Jessica Melton’s life took a serious hit when her monthly Supplemental Security Income was slashed down to a shocking $14 a month, all because the Social Security Administration (SSA) says she owes them $12,000.
What’s worse? She says the mistake wasn’t even her fault.
Melton, a Tennessee woman who’s disabled and unable to work, has been relying on her SSI checks for years. The payments help cover her basic living expenses since she can’t earn a regular income. But earlier this year, she got slammed with a notice from the SSA saying she had been overpaid by $12K over time, and now they wanted it all back. That meant cutting her already modest benefits down to basically nothing.
And the reason? The SSA claims her husband made too much money, which put them over the income threshold for a married couple receiving SSI, $3,000 a month. The issue is, according to Melton, her husband Jason never actually earned over that amount. But the SSA’s calculations disagreed, and that’s when things spiraled.
Melton told local news outlet WATE that at first, SSA informed her the overpayment wasn’t her fault. But within just two weeks, they reversed that decision and blamed her for the entire situation. According to her, the agency said they reevaluate SSI eligibility every two years, but things only started falling apart in 2021. That’s when her husband’s income supposedly made her ineligible, even though it hadn’t actually changed.
“Every time I got paid, I had to give them a payment of an overpayment,” Melton explained. “Each time my husband got paid, my overpayment went up.”
Her monthly SSI checks started shrinking gradually until they bottomed out at just $14. She was left scraping by with little to no cash while still being expected to repay thousands of dollars. Jason, who works as a delivery driver, says he was blindsided to learn that his self-employment status impacted his wife’s SSI eligibility, something the agency never made clear.
Adding to their frustration, the SSA advised Melton that she could file for a waiver if she believed the overpayment wasn’t her fault or if she couldn’t afford to pay it back. The form, SSA-632, is available online or at local offices, and filing it could stop or reduce the repayment requirement. But since SSA now considers Melton at fault, she’s stuck footing the bill for a $12K debt she insists isn’t hers.
The situation isn’t rare. In fact, Social Security has had a long-running issue with overpayments. A report from the Office of the Inspector General found that the SSA made $72 billion in improper payments between 2015 and 2022. Even after some of it was recovered, $23 billion was still outstanding by the end of 2023.
Many of these overpayments stem from admin errors, like not updating records, miscalculating income, or slow processing. But when the agency catches the mistake, it’s often the recipients who are forced to pay, even if they had no idea anything was wrong.
Financial experts recommend keeping a close eye on your benefits and income limits. If something looks off, contact the SSA immediately. According to financial literacy instructor Alex Beene, “If you find yourself having to pay back overpayments, you can work with the SSA on a timeline or possibly request a review if you feel the mistake was on their end.”
Sadly, Melton’s not alone. Stories of people being hit with massive overpayment demands from Social Security have been making headlines. One woman was asked to repay $88,000 and feared she’d lose her home. Another was forced to repay $43,000 due to an error dating back nearly two decades.
With all this uncertainty, many experts are advising people to start looking at ways to protect themselves. That includes supplementing Social Security income with retirement savings like 401(k)s or IRAs. Shannon Benton from the Senior Citizens League stresses starting early to build a financial cushion in case benefits are reduced or disrupted.
For now, Jessica Melton is left trying to survive on $14 a month while fighting a system that seems more broken than ever. Her story is a harsh reminder of how a simple admin mistake can turn someone’s life upside down, and just how hard it can be to get help when the government makes an error.
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