Two big changes coming to Social Security you need to know about

Date:

Share post:


In recent days, the Trump administration has announced two high-profile and controversial policy changes it says are meant to combat waste and fraud in Social Security.

First, the agency said it would resume garnishing entire benefit checks from Americans who receive overpayments, undoing a reform that had capped clawbacks at a smaller amount. Social Security officials claim the change will help the government recover an additional $7 billion over 10 years.

Later, the agency announced that enrollees would no longer be allowed to change their direct deposit information over the phone but would instead be required to use an online process with two-factor authentication or visit a Social Security office in person. The measure is meant to prevent some types of fraud.

Both decisions have been met with criticism. Former officials and outside experts worry the new clawback policy will punish poorer beneficiaries who can’t afford to have their full checks taken away, while the additional security measures around bank account information will unnecessarily burden many seniors who lack computer skills.

Here’s what you need to know.

Each year, the Social Security Administration sends out several billion dollars worth of accidental overpayments to people with disabilities and the elderly. Sometimes errors occur because enrollees fail to report a life event that can affect their benefits, such as getting married or finding a new job. In other cases, enrollees report the information, but the government keeps overpaying them while processing the change.

When the government notices a mistake, it tries to recoup the cash by subtracting it from an enrollee’s future benefits.

Late last week, the Trump administration said it would resume the practice of withholding 100% of a person’s benefits if they owe money due to an overpayment. That was Social Security’s policy until March of 2024 when Biden officials lowered the maximum amount the government could withhold to just 10% of an enrollee’s monthly check.

“It is our duty to revise the overpayment repayment policy back to full withholding, as it was during the Obama administration and first Trump administration, to properly safeguard taxpayer funds,” Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a press release. The restored rules will only apply going forward to individuals who receive overpayments after March 27. The 10% cap also still applies to Supplemental Security Income, which supports the poorest elderly and disabled Americans.

Still, the decision has received some immediate blowback. The Biden administration changed its withholding rules after think tanks and news outlets such as CBS’s “60 Minutes” highlighted how some Social Security recipients were unexpectedly finding themselves on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in overpayments due to the government’s own errors, or because they had gotten tripped up in a program’s complicated income and eligibility rules. In many cases, people who relied on Social Security for most or all of their income suddenly found their benefits entirely yanked away.



Source link

Alexandra Williams
Alexandra Williams
Alexandra Williams is a writer and editor. Angeles. She writes about politics, art, and culture for LinkDaddy News.

Recent posts

Related articles

Mark Cuban: Two Ways I Became a Billionaire — Here’s What You Can Learn From Him

Many of us can only dream about achieving wealthy status....

Mysterious Twist Revealed in Saga of Human-Neanderthal Hybrid Child

After four failed attempts, scientists have at last dated the skeleton of a possible human-Neanderthal hybrid found...

Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures tumble after another week of sharp losses

US stock futures fell Sunday night, as March's struggles looked set to...

Oklahomans survey devastation after hundreds of homes are destroyed and damaged by wildfires

DALLAS (AP) — As Oklahomans assessed the devastation from wildfires that whipped across the state, damaging or...

Doctor at Brown University deported to Lebanon despite US judge's order

By Nate RaymondBOSTON (Reuters) -A Rhode Island doctor who is an assistant professor at Brown University's medical...

Trump administration ignores judge's order to turn deportation planes around: Sources

President Donald Trump's administration made a calculated decision to ignore a judge's directive to turn around two...

Rubio Refuses To Say If There's Evidence Justifying Mahmoud Khalil's Arrest

One week after federal agents abducted Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil for leading last year’s student protests at...

iPhone 17 Air might not serve a price shock, after all

Ever since we first heard murmurs of Apple prepping an ultra-slim iPhone, speculations were rife about a...