April 2024
Social Security Announces Four Key Updates to Address Improper Payments
Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley announced he is taking four vital steps to immediately address overpayment issues customers and the agency have experienced. Learn more at our blog at Social Security Announces Four Key Updates to Address Improper Payments | SSA.
Social Security Eliminates Unfair Overpayment Burden for Social Security Beneficiaries
The Social Security Administration announced it will decrease the default overpayment withholding rate for Social Security beneficiaries to 10% (or $10, whichever is greater) from 100%. Learn more at our blog at Social Security Eliminates Overpayment Burden for Social Security Beneficiaries - Automatic Overpayment Recovery Rate Reduced to 10 Percent | SSA.
What your clients can do if they have an overpayment
Do your clients know what to do if they receive an overpayment notice from Social Security? An overpayment occurs when a Social Security beneficiary or SSI recipient receives more money from us than they should have been paid. The amount of their overpayment is the difference between the amount they received and the amount they were due.
We are required by law to adjust benefits or recover debts when an overpayment occurs. When we notify your clients they have an overpayment, their notice explains why they’ve been overpaid, the overpayment amount, their repayment options, and their appeal and waiver rights.
After receiving our overpayment notices, your clients can:
- Repay the overpayment in full or through a repayment plan by check, money order, credit card, or by monthly reductions from their Social Security benefit. Your clients may be able to make a full or partial repayment using Pay.gov or their bank’s online bill pay option. We include repayment instructions in their overpayment notice and offer flexible repayment plans, including payments as low as $10 per month.
- Appeal the overpayment if they don’t agree that they’ve been overpaid, or they believe the amount is incorrect. They can request a non-medical reconsideration online. Or, if they prefer, they can submit a completed form SSA-561, Request for Reconsideration, to their local Social Security office.
- Request that we waive collection of the overpayment if they believe they are not at fault for causing the overpayment AND they cannot afford to repay the money back or it is unfair for some other reason. They can ask for a waiver by submitting a completed form SSA-632, Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery, to their local office.
You can let your clients know that if their overpayment is $1,000 or less, we may be able to process a waiver request quickly over the telephone without a completed SSA-632. Your clients can call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Or they can contact their local Social Security office.
Social Security beneficiaries who cannot meet their living expenses due to the withholding may ask to change the repayment amount, but not less than $10 a month.
To learn more about overpayments and our process, visit our Understanding SSI Overpayments webpage, read our Overpayments publication, or Overpayments fact sheet. Please share this information with your clients.
Social Security to Raise the Representative Fee Cap to Help with Claiming Benefits
We plan to raise the fee cap for claimants’ respresentatives, from $7,200 to $9,200, when they and their client agree to use that is known as a “fee agreement process.” Read more in our Press Release.
America Saves Week and Social Security
America Saves Week, which is April 8 to April 12 this year, is an annual opportunity for organizations to promote good financial habits and for people to evaluate their savings and saving practices.
In keeping with this year’s theme, Saving for What Matters Most, we want to remind your clients that planning and saving are key to a successful retirement. The sooner your clients start saving for retirement, the better off they will be. They should set a goal, make a plan, and save automatically. People with a plan are twice as likely to save successfully compared to people without a plan. During America Saves Week, we encourage you and your clients to pledge to start saving – or better yet, save more. For suggestions, check out americasavesweek.org.
Your clients may also want to review our online retirement resources at www.ssa.gov/retirement. Please share this information with them.
Save The Date – National Disability Forum
We will host the next virtual National Disability Forum (NDF) on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. The event, “How Artificial Intelligence May Affect the Landscape of Social Security - Part I,” will take place through Microsoft Teams from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET.
For more information about the NDF, we encourage you and your clients to visit our What’s New page at www.ssa.gov/news/advocates.html. You and your clients can email questions to OEA.Net.Post@ssa.gov.
Update to Appointed Representatives Services (ARS)
We’ve enhanced the Appointed Representatives Services (ARS) application located at www.ssa.gov/ar. Appointed representatives can now access a list of all their cases pending at the initial and reconsideration levels.
The ARS application allows appointed representatives to:
- View electronic folder (eFolder) documents in real time.
- Download eFolder contents including multimedia files.
- Upload medical evidence and other documents directly into a claimant's eFolder.
With this update to the ARS, we aim to help appointed representatives:
- Determine if their SSA Form-1696, Claimant’s Appointment of a Representative, was processed to avoid having to submit the same form again. You can view the SSA Form-1696 at www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-1696.pdf.
- Access their list of pending cases.
Instructions are available on page 13 and 14 of the AR Status Reports User Guide at www.ssa.gov/ar/docs/AR_Status_Reports_UserGuide-508.pdf.
Please share this information with those who may need it.
SSA’s Equity Action Plan 2023 Update
Did you and your clients catch our Equity Action Plan 2023 Update?
Commissioner O’Malley announced the updated release earlier this year. It builds on our efforts to improve service delivery and outreach to those who need our services and benefits most.
Our updated plan continues our work to:
- Simplify and improve access to SSI for women, families, people from underserved communities, and other people facing barriers.
- Provide more data by race and ethnicity to the public to further identify, monitor, and address areas where there are service inequities.
- Update our systems and Social Security Number (SSN) application processes.
We also have three new focus areas in the updated plan, including:
- Ensuring language does not pose barriers to apply for benefits and access services.
- Reducing pending SSI underpayments and assessing root causes of improper payments.
- Increasing awareness of survivors benefits eligibility among people disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Our equity work supports progress on our biggest customer service challenges in 2024: customer wait times, processing times for disability determinations, and overpayment and underpayment inequities. You and your clients can review the Equity Action Plan 2023 Update at www.ssa.gov/equity to learn more about our efforts and understand how we’ll measure our progress.
Please share this information with your clients.