The Social Security Administration (SSA) is proposing major changes to reduce the amount of erroneous payments to beneficiaries.
SSA will share payroll data from employers with government departments to reduce reliance on self-reporting for people who can access SSA payment programs such as Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. I requested that it be replaced.
SSA has recently faced considerable backlash for attempting to recover overpayments to beneficiaries, some amounting to tens of thousands of dollars over several years. SSA estimates that $13.6 billion in overpayments occurred during fiscal year 2022, out of an estimated $1 trillion in annual benefits. The exact number of beneficiaries who owe money is unknown.
The agency examines how the billions of dollars it is required by law to recover from even some of the most vulnerable people in American society, including the elderly, the disabled, and survivors of original claimants. They also face questions about why the payments were made improperly. newsweek SSA was contacted for comment via email outside of normal business hours.
The proposed changes, known as Payroll Information Exchange (PIE), will reduce manual reporting errors and help identify wages that may go unreported, SSA announced in a Feb. 15 press release. Those who claim SSDI and SSI often find that misreported earnings result in overpayments.
The agency also acknowledged that although it is the law for the agency to recover any additional money paid, it “could cause financial hardship to beneficiaries.”
This change is only a proposal at this time, so there are still no changes to how people claiming SSDI and SSI report their income and status to government agencies. A public consultation on the changes is open until April 15th.
Secretary Martin O’Malley said: “Social Security is taking vital steps to reduce inappropriate payments, including overpayments, by ensuring we receive timely and accurate wage data.” “These automated payroll information exchanges address the inefficiencies associated with self-reporting and manual verification by introducing a more streamlined approach.”
An SSA spokesperson said: newsweek September 2023: “Social Security is required by law to adjust benefits or collect debts if it is determined that someone received a payment they were not entitled to and an overpayment occurred. “We must maintain our responsibility to taxpayers to be good stewards of the trust fund.” ”
“Each person’s situation is unique and we address overpayments on a case-by-case basis. This can happen for a variety of reasons,” the spokesperson continued. .
“We continually strive to improve program management and reduce improper payments.While personnel losses and resource constraints have made service delivery difficult, we continue to strive to improve the accuracy of our payments.” Rates remain very high.”
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