Just a year after ending a policy then-Social Security Administration head Martin O’Malley called “clawback cruelty,” SSA is re-instituting its practice of recouping 100% of recipients’ benefits until any overpayment is covered. In 2024, SSA had moved to a policy of taking 10% of monthly benefits if an overpayment was made as a way of trying to lessen the financial hardship for recipients who may have received an overpayment, particularly those with low incomes or disabilities. Spotlight spoke recently with Kate Lang, director of Federal Income Security at Justice in Aging, about the reversal and what it could mean for financially challenged Social Security recipients. The transcript of that conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
“People would have to call their local office to get more information about the overpayment and to figure out what they could do next. And we’ve heard that people are waiting on hold for a long time at those offices—they might wait on hold for hours or the call gets dropped. And also, at the beginning of this year, SSA implemented what they’re calling an appointment-focused model for their field offices. So, people can’t just walk in unless it’s an emergency and talk to somebody. They have to make an appointment ahead of time and frequently they’ll have to wait more than 30 days to get an appointment to talk to somebody in person. So yes, the offices were already understaffed and it’s only getting worse at this point.”
