Dear Social Security Commissioner, Martin O'Malley

An Open Letter on Remaining Critical Steps Needed to End the Agency's Horrific and Systematic Clawback Abuse

Social Security’s new Commissioner, Martin O’Malley, appears to be just what the doctor ordered for ending Social Security’s clawback abuses. Terry Savage and I discussed the terrible problem with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes on November 5th. The same day we published a book describing not just Social Security’s decades long practice of sending clawback notices demanding immediate repayment of what it states, but rarely documents, are years, if not decades of overpayments. The book also warns readers about the systematic financial scams the Agency, itself, is running and how to avoid them. Scams is a very strong word. We don’t use it lightly.

Commissioner O’Malley, former Governor of Maryland, is as outraged as anyone about the system’s unconscionable clawback practices.He has placed ending the abuse at the top of his priorities. He’s also taken steps to change the Agency’s culture and limit seizure of benefits to a maximum of 90 percent.

But, as the Commissioner well knows, ending clawback abuse will require additional policies — policies the Commissioner is now formulating with the input of top Agency staff, members of Congress, and Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen, who is Social Security’s Chief Trustee. The following open letter to the Commissioner outlines the additional changes we feel are essential. We hope they will assist the Commissioner and others advising the Commissioner in deciding how best to permanently resolve Social Security’s horrific clawback abuse.