SSA Issues Internal Guidance on SSI Overpayment Waivers

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<img alt="Special Needs Answers Legal Update." src="https://cdn.elderlawanswers.com/common/uploads/photos/19964-ASNP Badge Legal Update.jpg" style="float:right; height:200px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:356px" />As reported in an Academy of Special Needs Planners <a href="https://specialneedsanswers.com/ssi-recipients-to-get-relief-following-landmark-settlement-20133" target="_self">article</a> at the end of last year, some 2 million Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients who mistakenly received overpayments during the COVID-19 pandemic will no longer be on the hook to repay these funds. A landmark <a href="https://casetext.com/case/campos-v-kijakazi-14" target="_self">settlement</a> following a class action lawsuit means that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is now seeking to right their wrongs. In late February, it issued <a href="https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/reference.nsf/links/02232024011610PM" target="_self">internal guidance</a>, effective immediately, to clarify the circumstances under which its personnel are to consider granting SSI recipients a waiver for a benefits overpayment. One example might include beneficiaries who were not able to visit a local Social Security agency or reach the SSA by phone because of office closures during the pandemic. The SSA will be waiving all SSI overpayments that occurred between March 2020 and September 2020 via its manual processes, nonprofit Justice in Aging <a href="https://justiceinaging.org/campos-v-kijakazi-settlement-information-for-advocates/#:~:text=19%20National%20Emergency.-,Waiver%20of%20March%2DSeptember%202020%20Manual%20SSI%20Overpayments%20with,Action%20Required%20by%20SSI%20Recipients&text=SSA%20will%20grant%20these%20waivers,these%20waivers%20by%20June%202025." target="_self">reports</a>. SSI recipients who receive this waiver will not have to take any action to benefit. The SSA will mail them a notification about the waiver by June 2025. Some SSI recipients who received an overpayment between March 2020 and April 2023 will not receive this waiver automatically. The SSA will notify them of this via mail as well. That notice, set to go out in the spring of 2025, will provide details on how to request the waiver. Meanwhile, according to a recent <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/exclusive-social-security-chief-omalley-fix-overpayment-clawbacks/" target="_self">KFF report</a>, SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley has said he is looking to propose an overhaul with respect to how the SSA handles reimbursement demands for benefits overpayments. “One would assume that in a country where people are innocent until proven guilty,” he said, “that the burden should fall more on the agency than on the unwitting beneficiary.” This week, O’Malley then laid out <a href="https://blog.ssa.gov/social-security-announces-four-key-updates-to-address-improper-payments/" target="_self">several steps</a> the SSA will seek to take going forward. Among them is a plan to extend repayment plans by two years, from 36 months to 60 months, capping clawbacks at 10 percent, as well as to make it easier for beneficiaries to request a waiver for repayment. Lawmakers nationwide are not likely to stop their push for reform. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued a <a href="https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-statement-on-social-security-proposed-rule-to-reduce-overpayments" target="_self">statement</a> urging the SSA to enhance its payment processes to reduce the chances of overpayments. In a separate <a href="https://www.peters.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_ssa_re_overpayments.pdf" target="_self">letter</a> addressing O’Malley, two other Democratic U.S. Senators – Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan – wrote that they were “encouraged to see SSA’s announcement regarding a proposed rule that would better streamline the process to help reduce financial hardships.” However, they continued, “additional processes and controls need to be in place to better address the challenges of overpayments.” Questions? Call us: (866) 296-5509

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As reported in an Academy of Special Needs Planners article at the end of last year, some 2 million Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients who mistakenly received overpayments during the COVID-19 pandemic will no longer be on the hook to repay these funds.

A landmark settlement following a class action lawsuit means that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is now seeking to right their wrongs. In late February, it issued internal guidance, effective immediately, to clarify the circumstances under which its personnel are to consider granting SSI recipients a waiver for a benefits overpayment. One example might include beneficiaries who were not able to visit a local Social Security agency or reach the SSA by phone because of office closures during the pandemic.

The SSA will be waiving all SSI overpayments that occurred between March 2020 and September 2020 via its manual processes, nonprofit Justice in Aging reports. SSI recipients who receive this waiver will not have to take any action to benefit. The SSA will mail them a notification about the waiver by June 2025.

Some SSI recipients who received an overpayment between March 2020 and April 2023 will not receive this waiver automatically. The SSA will notify them of this via mail as well. That notice, set to go out in the spring of 2025, will provide details on how to request the waiver.

