Social Security says it will restart clawing back 100% of overpayments to beneficiaries

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

Updated on: March 7, 2025 / 7:14 PM EST


The Social Security Administration (SSA) said it is reinstating a plan to recover 100% of overpayments to beneficiaries, a policy the agency had abandoned last year after an outcry over cases in which the practice led some Americans to receive shock bills amounting to thousands of dollars.

In a statement, SSA said late Friday that it will increase the default overpayment withholding rate for Social Security recipients to 100% of a person's monthly benefit, the same level that it had in place before last year's reform. The agency is required by law to claw back overpaid benefits. Because of public backlash over the 100% recovery policy, the agency last year had capped the withholding rate for someone who had been overpaid at 10% of the person's monthly benefit.

On Friday, the SSA said it will start claiming 100% of benefit checks to cover new cases of overpayments, while the withholding rate for people with overpayments before March 27 will remain at 10%, as will the rate for overpayments for Supplemental Security Income, a program for low-income seniors and disabled Americans. "People who are overpaid after March 27 will automatically be placed in full recovery at a rate of 100% of the Social Security payment," the agency said.

The 100% clawback policy had sparked an outcry after instances in which beneficiaries were hit with surprise bills that demanded repayment within 30 days. In some cases, the bills were for tens of thousands of dollars. If beneficiaries were unable to immediately pay the bill, the agency could dock their entire monthly Social Security payment, leaving some people financially destitute, as reported by "60 Minutes," KFF Health News and other media outlets,

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-security-overpayment-100-percent-trump/

---

While the populace was gawking at the musical chairs tariffs that the media was promoting, THIS was going on "in the background". None of the M$M sources that I keep in tabs had this featured on their main pages last evening and apparently this was purportedly in CBS's "business" (MoneyWatch) section... somewhere...

WHY would that be in "MoneyWatch" and NOT on the CBS News front page?

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Sounds arbitrary.

[underpants]

2. I'm confused. If I get twice or three times my normal amount why would I spend it?

And if I did well that was two-three months of payment so I shouldn’t receive the subsequent payments and then we’re all square.

[gab13by13]

3. When I went to do my taxes

I got a Magat tax preparer. She told me about a lady who got benefits for her dead husband, The tax lady said that she informed, SSA, but they kept sending it. That's a possibility I guess and if that lady got her dead husband's benefits for several years, she is going to owe a lot of payback.

Now the law says if I die my wife is entitled to higher amount of SS. If my SS amount is higher than my wife's she gets my payment and hers is dropped. So I'm not sure if the Magat tax lady understood that.

[SADAR]

11. When my mother passed 12 years ago

I called SS right after the funeral and they said they knew about her death and had already stopped the checks.
I call BS on the MAGAT tax preparer.

[Bengus81]

27. She's a lying MAGOT. Funeral homes are required to send the form to the SS Admin for the death of a person

who arrived at their place of business. Example: My dad died on 6/27/08. His SS deposits were on the second Wed of each month. I was the executor of his estate and I never received a Social Security check in his name two weeks later on that second Wed or at any other time.

Those stories are total BS and they fucking know it.

[Butterflylady]

45. You are correct.......

When my husband passed away the funeral director took care of contacting the SSA.

[Strelnikov_]

50. Mom died last day of the month.

SS deposit was made the following day to her bank account. SS clawed back (removed the money from the account) about 5 working days later.

Seems to me there would have to be a really really big screwup if ‘10’s of thousands’ were overpaid without there being some shenanigans.

[ProfessorGAC]

76. Opposite Situation Here

My dad died at 8pm on January 31st.
My mom got a letter saying they wanted the January payment back.
I sent SSA a letter saying that we were willing to prorate the return because he lived 740 of the 744 hours of that month. If they wanted us to send the $8.40, to let us know.
About 10 days later, she got a reply saying to forget about the first letter.
My guess is the first letter was auto-generated & any reasonable pushback will resolve it, all or in part.

[Rebl2]

30. I think

usually the funeral home lets SS when an individual dies. When my parents died the funeral home informed me they contacted SS so I didn’t have to.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

47. Somebody has to inform Social Security

When my father died, his retirement home/village had a list of income sources. They informed Social Security, and whoever administers military pensions, and his post-military employer's retirement administration. They also cancelled his health insurance and his cable. They did a nice job. Was your mother in some kind of professional care/home?

[underpants]

12. Okay I thought this was a new thing specific to individuals

In the second part - that would be a huge loss of income for the survivor.

I have to start digging into this. Figure out when/how my wife and I can handle this. I know there are start and stop features that can accelerate getting the most out of it.

