In March, newly installed Social Security chief Martin O’Malley criticized agency “injustices” that “shock our shared sense of equity and good conscience as Americans.”
He promised to overhaul the Social Security Administration’s often heavy-handed efforts to claw back money that millions of recipients — including people who are living in poverty, are elderly, or have disabilities — were allegedly overpaid, as described by a KFF Health News and Cox Media Group investigation last year.
Nearly eight months since he appeared before Congress and announced a series of policy changes, and with two months left in his term, O’Malley’s effort to fix the system has made inroads but remains a work in progress.
For instance, one change, moving away from withholding 100% of people’s monthly Social Security benefits to recover alleged overpayments, has been a major improvement, say advocates for beneficiaries.
“It is a tremendous change,” said Kate Lang of Justice in Aging, who called it “life-changing for many people.”