Meanwhile, according to a recent KFF report, SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley has said he is looking to propose an overhaul with respect to how the SSA handles reimbursement demands for benefits overpayments.

“One would assume that in a country where people are innocent until proven guilty,” he said, “that the burden should fall more on the agency than on the unwitting beneficiary.”

This week, O’Malley then laid out several steps the SSA will seek to take going forward. Among them is a plan to extend repayment plans by two years, from 36 months to 60 months, capping clawbacks at 10 percent, as well as to make it easier for beneficiaries to request a waiver for repayment.

Lawmakers nationwide are not likely to stop their push for reform. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued a statement urging the SSA to enhance its payment processes to reduce the chances of overpayments.

In a separate letter addressing O’Malley, two other Democratic U.S. Senators – Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan – wrote that they were “encouraged to see SSA’s announcement regarding a proposed rule that would better streamline the process to help reduce financial hardships.” However, they continued, “additional processes and controls need to be in place to better address the challenges of overpayments.”

<img alt="Special Needs Answers Legal Update." src="https://cdn.elderlawanswers.com/common/uploads/photos/19964-ASNP Badge Legal Update.jpg" style="float:right; height:200px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:356px" />As reported in an Academy of Special Needs Planners <a href="https://specialneedsanswers.com/ssi-recipients-to-get-relief-following-landmark-settlement-20133" target="_self">article</a> at the end of last year, some 2 million Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients who mistakenly received overpayments during the COVID-19 pandemic will no longer be on the hook to repay these funds. A landmark <a href="https://casetext.com/case/campos-v-kijakazi-14" target="_self">settlement</a> following a class action lawsuit means that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is now seeking to right their wrongs. In late February, it issued <a href="https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/reference.nsf/links/02232024011610PM" target="_self">internal guidance</a>, effective immediately, to clarify the circumstances under which its personnel are to consider granting SSI recipients a waiver for a benefits overpayment. One example might include beneficiaries who were not able to visit a local Social Security agency or reach the SSA by phone because of office closures during the pandemic. The SSA will be waiving all SSI overpayments that occurred between March 2020 and September 2020 via its manual processes, nonprofit Justice in Aging <a href="https://justiceinaging.org/campos-v-kijakazi-settlement-information-for-advocates/#:~:text=19%20National%20Emergency.-,Waiver%20of%20March%2DSeptember%202020%20Manual%20SSI%20Overpayments%20with,Action%20Required%20by%20SSI%20Recipients&text=SSA%20will%20grant%20these%20waivers,these%20waivers%20by%20June%202025." target="_self">reports</a>. SSI recipients who receive this waiver will not have to take any action to benefit. The SSA will mail them a notification about the waiver by June 2025. Some SSI recipients who received an overpayment between March 2020 and April 2023 will not receive this waiver automatically. The SSA will notify them of this via mail as well. That notice, set to go out in the spring of 2025, will provide details on how to request the waiver. Meanwhile, according to a recent <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/exclusive-social-security-chief-omalley-fix-overpayment-clawbacks/" target="_self">KFF report</a>, SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley has said he is looking to propose an overhaul with respect to how the SSA handles reimbursement demands for benefits overpayments. “One would assume that in a country where people are innocent until proven guilty,” he said, “that the burden should fall more on the agency than on the unwitting beneficiary.” This week, O’Malley then laid out <a href="https://blog.ssa.gov/social-security-announces-four-key-updates-to-address-improper-payments/" target="_self">several steps</a> the SSA will seek to take going forward. Among them is a plan to extend repayment plans by two years, from 36 months to 60 months, capping clawbacks at 10 percent, as well as to make it easier for beneficiaries to request a waiver for repayment. Lawmakers nationwide are not likely to stop their push for reform. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued a <a href="https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-statement-on-social-security-proposed-rule-to-reduce-overpayments" target="_self">statement</a> urging the SSA to enhance its payment processes to reduce the chances of overpayments. In a separate <a href="https://www.peters.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_ssa_re_overpayments.pdf" target="_self">letter</a> addressing O’Malley, two other Democratic U.S. Senators – Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan – wrote that they were “encouraged to see SSA’s announcement regarding a proposed rule that would better streamline the process to help reduce financial hardships.” However, they continued, “additional processes and controls need to be in place to better address the challenges of overpayments.”

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SSA Issues Internal Guidance on SSI Overpayment Waivers

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