President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to head the Social Security Administration on Thursday promised senators that he would address hardships the agency has caused by trying to recoup billions of dollars it mistakenly overpays beneficiaries each year.<\/p>\n

At his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Democratic former Maryland Gov. Martin O\u2019Malley said he would \u201cabsolutely prioritize\u201d reducing overpayments and improving the appeals process for millions of people asked to repay money, often years later.<\/p>\n

At least seven senators identified overpayments as a key concern during hours of questioning at Thursday\u2019s hearing and asked O\u2019Malley about how he would address the issue. Several committee members have cited joint investigations<\/a> by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group television stations, which reported the scope of the overpayment problem; how retired, disabled, and low-income beneficiaries have been affected; and the broad range of issues that can cause overpayments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been heartbreaking reading some of these stories\u201d of people who face government collection efforts \u201cthrough no fault of their own\u201d and \u201cwithout regard\u201d for their circumstances, O\u2019Malley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply concerned about the burden placed on individuals when the Social Security Administration works to recoup payments that the agency made because of its own errors,\u201d Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) told O\u2019Malley. \u201cWe have constituents who are reaching out all the time to share that they\u2019re struggling to make ends meet because SSA has unexpectedly and drastically reduced their benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beneficiaries routinely receive demands for repayment long after they have spent the money.<\/p>\n

Many of the overpayments are the result of beneficiaries\u2019 failure to comply with federal requirements. But others are the result of errors by the Social Security Administration. Complex, hard-to-follow rules contribute to the problem. And beneficiaries often struggle to respond to overpayment notices because they have trouble reaching Social Security employees by phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to correct that,\u201d said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who raised the issue during the hearing.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Malley added that Social Security\u2019s attempts to claw back overpayments that were the result of covid relief payments were \u201can outrage,\u201d and he pledged to correct it.<\/p>\n

The agency frequently overpays people for months or years before catching the mistake. By then the amount to repay can balloon into tens of thousands of dollars. To recoup alleged overpayments, the Social Security Administration often reduces or suspends beneficiaries\u2019 monthly benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to do a better job of recognizing the justice at stake in each of these individual cases,\u201d O\u2019Malley said.<\/p>\n

Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told of a severely disabled constituent who is unable to work, lives with her parents, and pays them half of her benefits from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program each month as rent. The constituent was recently notified that she owes the government more than $9,000, Wyden said, because she still received a rental subsidy from her parents.<\/p>\n

Wyden said he and other senators have proposed legislation \u201cto friggin\u2019 simplify the program and reduce these overpayments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under questioning by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), O\u2019Malley agreed that limits on the amount of assets beneficiaries are allowed to hold are root causes of overpayments. The limits, which haven\u2019t been increased for inflation since the 1980s, stand at $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples.<\/p>\n