A Texas woman has spoken out about the financial strain and emotional toll she endured after the Social Security Administration (SSA) demanded that she repay $40,000 in benefits. The woman, who lives in Richardson, Texas, outside of Dallas, was notified by the SSA that she owed the money, leaving her just 30 days to pay it back. As a result of the situation, she stopped receiving Social Security payments altogether.
Millions of Americans rely on Social Security, including retirees, those who have lost a family member, and individuals with disabilities. One such individual is the woman from Richardson, who has been receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) since 2011. Diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder, chronic migraines, and depression, she began receiving benefits when she was just 24 years old.
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For the first four years, she either didn’t work or worked part-time. However, starting in 2015, she began full-time employment. By doing so, she earned too much income, resulting in overpayments amounting to about $12,000. Unfortunately, she wasn’t notified of the issue for two years, and by the time she was informed, she was unable to work for a year and a half due to her health condition.
Eventually, the woman began repaying the $12,000 through her benefits over the following three years. In 2017, she took a part-time job delivering food, kept records, and thought everything was going smoothly. But then, nearly two-and-a-half years later, she received a shocking notice from the SSA.
The SSA claimed she owed more than $40,000, demanding full repayment within 30 days, and stopped her payments by the end of 2019. For the next two years, the woman continued to work as an essential worker during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite advice from her psychiatrist due to the added stress on her bipolar disorder. Eventually, she quit her job and has been unemployed for the past two-and-a-half years.
After three reconsiderations, she was reinstated and received two-and-a-half years of back pay. However, just a few days later, the SSA sent another letter stating that she now owed more than $49,000 and would stop her SSDI payments by the end of the month.
Her mother, Karen, who serves as her representative, expressed frustration with the SSA’s handling of the situation. She stated that the agency never provided her daughter with any prior notice that there was an issue and emphasized that her daughter was medically qualified for SSDI the entire time.
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The case is not an isolated incident. According to an investigation by Cox Media Group and KFF Health News, millions of Americans have been told to repay billions of dollars in overpayments. In the 2024 fiscal year alone, the SSA recovered about $4.9 billion in overpayments, with another $10 billion set for repayment. Many recipients are faced with notices requesting repayment of large sums, which many cannot afford to repay. The SSA can recover overpaid funds by reducing or stopping monthly benefits, intercepting federal tax refunds, or seizing wages.
A poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that one in four Social Security beneficiaries had been accidentally overpaid, while the SSA’s lack of limits on how far back they can go in recovering overpayments has resulted in recipients being asked to repay money for errors made many years prior.
The SSA’s actions have led to severe financial strain for many, including one woman, 84, who was forced to return to work at Dollar Tree after her benefits were cut by $300,000, and an elderly couple who faced “sheer panic” when their income was seized due to an $84,000 overpayment bill from the SSA .
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