Social Security reviewing overpayment policies, procedures following KIRO 7 investigation

It is a stunning move by the Social Security Administration, the agency is now promising to get answers on the $21 billion in overpayments to thousands, possibly millions, of its recipients.

In a statement, SSA Acting Commissioner Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi said that she plans on “putting together a team to review overpayment policies and procedures to further improve how we serve our customers.”

A senior official has been designated to work out of the Office of the Commissioner and lead the team and will be reporting directly to Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi.

Glen, an Oregon resident, says when he got his overpayment letter in the mail, it was like a punch in the gut.

“That’s like receiving a collection agency notice that says you owe $99,000 without documenting why you owe it,” she said.

The agency says it overpaid Glen over $99,000, but he says he has proof the agency actually owes him $14,000.

“The bureaucracy is so bad, I expect that I’ll be deceased before it’s resolved,” she opined.

Glen is far from alone. We teamed up with CMG stations in eight cities, seven states, and KFF Health News, revealing the devastating impact these overpayments have on recipients, many of them are poor, elderly, and disabled.

In fact, legal experts told us even if the administration makes an error recipient still pay.

“The reality is, you can do everything right and still get hit by a massive overpayment from Social Security,” says attorney Rebecca Vallas.

Following our reporting, Congress promised hearings on the issue.

“They weren’t trying to game the system, they were just playing by the rules and its very unfortunate. I don’t want anybody to ever be in that situation again,” said Ohio Rep. Mike Carey. “That’s why I think we need to have a hearing. We need to come to grips with where we are right now, find out what the problems are and fix the problems.”

Kijakazi adds families can request a waiver and current law allows, in some cases, to waive repaying these overpayments.

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