Big Trouble for Those Dependent on SSI

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Vida May

Member
Remember the stimulus checks we received during the pandemic? Well now the government wants that money back if the receiver was receiving SSI at the time. This can result in people with disabilities or the elder becoming homeless.

For sure it is causing those of us who feel threatened by the government's effort to take back that money, sleepless nights and other stress-related problems. This is an extremely frightening thing for many of us who thought we were to stimulate the economy by spending that money so the payback will be taken out of our present income. Our SSI payments vary but I think most of us get less than $1,000 a month.

Whenever we have more than $2000 our SSI check is stopped until the money is gone. We would been better off if we were never given that extra money. A friend's SSI check will be cut by $100 a month until they have gotten $5000 from him. He is on kidney dialysis. I don't know how badly I will be hurt but I am scared.

If you want to know more here is a link. Covid Relief Payments Triggered Feds to Demand Money Back From Social Security Recipients - KFF Health News
 

It really p*sses me off (and I hate that term but that's how this makes me feel) that the government can find zillions to send to other countries but can't give our poor and needy citizens a break! Also, the corporations and wealthy private citizens get all of these tax breaks, but the poor have food snatched from their tables. It's disgusting!!! My question is though...how did your friend get $5.000 in stimulus money? I thought the max was $3,600. :unsure:
 
I read the article and did not see them mention SSI but only Social Security. There's a big difference in the two terms. Where did you see it's about SSI?
 
Ruthanne said:
I read the article and did not see them mention SSI but only Social Security. There's a big difference in the two terms. Where did you see it's about SSI?
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BELOW QUOTED FROM THE ARTICLE:
The payments pushed some beneficiaries’ bank balances above the $2,000 asset limit for individuals on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a program for people with little or no income or assets who are blind, disabled, or 65 or over. The limit, which hasn’t been adjusted for inflation in decades, can discourage people from working or saving more than a perilously small amount of money.

In some cases, when the Social Security Administration belatedly noticed the higher bank balances, it concluded the beneficiaries no longer qualified for SSI, according to people affected. Then the agency set out to recapture years of SSI benefits it alleged they shouldn’t have received.

The ripple effects can disrupt health care, too. In most states, receiving SSI makes someone eligible for Medicaid, so halting SSI benefits can jeopardize coverage under the public health insurance program, said Darcy Milburn of The Arc, an organization that advocates for people with disabilities.

Vaughn, who suffered a disabling injury while working as a cook at a truck stop, said she depends on the $557 she was receiving from SSI each month. It hasn’t come since August, she said.
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Vida May said:
Remember the stimulus checks we received during the pandemic? Well now the government wants that money back if the receiver was receiving SSI at the time. This can result in people with disabilities or the elder becoming homeless.

For sure it is causing those of us who feel threatened by the government's effort to take back that money, sleepless nights and other stress-related problems. This is an extremely frightening thing for many of us who thought we were to stimulate the economy by spending that money so the payback will be taken out of our present income. Our SSI payments vary but I think most of us get less than $1,000 a month.

Whenever we have more than $2000 our SSI check is stopped until the money is gone. We would been better off if we were never given that extra money. A friend's SSI check will be cut by $100 a month until they have gotten $5000 from him. He is on kidney dialysis. I don't know how badly I will be hurt but I am scared.

If you want to know more here is a link. Covid Relief Payments Triggered Feds to Demand Money Back From Social Security Recipients - KFF Health News
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I have just searched for another reputable news source to see if this story can be verified. I cannot find one. Can you?

I found this one, which is related: Social Security slashes amount of overpayments beneficiaries must pay back

It says SS is now requiring only 10% of overpayments back as a general policy. I wonder if this is true also, but I'm not going to go searching on it right now.

I think you should try to find another reputable news source to verify that KFF story. Or call Social Security and ask them if it's true.
 
VintageBetter said:
I have just searched for another reputable news source to see if this story can be verified. I cannot find one. Can you?

I found this one, which is related: Social Security slashes amount of overpayments beneficiaries must pay back

It says SS is now requiring only 10% of overpayments back as a general policy. I wonder if this is true also, but I'm not going to go searching on it right now.

I think you should try to find another reputable news source to verify that KFF story. Or call Social Security and ask them if it's true.
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Why do you feel the source is not reputable enough? Did you read the other stories linked within the article, indicated by blue lettering? One covers members of congress who are also outraged and want to do something about it. Guess I can't blame you though; there is so much fake news out there. Here is a Brave search that lists other websites that report about the government wanting money back from SSI recipients.
https://search.brave.com/search?q=f...rom+social+security+recipients&source=desktop

The article you linked is not about the same subject, it is about overpayments that Social Security administration erroneously sent to Social Security recipients, not (not sure if SSI recipients are included in that). They are making SS beneficiaries pay for their mistakes.
 
