Social Security to Restore Full Recovery of 100% Overpayments – One America News Network
OAN Staff James Meyers
10:40 AM – Saturday, March 8, 2025
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced the reimplementation of a plan to recover 100% of overpayments made to beneficiaries.
Advertisement
In a statement released on Friday evening, the SSA confirmed it will revert to a default overpayment withholding rate of 100% for Social Security recipients, the same rate that was in place before the reforms of last year. By law, the agency must address overpaid benefits.
This decision follows the agency’s previous suspension of the policy last year, which had faced criticism due to instances where beneficiaries received alarming bills amounting to thousands of dollars.
In response to public backlash, the SSA had temporarily adjusted the withholding rate for individuals who had been overpaid to 10% of their monthly benefits.
On Friday, the SSA stated it will commence withholding 100% of benefit checks for new cases of overpayments. However, the withholding rate for those with overpayments incurred before March 27th will remain at 10%, as will the withholding rate for overpayments related to Supplemental Security Income, designed to assist low-income seniors and disabled Americans.
“Individuals who are overpaid after March 27 will automatically enter full recovery mode at a rate of 100% of their Social Security payment,” the agency highlighted.
The reinstatement of the 100% clawback policy drew significant criticism after many beneficiaries experienced unexpected bills demanding repayment within a mere 30 days. In certain instances, these bills reached tens of thousands of dollars, and if beneficiaries couldn’t make the payment immediately, the agency could withhold their entire monthly Social Security payment, causing severe financial strain.
In most cases, the SSA was identified as the source of the overpayments.
A 2022 report from the agency’s inspector general revealed that around 73,000 overpayments during that timeframe were attributed to insufficient “effective controls over benefit-computation accuracy.”
In the recent statement, SSA Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to restoring the overpayment recovery policy to full withholding.
He further stressed, “We have a significant responsibility to safeguard the trust funds for the American people.”
According to the SSA, reverting the withholding rate back to 100% from its current 10% is expected to boost recovered funds by $7 billion over the next decade.
Each year, the agency distributes nearly $1.6 trillion in benefits.
Stay updated! Receive breaking news alerts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here: https://www.oann.com/alerts
Advertisements below
