{"id":2518,"date":"2024-03-28T03:06:56","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T03:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2518"},"modified":"2024-03-28T03:07:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T03:07:00","slug":"social-security-chief-testifies-in-senate-about-plans-to-stop-clawback-cruelty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2518","title":{"rendered":"Social Security Chief Testifies in Senate About Plans to Stop \u2018Clawback Cruelty\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"republish-content\">\n\t<span class=\"byline\">David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The new chief of the Social Security Administration outlined for senators Wednesday a plan to tackle overpayments and clawbacks, which affect millions of beneficiaries and, he said, have caused \u201cgrave injustices\u201d and left people \u201cin dire financial straits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a joint investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group television stations reported in September, the agency has <a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/social-security-overpayments-investigation\/\">harmed people it is supposed to help<\/a> by reducing or halting benefit checks to recoup billions of dollars in payments it sent them but later said they should never have received.<\/p>\n<p>Testifying at two Senate hearings on March 20, Social Security Commissioner Martin O\u2019Malley said he is <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.ssa.gov\/social-security-announces-four-key-updates-to-address-improper-payments\/\">taking several steps<\/a> to address the problem.<\/p>\n<p>Starting next week, O\u2019Malley said, the agency will stop \u201cthat clawback cruelty\u201d of intercepting 100% of a beneficiary\u2019s monthly Social Security check if they fail to respond to a demand for repayment.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the agency will default to withholding 10% of the recipient\u2019s monthly benefits to recoup the debt, he said.<\/p>\n<p>That would have helped Denise Woods, a Savannah, Georgia, woman who ended up living in her car after the SSA clawed back her entire monthly benefit to recoup a $58,000 overpayment. The agency restored some of her benefits after <a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/social-security-clawbacks-homelessness\/\">KFF Health News-CMG reported her story<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople like Denise and others shouldn\u2019t be penalized for situations they did not create,\u201d Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said during one of the hearings. \u201cI think it\u2019s always important that we center the people as we discuss policy, remember the human face of the issues we talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the question of who caused an overpayment \u2014 the beneficiary or someone at the agency \u2014 the burden of proof will shift from the beneficiary to the agency, O\u2019Malley said.<\/p>\n<p>The agency will make it much easier for people who believe they weren\u2019t at fault or can\u2019t repay the debt to seek a waiver, O\u2019Malley said, which he later clarified means simplifying the form people must submit.<\/p>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpxi.com\/news\/investigates\/major-changes-how-social-security-overpayments-are-handled-following-11-investigates-reporting\/OFRBEBKTXZHUJG7E4ZXFNVDZPM\/\">WPXI-TV, Pittsburgh<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsbtv.com\/news\/local\/atlanta\/social-security-commissioner-says-he-had-order-changes-over-clawback-cruelty\/MX47TDSGFRHKXLBOASHX6US3BU\/\">WSB-TV, Atlanta<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Malley\u2019s plan also includes making notices to beneficiaries easier to understand. Now, they\u2019re \u201clike Mad Libs designed by mad lawyers,\u201d he testified.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the agency recently changed a policy to allow most beneficiaries to arrange repayment plans of as long as five years, up from three years, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Millions of people a year have been hit with clawbacks, including retirees, people receiving Social Security disability benefits, and the poorest of the poor. The alleged debts can stretch back years or decades and reach tens of thousands of dollars or more.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the last fiscal year, uncollected overpayments totaled $23 billion.<\/p>\n<p>In December, KFF Health News and Cox Media Group television stations obtained an internal agency document showing that more than 2 million Americans each year are subjected to overpayment demands, out of about 70 million beneficiaries.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Malley, a former Maryland governor who was sworn in as commissioner in December, had previewed his planned changes in <a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/exclusive-social-security-chief-omalley-fix-overpayment-clawbacks\/\">a recent interview<\/a> with KFF Health News.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, he appeared before the Senate Special Committee on Aging in the morning and the Finance Committee in the afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>In hours of testimony, O\u2019Malley said nothing about one of the reforms he heralded in the interview: limiting how far back in time the agency can reach to recover overpayments.