During the pandemic and natural disasters, the US Social Security Administration was issuing billions of dollars in payments it said beneficiaries were not entitled to and then demanded the money back. It might seem that the US government hands out money for any reason. For some people, this represents the American dream of moving to the US and living on benefits from the government. However, a closer look reveals that it is not that straightforward. Even if you receive benefits, you can quickly lose them. The US Social Security Administration is reclaiming funds that were mistakenly distributed to beneficiaries last fiscal year. The Social Security Administration recovered $4.7 billion of overpayments during the 2022 fiscal year but ended that year with $21.6 billion of overpayments still uncollected, according to a November 2022 report by SSA’s inspector general. Reporters found that 71 million Americans received social security benefits, amounting to $1.4 trillion. Given such vast sums, mistakes were made, leading to significant budget losses. "Despite our high accuracy rates, I am putting together a team to review our overpayment policies and procedures to further improve how we serve our customers," Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of Social Security, said.
