{"id":2150,"date":"2023-12-15T10:34:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T10:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2150"},"modified":"2023-12-15T10:34:11","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T10:34:11","slug":"until-it-is-fixed-congress-ramps-up-action-on-social-security-clawbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2150","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Until It Is Fixed\u2019: Congress Ramps Up Action on Social Security Clawbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Senate Finance Committee is ramping up oversight of Social Security\u2019s overpayment problem and plans to meet with the agency every month \u201cuntil it is fixed<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Social Security Administration assured lawmakers in the past that it had been addressed, but \u201cwhat you all found in your reporting is that the problem hadn\u2019t been fixed,\u201d Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Wyden was referring to an ongoing investigation<\/a> by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group television stations reporting how the agency has been issuing billions of dollars in overpayments \u2014 benefits it claims people never should have received \u2014 and then, sometimes years later, demanding they pay<\/a> the money back.<\/p>\n

\u201cMillions of these individuals are walking an economic tightrope, balancing their food bill against the fuel bill, the fuel bill against the rent bill,\u201d Wyden said. \u201cAnd they have one of these overpayments and it just hits them like a wrecking ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, congressional legislation that would raise asset limits for millions of Social Security recipients for the first time in decades has been gaining support.<\/p>\n

The amounts the agency alleges people owe the government often total tens of thousands of dollars. The recipients include many of the nation\u2019s most vulnerable \u2014 people who are disabled and have minimal savings and incomes. Often the overpayments result from errors or lapses on the part of the Social Security Administration.<\/p>\n

The agency has been sending overpayment notices to more than 2 million people<\/a> a year, according to a government document KFF Health News and CMG obtained through a request under the Freedom of Information Act. The notices typically ask recipients to repay the government within 30 days. They also explain how to appeal or request that the government waive the debt.<\/p>\n

The Finance Committee oversees Social Security. Wyden spoke with KFF Health News and CMG on Dec. 12 in his first interview with the news organizations since they began reporting on Social Security overpayments and clawbacks months ago. He was elaborating on a statement the committee posted last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the point person for getting this fixed, I\u2019m committing to getting this turned around,\u201d Wyden said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour reporting has just been invaluable in terms of kind of opening up a lot of visibility and awareness to something that needs to be fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wyden is co-sponsor of a Senate bill that would address one of the root causes of overpayments.<\/p>\n

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