The Social Security Administration (SSA) reversed course — at least partially — and announced it would only withhold 50% of the monthly benefit for some people affected by overpayments. In March, the SSA announced it would begin taking 100% of a person’s Social Security check if they were found to have been overpaid, meaning they received more benefits than they were supposed to.
However, just weeks later, the SSA partially reversed its decision, announcing it would reduce the withholding amount to 50% of the monthly benefit for certain individuals impacted by overpayments. This means some beneficiaries affected by overpayments will now get to keep half of their monthly benefit rather than having it all withheld.
Policy applies to Title II recipients
The revised policy applies to recipients of Title II benefits — which encompasses retirement, survivors and disability insurance — according to an internal emergency communication distributed to SSA employees in April. According to the agency, the 50% clawback for overpayments began April 25.
“Obviously, it’s better not to lose all of your income,” Kate Lang, director of federal income security at Justice in Aging, a national advocacy group focused on fighting senior poverty, told NBC News. “But if you’re relying on your benefits to pay your rent or your mortgage and buy food, losing half of that income is going to be devastating and can still result in people becoming homeless.”
Temporary clawback limit lasted one year
Last year, in response to serious problems such as seniors and disabled people being pushed into financial hardship or homelessness, the Biden administration limited how much the SSA could take back from overpaid beneficiaries and capped the clawback rate at 10%. However, that lasted about a year.
Overpayments often due to SSA errors
In 2022, the SSA’s inspector general, an internal watchdog, discovered that 73,000 overpayments happened because of errors made by the SSA itself, not because the people receiving the benefits did anything wrong.
SSA struggles with internal issues
In a new report from Kaiser Family Foundation Health News, the SSA is experiencing issues. People are being wrongly marked as dead, payments are getting delayed or lost, and basic tasks are slipping through the cracks. The issues have only been exacerbated since recent shake-ups at the agency, including staff layoffs, tech glitches, and efforts to clean up databases — all tied to a push by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency during President Donald Trump’s second-term initiative to fight fraud and modernize the system.
However, critics say it’s backfiring, leaving some of the most vulnerable Americans struggling just to get the benefits they rely on.