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview between the hearings, O\u2019Malley said, \u201cThat\u2019s still being unpacked and may well require a change in regulation.\u201d He said he expected an announcement within a few months.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Malley said he didn\u2019t know how far back the limit would go but noted that other agencies tend to have a look-back period of four years.<\/p>\n<p>Establishing a statute of limitations is one of the most important steps the government can take to address overpayments, Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff, who has studied and written about clawbacks, said in an interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Social Security can\u2019t figure out its mistakes within 18 months, it should be on them,\u201d Kotlikoff said.<\/p>\n<p>Having to repay a year and a half of benefits could cost people their homes, Kotlikoff said.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca Vallas, who has helped beneficiaries navigate overpayments as a legal aid attorney and has called for reform of clawbacks, said the steps O\u2019Malley announced \u201care nothing short of historic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shifting the burden of proof \u201cis a dramatic change,\u201d said David Camp, chief executive of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants\u2019 Representatives. While a lot is riding on the details and how O\u2019Malley\u2019s plans are implemented, that change alone should lead to \u201ca very different experience\u201d for anyone challenging a clawback, Camp added.<\/p>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsoctv.com\/news\/local\/social-security-commissioner-has-new-plan-benefit-overpayments\/ZQ7WVH5WORFHBPTNMNW73AIV2Q\/\">WSOC-TV, Charlotte<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>In the past, there has been a gap between what the agency says and what it does. O\u2019Malley said 10% has been the default withholding rate in one of the Social Security programs, Supplemental Security Income. But KFF Health News and Cox Media Group have found people whose entire SSI benefit checks were suspended on account of alleged overpayments.<\/p>\n<p>The changes announced won\u2019t apply automatically to people already on a repayment plan or whose monthly benefits are already being docked, O\u2019Malley said outside the hearings. To take advantage of the new terms, beneficiaries would have to contact the agency and request relief, he said. The agency will notify people that they have that option, he added.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Malley implored lawmakers to increase funding for the agency. On average, customers trying to reach the agency by phone wait 38 minutes, he said. Most who call the 800 number \u201chang up in disgust after waiting far too long,\u201d he said in written testimony.<\/p>\n<p>Trouble getting through to anyone at the agency can contribute to overpayments and make it harder for recipients to resolve them.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), chair of the Special Committee on Aging, said that unless Congress provides adequate funding for the agency, fixing problems \u201cwill be really difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, the top Republican on that committee, called for looking at how the agency is run \u201cbefore we throw more money at it.\u201d He suggested focusing on what can be done to prevent overpayments \u201crather than forgiving them once they occur\u201d or trying to claw them back, \u201cwhich is insult on top of injury.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Malley noted that the Social Security Administration recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2024\/02\/15\/2024-02961\/use-of-electronic-payroll-data-to-improve-program-administration\">sought public comment<\/a> on a long-delayed plan to reduce overpayments by automatically obtaining monthly wage and employment data on beneficiaries.<\/p>\n<p>Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) praised O\u2019Malley for tackling what Wyden called \u201cthe scourge of overpayments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you\u2019re really off to a strong start in terms of righting wrongs,\u201d Wyden said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/about-us\">KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/about-us\/\">KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>USE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n<p>This story can be republished for free (<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/california-expanded-health-coverage-immigrants-medicaid-disenrollment\/view\/republish\/\">details<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group The new chief of the Social Security Administration outlined for senators Wednesday a plan to tackle overpayments and clawbacks, which affect millions of beneficiaries and, he said, have caused \u201cgrave injustices\u201d and left people \u201cin dire financial straits.\u201d As a joint investigation by KFF Health News and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-aging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2520,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518\/revisions\/2520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}