I did not know many tens of thousands of Seniors receive SSI payments as well as Social Security Retirement. Do they? Are they here on this site? I'm pretty new here so I don't know.

I just searched the Washington Post for any mention of this particular issue and they are ignoring the story, I guess, even though they cover Washington.

I did find this op/ed though, which I will read later. https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...son-i-know-american-bootstrap-culture-is-lie/

Reposted here in case WaPo has a paywall: As a disabled person, I know: American bootstrap culture is a lie

(I agree with this title.)

Do I HAVE to read everything anyone posts here, or can I go looking for other sources?
 
I can only speak for what’s happening in Canada. Our government gave out $2,000 a month for all those who applied. Turns out that 230 of the people that applied were government workers who were already getting paid. It wasn’t freebie money grab, but that’s what many took it as. They were all fired and had to pay ALL the money back
 
I'm confused. That's been my experience with government funds -- confusion. During most of the 1990's my son received SSDI (social security disability insurance) not to be confused with Social Security or SSI which I never heard of until now.

It wasn't a lot, but he was required to get that monthly check in order to qualify for Medicaid (not to be confused with Medicare.) Without the Medicaid, which in Ohio required he pay a certain amount back, over $200, for the "spend down " program for which I'll spare your the mind bending details. Without the Medicaid he would have had to pay over $1000 per month for his medication. At that time people with existing conditions couldn't get health insurance. Thank you President O for fixing that.

During those years he was not allowed to have a checking account lest his money go over a few hundred and he would no longer qualify. I remember him being told to "go buy some clothes."

He would have not had the SSDI at all if his father hadn't had the patience to apply several times. It's standard to turn applications down the first time.

Why do we have so many mentally ill people on the streets? Part of the reason is that someone in the midst of psychosis could never, ever make it though the process to apply for and use those funds.

After my son got "well" he no longer qualified for any of this. He got a job, which he's held for 20 years, and went off the SSDI. For the first few years he paid all the amount of money he had received in SSDI to Feed the Children till he felt even.

The idea of asking disabled people who are squeaking by, to pay money back as though it's been sitting in a bank is ludicrous. Only rich congressmen would fail to understand this.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
I can only speak for what’s happening in Canada. Our government gave out $2,000 a month for all those who applied. Turns out that 230 of the people that applied were government workers who were already getting paid. It wasn’t freebie money grab, but that’s what many took it as. They were all fired and had to pay ALL the money back
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The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was certainly a boon for those who were laid off from their usual employment. My daughter is a government worker. She works in a community arts centre, which is a teaching & performing institution, supported by the City of Burnaby (in BC).

Her situation is that being on the music staff, plus working in the office, and being an emcee at performances, she's paid by the hours worked during a week. A limited set of benefits come with the job, but the Shadboldt Centre isn't unionized. She wasn't among those 230. Beyond question, she'd have been without income during the height of the pandemic.
 
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OneEyedDiva said:
It really p*sses me off (and I hate that term but that's how this makes me feel) that the government can find zillions to send to other countries but can't give our poor and needy citizens a break! Also, the corporations and wealthy private citizens get all of these tax breaks, but the poor have food snatched from their tables. It's disgusting!!! My question is though...how did your friend get $5.000 in stimulus money? I thought the max was $3,600. :unsure:
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I had the same question. My friend is not the brightest crayon in the box and I should look at the letters sent to him and see if I can help him. I said what I said not because of his experience but what I found on the internet when I tried to get information.

Also some months ago I wrote of the problem of us all needing to save money for when we have to move, or repair a car, or resolve the problems that come up and those of us on SSI can not have more than $2000. If by denying ourselves everything besides rent and electricity, we save money and our check comes in, we could be over $2000 until our rent check and electricity bill pass through. That money could become an overpayment. If he put the stimulus check in the bank, I suppose every month he had over $2000 it would be counted as an overpayment.

Back to your question, my friend has no explanation of how he could have been overpaid. As far as I know, the authority can make arbitrary decisions, and never explain anything, except to let us know we owe the government. We have to take it on faith that the decision is correct. My friend went to the Senior and Disabilities Services to get help and he got nothing. Without money he can't hire an attorney so how can we get the necessary information?
 
Della said:
During those years he was not allowed to have a checking account lest his money go over a few hundred and he would no longer qualify. I remember him being told to "go buy some clothes."
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Bingo, I love you darling. :cry: It is mentally and emotionally exhausting! I am considering getting counseling because I am living with such fear of the government claiming I owe money. This is depressing and I can get counseling with my Medicaid. I am not motivated to use medicine to extend my life. I don't want to be a burden on anyone. That worries me.
 
Vida May said:
I had the same question. My friend is not the brightest crayon in the box and I should look at the letters sent to him and see if I can help him. I said what I said not because of his experience but what I found on the internet when I tried to get information.

