Social Security

If your social security card has been lost or stolen, it may be easier than you think to replace it.

A new financial report indicates that the funds gained an additional five years over the previous estimate for when they will run out of money, but the overall outlook for the programs remain grim.

Commissioner Martin O’Malley testifies to two Senate panels that his agency will stop the “injustices” of suspending people’s monthly benefits to recover alleged overpayments.

Kilolo Kijakazi sent the letter days after KFF Health News and Cox Media Group reported the agency has been demanding money back from more than twice as many people as she’d disclosed in October.

Sen. Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, vowed to meet monthly with Social Security officials until the problems surrounding overpayment demands are fixed.

More than 2 million people a year have been sent notices that Social Security overpaid them and demanding they repay the money. That’s twice as many as the head of Social Security disclosed at a hearing in October.

Lawmakers are asking what Social Security will do about its demands on their constituents to repay money distributed — and sometimes in error. Florida Sen. Rick Scott called the actions “unacceptable.”

As a presidential candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis has not said what he wants to do with Medicare. He has said he favors changing Social Security, although not in a way that affects current beneficiaries.

At a Senate confirmation hearing, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said he would address hardships the Social Security agency has caused by demanding money back from beneficiaries.

COVID-19 relief payments weren’t supposed to cost people their Social Security benefits, but some recipients say they did. Senators want to know why.

In the wake of an investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group, the SSA acting commissioner said a special team will review “overpayment policies and procedures” and report directly back to her.

Lawmakers are faulting the SAA for issuing billions in payments that beneficiaries weren’t entitled to receive — and then demanding the money back — as reported by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group.