Last April, I posted about a pernicious rule change that allowed the Social Security Administration to pursue repayment for "overpayments" that were years or decades old - including demanding repayment from children or other relatives of the individuals who actually received the money. My family was one of those affected.
After some blistering articles in the Washington Post and elsewhere, the SSA announced it would be "suspending these practices." Once the publicity died down, however, they decided that "these practices" only meant seizing tax refunds as a way of collecting payments. They are now arguing in Federal court that it is legitimate to (among other things) collect repayments from people who had been minors at the time the money went to their parents.
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Short version: More than a decade ago, Packrat and I were caregivers for our teenage niece Kali. Kali got a small stipend from her stepfather's Social Security Disability. Then a couple of years ago, we received a notice that they'd added another person onto his benefits and therefore lowered Kali's rate retroactive to ten years earlier. And they wanted us to refund the "overpayment," including for the time that Kali lived with her (now deceased) grandmother. We filed an appeal, which didn't get a response for ages.
Then last April, the Washington Post did an expose on their bizarre collection practices, including pursuing Mary Grice for payments that were made when she was a child. The recipients were Ms. Grice's mother, and her father's first wife, someone she'd never met. After a well-deserved excoriation from Congress, the SSA said it would "suspend" these collections while it "reviewed" its policies. I hoped that would be the end of it.
No such luck. In December we got a letter saying the appeal wouldn't be processed because "You are not disputing that the overpayment exists or that the amount is right." (Um, yes, we ARE disputing that any overpayment TO US is the wrong amount!) This was a real sleaze move on their part: if they'd denied the appeal, there are two higher levels to appeal to, but if they simply refuse to process it, the only recourse we have is a waiver, basically a statement that it would be a financial hardship or "otherwise unfair" to collect from us.
A month later, we received a letter saying the waiver had been denied, but the decision wouldn't be final until after we had a "file review," which they helpfully scheduled for our anniversary. (Yeah, I realize they didn't time it that way deliberately, but I'm starting to suspect they would if they could.) The review turned out to consist of us verbally explaining to a Social Security employee exactly what we'd already said in writing. He kept asking if it would be a "financial hardship" to pay back thousands of dollars that we were never paid.
We had a consultation with a lawyer, who said we were doing all the right things, and that it would be prohibitively expensive for us to hire a lawyer. I've also written to Barbara Boxer's office, since she's been one of the champions on this issue, and got a pretty generic response.
Meanwhile, there's a lawsuit in federal court for Mary Grice and others. The SSA is explicitly arguing that it's legal to collect from relatives other than the ones who received the money. Some members of Congress are talking about a legislative fix. But I don't know how soon that'll come.
I'm all in favor of rendering unto Caesar when we owe. But I'm not seeing how it's possible for us to owe for an "overpayment" that we were never paid. As I said last time, if they're that hard up, they could try raising or eliminating the cap on Social Security taxes, so the poor and middle class are no longer subsidizing the rich.
On to Top Comments!
From your humble (if antisocial) diarist:
Flagged by jim304: In quaoar's diary Looks like Ronald Reagan will be an a US coin after all, JeffW explains why we shouldn't worry.
In ericlewis0's diary Media Matters: O'Reilly lied about witnessing murder of nuns in El Salvador, there were several suggestions for historical events where BillO could insert himself. We Shall Overcome started with this and this, then PvtJarHead joined in with this. Meanwhile, rk2 found BillO's literary alter ego, and jnhobbs had a fine pictorial comment.
Top mojo, courtesy of mik:
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6) This means war! ;) n/t by Trix — 96
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8) I just read the funniest comment by NYFM — 93
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24) I wouldn't call by cardinal — 67
25) Speechless. by Eileen B — 67
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28) Bill by jamess — 63
29) "The" by Gooserock — 62
30) When you piss off Barbara Boxer, the results by officebss — 62
Picture quilt, courtesy of jotter: