Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-MD), President Biden’s nominee to be the next Commissioner of Social Security, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on November 02, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
Three months into his role as commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Martin O’Malley unveiled a new plan to tackle overpayment issues that have led the agency to demand some beneficiaries repay benefits.
“We are no longer going to have that clawback cruelty of intercepting 100% of a payment if people do not respond to our notice,” O’Malley told the Senate Committee on Aging on Wednesday.
The plan comes after some beneficiaries who received excess benefit payments have received letters from the Social Security Administration demanding repayment of those sums.
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One overpayment notice for $58,000 was recently sent to a Savannah, Georgia, resident “through no fault of her own,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, noted during the hearing.
Because that beneficiary could not afford to repay the sum to the SSA, the agency reduced her monthly benefits, Warnock said. As a result, she could no longer pay her rent.
“That’s the human cost, the human face of these policy issues,” said Warnock, and indicated that his office frequently hears from constituents about overpayments issues and clawback notices.
The overpayment and underpayment of beneficiaries’ monthly checks is one of three service issues O’Malley said he plans to tackle in 2024. He also plans to address the long wait times for service on the agency’s 800 number, as well as a backlog in disability benefit applications that leads to long wait times for approval.
During the hearing, he also…
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