It may have escaped your attention, as it did this writer’s, that on August 29 this year Social Security issued Emergency Message 25029 REV.
Emergency Messages are the agency’s method of notifying every office of the new protocols to follow. This one’s purpose is to change the “default Title II overpayment benefit withholding rate from 10 percent to 50 percent.” This means that if no appeal has been submitted within 90 days of receipt of the letter informing the recipient of the overpayment SSA will take half their SSDI check each month until the overpayment is cleared.
The change is significant but also might lead to some skepticism as to its long-term worth. As recently as March 29, 2024 SSA published a blog, based on Emergency Message 24011 SEV, which had been issued 4 days earlier. That blog, using language particular to the administration of the time, cited the interest of protecting Title II beneficiaries from undue financial hardship, and reduced the recovery rate from 100% to 10%.
The current administration, ignoring its own protocols, issued only a press release when it decided on March 7 this year to change the overpayment recover rate back to 100%. Interestingly, the latest EM makes no direct reference to that change and only alluded to it in stating “In April (sic) 2025, we provided interim guidance and informed technicians that we changed our policy for the default 10 percent benefit withholding rate to recover a Title II overpayment.” No mention of the 100% at any point.
Such are operations these days. If one looks at the POMS on the issue, there has been no update, and the manual still records the recovery rate at 10%. It might be worth citing (SSA – POMS: GN 02210.001 – Overpayment Recovery by Benefit Adjustment – 06/25/2024) as SSA field offices struggle to deal with the perpetual commotion that’s in place.
Here’s the press release from March 2025: Social Security to Reinstate Overpayment Recovery Rate | News | SSA
Here’s the Emergency Message 25029 REV: PolicyNet/Instructions Updates/EM 25029 REV: Change to Title II Overpayment Default Benefit Withholding Rate to 50 Percent Withholding