A new Social Security benefit will now save beneficiaries money by slashing the amount recipients have to pay back.
Social Security recipients will now have to pay back much less if they were inadvertently overpaid.
The Social Security Administration announced Friday that it will no longer automatically withhold 100% of the overpayment amount from recipients’ monthly benefits. Instead, it will collect 10% – or $10, whichever is greater – to recover the overpayment.
There will be limited exceptions, such as when an overpayment resulted from fraud.
“Social Security is taking a critically important step towards our goal of ensuring our overpayment policies are fair, equitable, and do not unduly harm anyone,” Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said in a statement.
“It’s unconscionable that someone would find themselves facing homelessness or unable to pay bills, because Social Security withheld their entire payment for recovery of an overpayment.”
The change applies to new overpayments, but those already having more than 10% of their benefits withheld can contact the Social Security Administration to discuss reducing the rate.
Beneficiaries who would like a rate lower than 10% will be approved if the overpayment will be recovered within 60 months, rather than the former deadline of 36 months.
The Social Security Administration has been under fire lately for mistakenly overpaying beneficiaries and then clawing the money back.
Several news outlets have reported on the issue, and a House Ways and Means subcommittee held a hearing on it last fall.
“Improper payments, many of which occur by no fault of those who have been improperly paid, do in fact place a heavy burden on the recipients,” Georgia Rep. Drew Ferguson, a Republican who chairs the subcommittee, said in his opening statement at the hearing.
“That’s why we’ve got to do more to help prevent this before they happen.”
The majority of recipients who receive Social Security disability benefits and have earnings sufficient to affect their benefits receive an overpayment, according to a report published by the Government Accountability Office last fall.
The agency cited a 2019 study by the Social Security Administration and Mathematica, a research and consulting company, that found that overpayments typically lasted nine months and totaled nearly $9,300.
An average of roughly 72 million people received monthly payments from the Social Security Administration in fiscal year 2023, according to the agency’s latest financial report.
It distributed more than $1.4 trillion in benefits.
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Also Read: Retirees Will Now Receive More Money For Social Security
Other Economy News Today
Americans can now claim up to $5K in this lawsuit settlement after a company agreed to a massive data breach payout.
Lincare Holdings, a medical device company, is paying out millions after a data breach settlement.
The settlement followed a leak of patients’ personal information back in 2021.
After the breach, patients sued, bringing a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company could have prevented the hack, according to Top Class Actions.
Now, Lincare is paying out $7.25 million in amounts up to $5,090 to settle the lawsuit.
The company did not admit any wrongdoing.
The deadline to file a claim is April 15, 2024.
Lincare Holdings manufactures devices to treat asthma, COPD, and other respiratory diseases.
The class action lawsuit impacts anyone whose data may have been leaked by the 2021 breach.
The court, which is managing the settlement, needs proof of certain expenses before paying anyone.
These can include invoices and receipts for credit monitoring services, according to the settlement website.
Anyone who qualifies for the cash can also opt for free credit monitoring for a year.
You can also be reimbursed for up to four hours of lost time at work, with a value of $80.
Those who lived in California at the time of the data breach can qualify for an extra $90.
The top payouts may be $5,090 in total.
Claim forms can be mailed to the settlement administrator at:
Lincare Holdings Inc. Class Action
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
PO Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391
Claims can also be submitted online.
Thanks in part to the strict privacy requirements surrounding medical information, millions are going out to patients over data breaches.
Wright & Filipps, a prosthetics company, also recently agreed to pay $2.9 million after a data breach.
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Also Read: SNAP Benefits Will Now Increase For The Year 2024
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