Social Security Halves Overpayment Clawbacks After Outcry, But Advocates Say 50% Cut Still Stings

The Social Security Administration is again changing course on how aggressively it claws back money it mistakenly paid to beneficiaries, cutting the repayment rate to 50% of a monthly check, down from the full 100% it began seizing in March.

What Happened: The shift, disclosed in an April 25 "emergency message" to agency staff, unwinds a policy ordered last month by acting commissioner Lee Dudek, who had argued that taking every dollar of a recipient's benefit was necessary to "safeguard taxpayer funds." Dudek has been collaborating with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on broader cost cuts.

Overpayments are a chronic issue. In 2022, the SSA's inspector general found 73,000 cases stemmed from the agency's own miscalculations, often due to outdated software that forced workers to crunch numbers by hand.

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According to a CBS report, in 2023, the Biden administration capped clawbacks at 10% following reports that seniors and disabled Americans fell into homelessness when 100% of their checks vanished.

Advocates say halving benefits still hurts. "Taking half of a monthly check will remain a burden," warned Dan Adcock of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare in a statement shared with CBS, noting that one‑fifth of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients depend on benefits for nearly all their income link. SSDI's overpayment rate is higher than the wider program, partly because recipients must report wages once they earn above $1,620 a month.

Roughly 670,000 beneficiaries saw a 10% deduction last year, per KFF. The new 50% ceiling took effect immediately on April 25, but the agency has not said whether it will offer relief to people already struggling under the reinstated 100% rule.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.