Also some months ago I wrote of the problem of us all needing to save money for when we have to move, or repair a car, or resolve the problems that come up and those of us on SSI can not have more than $2000. If by denying ourselves everything besides rent and electricity, we save money and our check comes in, we could be over $2000 until our rent check and electricity bill pass through. That money could become an overpayment. If he put the stimulus check in the bank, I suppose every month he had over $2000 it would be counted as an overpayment.

Back to your question, my friend has no explanation of how he could have been overpaid. As far as I know, the authority can make arbitrary decisions, and never explain anything, except to let us know we owe the government. We have to take it on faith that the decision is correct. My friend went to the Senior and Disabilities Services to get help and he got nothing. Without money he can't hire an attorney so how can we get the necessary information?
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Too bad your friend has hit the proverbial brick wall ! Is there a legal aid agency he can go to? I never had to use them, but from what I understand, we had such an agency in N.J. and they provided free legal services. I believe if someone won a case, that's how they got paid. But its been decades since I heard anything about them and of course, much has changed since then.
 
Government programs can make it extremely difficult to be in compliance no matter how hard you try. I found this out when I was the guardian for my friend with dementia when her husband died.

I moved her to a facility that she could afford. After 2 years her needs increased and the rent doubled. I applied for Medicaid and the social worker told me to prepay her funeral expenses which I did.

They never paid the same amount on a monthly basis and sometimes they paid so much that she was going to have more than 2k in her account. When that happened I paid the facility more than what was needed to keep the account down. Without Medicaid she couldn’t afford to live there. Ugh!!
 
VintageBetter said:
I did not know many tens of thousands of Seniors receive SSI payments as well as Social Security Retirement. Do they? Are they here on this site?
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Yes, I am here and I am on SSI.

I studied gerontology at the University of Oregon and thought that would lead to a good career. I have done a lot of volunteer work with that education and I am grateful for those opportunities to use my education. I still volunteer but I wonder how much longer I can keep this up.

Life just didn't go the way I thought it would. Because I am old I know a lot more about aging than when I studied it in college. Because I am educated, I think I owe it to everyone that I use my education the best I can to defend those who are less educated and can not fight for themselves. I Need to take action for better programs for the young who are going to be shocked by the reality they will face. I wish I had the energy I once had.
 
Teacher Terry said:
Government programs can make it extremely difficult to be in compliance no matter how hard you try. I found this out when I was the guardian for my friend with dementia when her husband died.

I moved her to a facility that she could afford. After 2 years her needs increased and the rent doubled. I applied for Medicaid and the social worker told me to prepay her funeral expenses which I did.

They never paid the same amount on a monthly basis and sometimes they paid so much that she was going to have more than 2k in her account. When that happened I paid the facility more than what was needed to keep the account down. Without Medicaid she couldn’t afford to live there. Ugh!!
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I so appreciate your post and that is all I will say because I would make a strong political argument if it were not against the rules to be political here. 🤬 It is kind of hard to speak of government policy and not be political.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Too bad your friend has hit the proverbial brick wall ! Is there a legal aid agency he can go to? I never had to use them, but from what I understand, we had such an agency in N.J. and they provided free legal services. I believe if someone won a case, that's how they got paid. But its been decades since I heard anything about them and of course, much has changed since then.
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Now that you mention it, I have always dealt with appeal processes when I was not in agreement with a decisions. Man, I really don't want to deal with his problem but he is pathetic when it comes to dealing with these kinds of things. Maybe he was given an opportunity to appeal. I will check that out. :unsure: Maybe I can go directly to the Social Security office and get information?
 
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THANK YOU EVERYONE! Because of you all, I felt brave enough to go to the Social Security office and ask questions. Especially thanks to OneEyedDiva triggering me to think about the appeal process.

We all had 9 months to spend our stimulus checks. That made sense because it was called a stimulus check, meant to stimulate the economy. If anyone put that money in the bank for more than 9 months, then it would be counted as a resource and could be deducted from SSI checks. I object to it only being people on SSI who get punished for saving money, but that could be another thread.

Another point of contention is if we buy a funeral or cremation policy that can be counted like money in the bank resulting in SSI checks being reduced. The really sad thing is my friend paid for a cremation policy when his wife died but his policy is totally worthless to him because there is no one to pick up his ashes. So there is a complication in determining if his check should be reduced and he is getting no benefit from the policy. He would be cremated even if he didn't have a policy.

I have a form "Request for Reconsideration". On the back of the form is a list of why actions are taken to increase or decrease the amount a person should pay or should be paid. Maybe with this list my friend can figure out why they say he was overpaid. Both of us would feel a whole lot better if we understood why they say he has to pay back $5000 and what to do about it if the decision is wrong.
 
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I do not get SSI or SSDI. If I become a victim of an SSA clawback, it will be because they made a mistake and paid me too much. There are guidelines for the amount of assets I can have and I check that online every year. Still, because SSA claims it is so under-staffed and prone to making errors, I too wait for that dreaded notice to show up in my mailbox.
 


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