
The Social Security Administration is walking back its policy that would have required beneficiaries who had been accidentally overpaid to have 100% of their monthly benefit check withheld to pay down the balance. The change comes less than two months after the agency announced it would reinstate a longstanding policy of withholding 100% of benefit checks until the balance is paid off.
In an “emergency message” dated April 25, the Social Security Administration set a withholding rate of 50% of each monthly benefit check to recoup money from beneficiaries who were paid more than they were eligible to receive.