There is a new rule for Social Security that starts this week.
No, not the change that could mean you have to go to a Social Security office in person to sign up for payments. That one starts at the end of the month.
But starting Thursday, March 27, the SSA will change its stance about giving recipients too much money. About 70 million people get monthly payments from Social Security, which will add up to about $1.6 trillion in 2025. Sometimes, however, a beneficiary gets more money than they should have.
An overpayment can happen if, say, a recipient doesn’t report a change in their income. Or the SSA could figure out payments wrong.
In a study released in August 2024, the Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration said that the agency made nearly $72 billion in mistakes in payments, mostly overpayments, from fiscal years 2015 to 2022. That was less than 1% of all the benefits given out during that time, but the report says that as of September 2023, the agency still owed $23 billion in overpayments.
What’s going to change this week?
If someone gets too much money from Social Security after March 27, 2025, they won’t get any more benefits until the extra is paid back.
What if I already paid back an overpayment?
The agency said that the withholding rate will not change for people who are currently paying back an excess.
Why do some people get too much SSI?
The rate that will be taken out of overpayments of Supplemental Security Income benefits will stay at 10%.
Social Security ends its less strict plan to hold back overpayments
The SSA decided last year to start taking back only 10% of a recipient’s benefits to cover overpayments. The agency said at the time that this would “significantly reduce financial hardship on people with overpayments.”
