Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) sent a letter to the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Kilolo Kijakazi after it was made known that millions of Americans had “received too much” in their Social Security checks.
According to Sen. Scott, thousands of Floridians are included in those who were overpaid.
The Florida senator believes asking for the money to be returned – as some have been requested – would “bankrupt an untold number of elderly Floridians.”
“I have heard from numerous Floridians about the Social Security Administration (SSA) demanding shockingly large sums of money for repayment as a result of past overpayments and errors made by the SSA,” said Sen. Scott. “These notices have come as a complete surprise to many seniors in my state and, if immediately recouped, would bankrupt an untold number of elderly Floridians.”
Moreover, the overpayments have not been a recent phenomenon. Over the last five years, the SSA has allotted $16 million in improper payments.
“In both fiscal year 2022 and 2023, about one million Americans received notice they had received too much in their Social Security checks, including thousands of Floridians. These notices follow five years of improper payments by the SSA totaling $16 billion. This is unacceptable. There must be greater accountability to avoid massive sums of improper payments from creating uncertainty for seniors, many on fixed incomes, who are now being charged with repaying huge sums of money,” said Scott.
Finally, the Florida senator called the decision from the SSA to request the large repayment amounts “completely wrong.”
“It’s completely wrong for the federal government to go after well-intentioned Americans who did all the right things and trusted that their government was doing the right thing, too. Hardworking American taxpayers pay into Social Security all of their lives so that they can depend on it in the time they need it most,” said Scott. “The fact that the SSA’s actions are leaving some of them worse off, through no fault of their own, is absolutely unacceptable.”
Scott concluded, “Too many seniors and disabled Americans on fixed incomes are having issues with the SSA because a mistake on the part of the federal government resulted in an overpayment,” and urged the SSA to “use the tools … at its disposal to rectify this situation.”
Sen. Scott is running for reelection against former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL).
