end of the month.

The number of people from whom the Social Security Administration was withholding full monthly benefits to recoup money declined sharply — from about 46,000 in January to about 7,000 in September, the agency said.

“We are no longer going to have that clawback cruelty of intercepting 100% of a payment,” O’Malley pledged in the spring.

Asked to clarify whether those numbers and others provided for this article covered all programs administered by the agency, the SSA press office did not respond.

Lithonia resident Cecelia Malone, 24, said SSA is now only withholding $1 a month from her disability check.

“They said until all the cases are resolved, they’ll only withhold $1 a month until they can get the system sorted out,” Malone told Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray.

Malone is one of more than 700 people who reached out to Channel 2 Action News, our investigative partners at KFF Health News, and our Cox media group sister stations to share overpayment clawback horror stories.

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She’s one of nearly 200 people who answered a follow-up survey this fall.

An SSA spokesperson tells us, “The changes we’ve implemented so far have had a positive impact on tens of thousands of beneficiaries – more than 34,000 people have seen their withholding rates reduced.”

Since she was 8, Malone has suffered debilitating migraines. Errors by SSA have twice now led to overpayment clawback demand letters. Decisions that were eventually overturned.

“It got to the point where I went to the E.R. because I was so scared and in so much panic for over a week. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep,” Malone said.

Another potentially significant change — relieving beneficiaries of having to prove that an overpayment was not their fault — has not been implemented. The agency said it is working on that.

When the Social Security Administration alleges someone has been overpaid and demands the money back, the burden is on the beneficiary to prove they were not at fault.

Malone said she and her parents spent hundreds of hours trying to get errors corrected. “Why is the burden on us to ‘prove’ we weren’t overpaid?” Malone said.

It can be exceedingly difficult for beneficiaries to appeal a decision. The alleged overpayments, which can reach tens of thousands of dollars or more, often span years. And people struggling just to survive may have extra difficulty producing financial records from long ago.

Even a partial withholding of a benefit check can have major impacts on recipients living on a limited income.

College Park resident and retired veteran Joshua Dennis owes $33,000 for an overpayment SSA acknowledges was a government mistake.

He continues to have more than $1,000 withheld from his Social Security check each month.

“I couldn’t bear it at first. I had to cut back on things in order to survive,” Dennis said.

The number of people newly placed in full withholding plummeted from 6,771 in February to 51 in September, according to data the agency provided.

SSA said it would notify recipients they could request reduced withholding if it was already clawing back more than 10% of their monthly checks.

Nonetheless, dozens of beneficiaries or their family members told KFF Health News and Cox Media Group they hadn’t heard they could request reduced withholding. Among those who did ask, roughly half said their requests were approved.

According to the SSA, there has been almost a 20% decline in the number of people facing clawbacks of more than 10% but less than 100% of their monthly checks — from 141,316 as of March 8 to 114,950 as of Oct. 25, agency spokesperson Nicole Tiggemann said.

Meanwhile, the number of people from whom the agency was withholding exactly 10% soared more than fortyfold — from just over 5,000 to well over 200,000.

And the number of beneficiaries having any benefits withheld to recover an overpayment increased from almost 600,000 to almost 785,000.

KFF Health News contributed to this article.

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