We realize it may be a stretch for ordinary people to want to keep up with the comings and goings of the Social Security Administration, but sometimes circumstances permit where someone does want to follow the latest news regarding the agency due to a possible retirement or disability interest. This blog is an ongoing piecemeal of recent stories that have involved Social Security. Some are tidbits and some are important things that should be known in the world of retirement or disability and others are just interesting stories and nothing more.
Don’t Do This
Earlier this month a Harrisburg Pennsylvania man was arrested for making terroristic threats and harassment after threatening to comeback to the local Social Security office and “start shooting,” because he was upset at how his disability claim was being processed. Anyone who has ever gone through the Social Security disability process knows how frustrating things can be, but this is obviously not the way to handle things and only will get someone in more trouble by facing prison time. And, if someone is in prison they will not be receiving Social Security benefits, so needless to say, making threats against Social Security is not a wise decision. The man, 46-year-old Rodney Deavers, was charged and released on $10,000 bail.
Good News For Now
According to a report from Reuters, Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin announced that President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal will not include any cuts to Social Security and Medicare. The Reuters report quoted Mnuchin saying “we are not touching those now.” Although it is a positive sign to see Trump stick to what he said during the campaign about leaving Social Security and Medicare alone, there was no indication from Mnuchin as to whether Trump would consider cuts to both programs in the future.
A Report On Underpayments
We are constantly seeing reports from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) about how Social Security overpaid someone and all the money that is lost. This is a relatively rare occurrence but makes it seem like overpayments are a larger issue than they really are. On the opposite side of things, the OIG rarely discusses underpayments, where claimants are given less than what they are owed. The OIG did release one of its rare underpayment reports which showed that Social Security actually underpaid claimants by more than $40 million. These underpayments occur when benefits may be suspended or reduced, when there is really no reason to do so. Obviously when you are dealing with the amount of benefits Social Security has to make payments to while the agency is vastly understaffed, mistakes are going to be made. It would be nice if underpayments would be reported as much as Social Security overpaying a claimant. It is important to note that the OIG’s report only looked at a random sample of people impacted by underpayments, so the amount of underpayment going on is significantly higher than $40 million.
