Social Security change coming in July: Agency begins taking back 50% of overpayments

Some Americans will start getting smaller Social Security payments in July.

Don’t worry, it’s not because of the impending shortfall – although many might already be fretting about that. However, if the Social Security Administration happened to issue you an overpayment in the past, the agency is now seeking to get it back.

An overpayment can happen when a beneficiary fails to update a change in income, for instance, and as a result Social Security overpays them. Or the SSA can incorrectly calculate a person’s benefits.

Social Security paid out nearly $72 billion in improper payments – most of which were overpayments – during fiscal years 2015-2022, according to an August 2024 report from the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General.

Improper payments accounted for less than 1% of the almost $8.6 billion in benefits paid. As of September 2023, the agency had $23 billion in uncollected overpayments, according to the report.

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What are the Social Security payment changes coming in July?

Some beneficiaries who have been overpaid could have their monthly Social Security benefits cut in half beginning in late July.

In April, the SSA announced it would begin withholding 50% of benefit payments to overpaid recipients. That’s a partial retreat from the SSA’s initial announcement in March to withhold all of a recipient’s benefit until their overpayment was recouped.

Previously, the agency had been withholding only 10% of a recipient’s benefits to recover overpayments. The SSA had lowered the recovery rate to that level after negative media coverage in 2023 about the agency’s collection process, reporting how some had lost their homes after benefits were cut off to make up an overpayment. “Innocent people can be badly hurt,” then-Social Security chief Martin O’Malley said, according to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.

The SSA tried to reclaim overpayments from about 2 million people in the fiscal year that ended September 2023, according to KFF and Cox Media Group, based on data acquired in a Freedom of Information Act request.

If Social Security overpaid you, how do you pay it back?

Under its new policies, the SSA said it would begin issuing overpayment notices on April 25, 2025 and would start withholding 50% of the recipient’s benefits after about 90 days (or approximately July 24, at earliest), until the overpayment is repaid.

You can repay the overpayment by credit card, online bill pay or check. For more information on repayment of overpaid benefits, visit the SSA website.

You can also request a waiver to not repay the overpayment if you believe it was not your fault or if you cannot afford to repay it (or think it is unfair for some other reason), using a form on the SSA website.

Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY’s Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Social Security overpayment changes: Half of benefits may be withheld