[Hope22]

40. A couple of years ago the SS person told me if my husband died

That I would still be locked into my payment which is lower than his. Do you know when the law changed on that?

[Bengus81]

44. Not what I'm reading,your payment would switch to his as long as your at your FRA--full retirement age.

Do some searching or contact them again. Me thinks you were given the wrong info or, when you asked you weren't at full retirement age.

[Hope22]

56. Thanks.

I will check into it. This whole thing will be an interesting thing to watch. Not sure that they are smart enough to know that axing SS will severely damage local economies but then I’m pretty sure they don’t care.

[samnsara]

41. the head of the undertakers association went public and said a funeral home

..is required to fill out paperwork to submit to SSA.

[reACTIONary]

57. That's bullshit...

... the SSA keeps a (publically available) SS Death index. The authorities report to SS as part of issuing a death certificate. That stops the payments.

[Skittles]

64. I would bail on a "MAGAt tax preparer"

no fucking WAY would I want one of those pieces of shit NEAR my stuff

[Bengus81]

28. True..but say at the start of a new year when it was known everyone gets a raise they over pay a person by $30.00

They wouldn't know it,they'd just think that's their new rate. At $360 per year that could add up if it went on. But yeah...you suddenly get $1K more per month you better be calling them up and NOT spending the money.

[Skittles]

66. yup

through the SS site I know exactly what I should be receiving

[Dennis Donovan]

4. FWIW, I can't log in to ssa.gov now:

[USAF Brat]

6. I got the same page

when trying to sign in after receiving an email from SS saying I have a notice "a new item in your my Social Security Message Center."

[Dennis Donovan]

7. I didn't get an email, but the "message" message would make it 10x as frustrating! n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Can confirm

The OPM one for for federal retirement annuities is still up.

[Dennis Donovan]

13. Still unable to log in 9:10am n/t

[Dennis Donovan]

14. UPDATE: I was finally able to log in and out of my ssa.gov acct. While in, checked and everything is normal n/t

[txwhitedove]

22. You have to get in thru Login.gov.

[BumRushDaShow]

42. That wasn't working to get to SSA

(I tried right after I saw Dennis' post)

Login.gov simply takes you to the next site and that next site (SSA) had been down. I was able to get into OPM's annuity site at the time though (using Login.gov).

[cstanleytech]

5. I don't object if it's for those that have other sources of monies in the +5k area as they can likely afford it.

Otherwise it's stupid to penalize people that truly rely solely on that.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. "I don't object if it's for those that have other sources of monies in the +5k area as they can likely afford it."

Not necessarily. In many cases, those who are even eligible to receive SS - whether for retirement or SSDI - they may have massive amounts of medical bills so any "loss" of income will literally, kill them.

[rubbersole]

17. And I'm sure tsf, elon, Stephen Miller and JD...

...fretted and prayed about the hardship this might cause amongst the vulnerable elderly.

The absolute hatred these nazis have for anyone not born wealthy, white and male is very telling. This is insanity on steroids.

[cstanleytech]

29. I kinda doubt there are many if any that are getting +5k from other sources that actually suffer from that.

[BumRushDaShow]

33. "I kinda doubt there are many if any that are getting +5k from other sources that actually suffer from that."

Medical issues don't care about how much you get. Those who are millionaires and billionaires can have private care whereas anyone making less can (and have) literally gone bankrupt (and even THAT is hassle ever since the law was changed some time ago regarding personal bankruptcies). And with the cuts being promoted for Medicaid, one shouldn't need to have to puzzle over what could happen.

Health Care Costs Number One Cause of Bankruptcy for American Families

The whole Luigi Magione popularity is a case in point at how deep this healthcare costs issue resonates with the public.

[melm00se]

9. Recovery

for overpayments is a good idea but the government uses the sledge hammer approach to collect money:

Pay up, in full, or else! (jail, destruction, locusts, frogs, seizure of property etc etc etc).

If they paid it out over time, they should grasp reality and recover it over time.

[Tree Lady]

15. I was curious and went into SS site yesterday

On the dashboard they have a place to click for overpayment, I checked and saw we have none long list history of past monthly payments.

My husband was one of those that worked for state and didn't have SS taken out so SS was lowered, he still gets a tiny amount because of some other years of jobs that took it out. I guess Biden passed a law to give more to those people. We got our back payment for him this week and I put in savings in case they take it back. It wasn't in the list of overpayment it said one time payment.

I was shocked when the extra money came but it looks legit.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. "I guess Biden passed a law to give more to those people."

