A bevy of recent reports has indicated that some Americans are receiving demands from the Social Security Administration to repay.
A bevy of recent reports has indicated that some Americans are receiving demands from the Social Security Administration to repay the agency after they were overpaid on their benefits.
According to those published reports, the issue tends to arise when the agency overpays people who are receiving workers’ compensation payments. A recent Social Security Administration inspector general’s report (pdf) found that the administration collected about $4.7 billion in repayments in 2022, while about $22 billion remains outstanding.
For example, an Ohio nursing home worker told KFF News in a recent article that she has multiple health problems, including an artificial heart and cerebral palsy, and was getting about $862 a month and receiving about $1,065 in monthly Social Security disability benefits when she received a letter from the SSA saying she was being overpaid. What’s more, the agency said that it wanted the money back and told her to mail a check with the money in 30 days for about $60,000.
A Texas woman who spoke to Fox4 TV on Thursday said she received a similar demand from the SSA, saying she was overpaid and wanted the money back. The letter, according to the woman, wanted her to pay about $41,000, although she said an employee admitted to her that a mistake was made.
“She called me and told me, ‘Yeah, I made the mistake. I’m human,'” Danielle Prisock told Fox4. “I’m human as well, I said, and I didn’t make the mistake.”
The Social Security Administration makes payments for a variety of reasons. Benefits are paid based on one’s earnings record if they are aged 62 or older or if one has a disability or enough work credits.
Agency Responds
The Epoch Times has not received an SSA comment yet on these reports, but a spokesperson for the agency told multiple local news outlets that it handles overpayments on a case-by-case basis.
