Tthe Social Security Administration is demanding people return overpayments that, in some cases, were the government's fault.
Lori Cochran, a beneficiary disabled by multiple sclerosis, said she got tripped up by a life insurance policy she took over from her mother.
But trying to resolve an overpayment involves plunging into a "Kafkaesque minefield," said Darcy Milburn, director of Social Security and health care policy at the Arc, which advocates for people with disabilities. As her struggle unfolded, the government reduced her monthly benefit checks and then stopped them. She and her husband sold their car and their house and moved from Florida to Georgia, where the cost of living was lower.
"Every decision that we made for our family was based on the benefits that we were supposed to receive,"But the Social Security Administration recently demanded the family pay back $30,000 and reduced the children's benefits. Cooper said the agency failed to correctly include her husband's workers' compensation in its calculations.
Members of the public "often struggle to really understand what they're supposed to report," LaPointe said.For disabled people who aren't blind, the government generally draws a line at earning $1,470 or more per month.
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