Social Security demands return of billions in overpayments

The Social Security Administration is trying to reclaim billions of dollars from many of the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable — payments it sent them but now says they never should have received.During the 2022 fiscal year, the agency retrieved $4.7 billion of overpayments, while another $21.6 billion remained outstanding, according to a report by SSA’s inspector general.Overpayments can result from Social Security making a mistake or from beneficiaries failing to comply with requirements, intentionally or otherwise. But much of the fault lies within the system — for example:.Rules are complex and hard to follow.Limits on what beneficiaries can save or own have not been adjusted for inflation in decades.The Social Security Administration does not have adequate staffing to keep up with its workload, much of which is done by hand.The system has built-in lags in checking information such as beneficiaries’ income and relies heavily on data submitted by beneficiaries themselves.One consequence is a costly collection effort for the government and a potentially devastating ordeal for the beneficiary