A recent report by the Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration 44.5% of social security beneficiaries have been overpaid at some point in time between 2004 and 2014. According to the report, one of the main reasons for over-payment was the fact that many of people receiving social security benefits were also working or receiving other sources of income at the time. There were also reports of benefits being paid out to people who have already died. The average time that it took the Social Security department to identify an over-payment was 8.1 months. Congress is looking for ways to reform Social Security and reduce the number of over-payments in order to avoid having to cut benefits to keep Social Security solvent.
See Romina Boccia and Amber Athey, Report: Nearly Half of Social Security Disability Beneficiaries Were Overpaid By Government, The Daily Signal, June 22, 2015.
Special thanks to Jim Hartnett (The Hartnett Law Firm) for bringing this article to my attention.