In 1983, Congress passed a law to enact Social Security "offset" provisions during the Raygun administration -

H.R.1900 - Social Security Amendments of 1983

That law introduced "WEP" (Windfall Elimination Provision) and "GPO" (Government Pension Offiset), where SS payments would now be reduced for certain retirees who despite having paid into SS while working at a some job and who were eligible for full benefits (had 40 quarters) based on their work history at that job, AND had ALSO worked at a job that didn't collect SS (mostly government jobs including teaching, etc), and were receiving some federal (older retirement system CSRS), state, or municipal pension.

Biden signed the repeal of those provisions on 1/5/25 -

H.R.82 - Social Security Fairness Act of 2023

So for example, you may have had someone who worked for the federal government as an accountant pre-1984 for 30 years (before the retirement system changed to "FERS" where SS became the primary retirement system), and then decided to go work another 10 or more years as an accountant for a private company, where they paid into SS. In that instance, when ready to retire, they would have their full federal annuity and once eligible for SS, would get a "reduced" amount (or even none at all depending on how much their annuity was), due to that "WEP" provision.

The "GPO" would apply to spouses or survivors of employees with an offset of SS benefits that they would have been eligible for, if they were receiving another pension as well.

[Tree Lady]

35. Yes that is it, I knew about the law

but didn't post full info like you did. I just wasn't sure we were qualified as he worked for subway Bart in SF.

[BumRushDaShow]

38. I am from Philly

and a little over 20 years ago, I had a training trip to SF and after class, each day I managed to travel around the city and that including using the BART!

[Tree Lady]

39. Yes its kind of fun

I only went a few times as I was from Napa and Santa Rosa north of SF. Mike had long drive to first Bart station until before he retired we lived in Walnut Creek and rented a few years to be near my step daughter.

We have a life long free pass which is a joke living here in southern oregon.

[BumRushDaShow]

43. I managed to see about 2/3rd of SF on public transit

including taking what I dubbed my own "Star Trek Tour" (Golden Gate Park & the Golden Gate Bridge, the Mission District, The Presidio, etc).

[Lonestarblue]

16. This is why Musk needed access to our bank account information.

Now they can just reach in and take what they want. You might eventually get some of it back but only after hiring lawyers costing more than the amount taken.

[Deminpenn]

18. Generally social security is notified right away

when a person dies. SSA will stop payment immediately, but depending on the date a person dies and the regular date a payment is made, SSA might not be able to stop the payment before it's issued, but they can andcwill reverse the transaction.

FTR, VA disability payments also must be paid back if they occur after the veteran dies.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. When my mom died 10 years ago this year

*I* immediately notified SSA as well as OPM (since she was getting a federal survivor's annuity too).

Since the payments made are for the month BEFORE (but paid that next month), and she had passed the first week of the month in which the check was deposited, there was no reimbursement needed to SSA (or OPM), since she was still alive during the month that the check represented.

[Rebl2]

26. When

my parents died, social security was really quick to “claw” back their social security they were paid the month they died. Seems like it was quicker with my mother than my father. When my father passed, SS refigured my mother’s SS. She ended up getting a little more.

[mdbl]

36. This is true. When my mom passed, a week later her payment hit her account

I called them and they reversed it that very same day.

[MLAA]

19. I'd like to see some clawback on billionaire tax evasion.

[bronxiteforever]

20. This Incompetent and ideologically perverse

administration will wind up killing people by the bushel full. You know they will make “mistakes” The war on the lower 98% of Americans has begun.

[wishstar]

21. Many overpayments occur when people don't report changes such as working more

There are earnings limits for both regular SS under a certain age and disability SS as well as Supplemental Security Income. When govt catches up with the unreported earnings, often a year or more has elapsed. Also SSI has many other eligibility factors such as other income and resource limits including parents' income and resources for disabled children as well as living arrangements that affect payment. Recipients often fail to report changes in their circumstances and by time SSA does annual reviews or finds out through matching data discovery, big overpayments may have occurred. In case of both SSA and SSI, unreported marriages can also reduce or stop benefits due.

But with years of downsizing and hiring freezes, more errors in computations are inevitable and it can take much longer for SSA to process reports of changes and review eligibility which increases length of time recipients are being overpaid.

[mdbl]

31. CBS has business that is being overseen by the FCC

They don't want to rock the boat. Why do you think they settled that stupid meritless suit with Dump for 15 million?

[BumRushDaShow]

51. Wrong network - it was ABC that settled!

ABC settles with Trump for $15 million. Now, he wants to sue other news outlets

CBS is fighting to get the idiotic $20 billion defamation suit against them tossed - CBS Files Motions to Dismiss $20 Billion Trump Lawsuit

[mdbl]

58. Ooops, yes that was ABC

But I also heard Paramount/CBS was trying to get something passed too but I might be wrong as I was in this post lol.

