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.
Report Released On Milwaukee Field Office Closure
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Social Security Administration released its findings on Social Security’s decision to close the Milwaukee field Office. Members of Congress asked for the review after the announcement was made that the office would be closing due to “safety concerns and unresolved building maintenance issues.”
The report indicated that Social Security decided to relocate the field office all the way back in October of 2015. The decision to close the Milwaukee office and not relocate it resulted after the General Services Administration (GSA) informed Social Security it could not secure “a viable space” that would meet space requirements in January of 2017. It took another year for Social Security’s regional commissioner to decide the Milwaukee field office needed to be closed. The report concluded that the “signature nature of the health and safety incidents” at the Milwaukee field office and the GSA’s inability to find a new location were the reasons the Milwaukee field office had to be closed. It is expected that four other Milwaukee area field offices, which are closest to the closed office, were to “mitigate any negative effects of the closure,” but members of Congress disagree with this explanation as many of their constituents have contacted them about an inability to obtain services from these other locations.
SSA Did Not Properly Withhold Overpayments
Another OIG report found that Social Security failed to “appropriately” withhold overpayments from individuals receiving Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. This means that many people received more money in benefits than they were entitled to, but it was no fault of their own. The report looked at a sample of 50 people that were receiving OASDI benefits and 50 people who were receiving SSI benefits to determine if overpayments were properly withheld. It was determined that overpayments were not withheld from benefits properly 31 percent of the time. The OIG recommended that Social Security “take steps to ensure it begins recovering outstanding overpayments as soon as possible for individuals who are receiving ongoing benefits.”
The people identified in this report will now receive a letter from Social Security asking for the overpayment back and if they can’t pay it back, which many beneficiaries won’t be able to do, Social Security will begin reducing their ongoing benefits all because Social Security made the error in the first place creating more hardship for these beneficiaries.