[BumRushDaShow]

59. I *think* back in January there may have been some equivocation

But then came 45's doubling and tripling down on that 60 Minutes thing (and the ridiculous $20 billion lawsuit), and that apparently convinced them to start asserting their First Amendment rights.

Will have to see how long that lasts.

[Martin68]

32. The problem is that you need hundreds of thousand of man-hours to process and handle each notification. That's

a very expensive proposition, which is probably why small overpayments re ignored: they cost more to process than they cost if ignored.

[intrepidity]

49. Yes, but once Musk gets AI involved

and ties *all* of the federal databases together, it's going to be major shitshow. Just wait.

[twodogsbarking]

34. This may be more difficult to implement without employees; like collecting federal tax from billionaires.

[NotHardly]

37. Total BS from these MAGAs...that never changes.

MAGAs are uninformed, uneducated, and living in their pipe dreams. Seriously deranged and simply stupid.

[elleng]

46. Very interesting. I posted earlier, in GD, that today I've received a large deposit, from s s.,

into my bank account, and asked for info from DU; you beat me to it!

[OldBaldy1701E]

48. They re going to find some excuse to start denying people anyway.

I say, if you get such a letter/email, reply with this at the top/in the subject line:

You can't bleed a turnip. Bring it.

They will cut payments off. They will then be sued and told to stop doing it. They will ignore those orders.

Then, what? Because we will have to figure out how to survive this one way or the other. I wish more people were not as afraid of everyone else. But, that is part of the programming we have had to endure for the past 60+ years. No one trusts anyone else anymore, and no one seems interested in finding anyone that they can trust. The fracturing of our society by elements that want us running around and attacking each other worked.

[bernieb]

52. What about underpayment?

My Hubbie was in law enforcement. Because of that pension, he was denied part of his Social Security. Biden was able to get that restriction removed. So, when will we get it? Probably never.

[ancianita]

69. Several reports explain that

the WEP payments will be deposited by the end of March through the middle of April. Hang tight.

https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html

[BrianTheEVGuy]

53. Most seniors voted for Trump

I hope they enjoy their Social Security experience.

[valleyrogue]

72. Wrong. They didn't.

[BrianTheEVGuy]

73. Wrong. They did. NT

[airplaneman]

54. I thought most of the overpayments

We’re from people who failed to report WEP or GPO payments. They are currently refunding this money now. This smells of downright harassment
-Airplane

[BumRushDaShow]

55. I expect quite a few were spouses of SS recipients

where the spouse died but it was not reported and the checks kept on coming.

[airplaneman]

67. The example I saw on the local news was a couple

where the wife worked as a teacher then another field where she was eligible for SS but there was a large WEP reduction in her case. She believed she filled out everything correctly but after more than 10 years of getting full benefits she owed $30K back to SS. She did not realize she had done something wrong and thought SS had figured it out correctly. In the event of collecting after death most do understand this is fraudulent.
-Airplane

[BumRushDaShow]

68. In the case you mention

it's possible that a refund for that clawback might happen due to the repeal of WEP/GPO in January (although I think there is a limit to how far back that goes).

[CTyankee]

60. Yep. The cruelty is the point.

[Quanto Magnus]

61. Social Security tried to pull this on me back in 2019

They said I had to pay them back $36,000. I fought it. After several years of fighting it, I finally got in front of an ALJ.... Thankfully, the judge ruled in my favor. Wish I could get compensation for all the stress and wasted time they put me through...

[Skittles]

65. be prepared to fight again

you never know what these fascist fucks will pull

[red dog 1]

62. These heartless bastards need to go

in 2026.

[The Grand Illuminist]

63. Reminds me of a Golden Girls epidode

Where Sophia was overpaid in Sovial Security.

[Mysterian]

70. A tiny fraction of what the fired IRS employees would have clawed back from tax cheats

But vile, corrupt republicans love to hate on Social Security.

[mysuzuki2]

71. I am a retired soc sec employee

There are a couple of things folks need to know about this. First of all, you can ask for a lower rate of withholding and it will almost certainly be allowed. Second, if you think the overpayment is wrong you can file an appeal, called a reconsideration, and withholding will stop until a decision is reached. Thirdly if the overpayment is not your fault and you can show you can’t afford to repay, it can be waived

[Rainman4u2C]

74. Maybe try this.

https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-632.html

[Akakoji]

75. Is this still happening?

Get it back in the news. Especially in red states and districts throughout the country. The only way out of this is from the ground up.