Social Security Administration; incompetent or corrupt?
Yesterday, we received a letter from Social Security claiming that Erin, who works part-time, makes too much to receive SSI, which according to their income limits is not the case, and the worst part is that the SSA has now decided the months in which Erin has already received the benefit, she is now ineligible, meaning we’ll have to find over $2,800 to pay that back, and we need that $1,419 per month to be able to pay our living costs, and debts we have amassed over the years, due to not making it month to month.
The income limit is clearly stated on the breakdown they sent us, which is $1,350 per month, and for the month of September 2022, SSA claim that Erin earned $1,618, but the reality is that Erin earned $1,101 gross. In the current month, October 2022, SSA claims $1,618 again, the reality is $1,188, and back in August, SSA claimed $1,618, are they copying and pasting? and the reality, well at this time, she was over, at $1,645, and that’s still not correct, the month before that, SSA claimed $1,484, but the reality is $1,241.
I don’t know where they are getting these numbers from, the reality is very different, the average difference between what they claim vs. reality is +$290, taking into account the time Erin was over. There is a total of nine months listed, February thru October, with the exception of February, in which Erin had no income, every amount listed is incorrect. February through July isn’t counted, as the first 6 months of eligibility are not paid; a person has to be determined as disabled for 6 months before SSI is paid!
What a stupid system, you earn $1 over the limit, and benefits stop, why would you not have a system where you submit your paystubs, and if you are over, the amount of SSI you get the following month will be minus the amount you were over the income limit; I guess that makes too much damn sense.
Seriously, where are they getting these numbers from? They are the government, cant they contact the IRS, or have a backdoor into their systems to pull up income information, to see how much money you earned in any given period? They are taxing Erin, so they must know her gross income. I did notice on the bottom of page 2 of the letter; “We may receive wage and employment information from Equifax that is part of a consumer report” is stated, so I can only assume this is where they got the income information, so we need to get a copy of this report, as it’s very inaccurate, as much as $517 per month over the reality.
All this is very frustrating, Erin applied for Social Security SSDI almost 3 years ago and only got approved this August. During those 3 years, Erin has had a number of jobs, which she ended up losing due to her taking time off because of her disability, but had to find another job as we cannot live on a single income, as if she had simply waited for Social Security to make a decision, we would be bankrupt and destitute.
Honestly, if this is going to be the case, why work at all? If working causes so many problems with incorrect reporting of income from whatever source Social Security uses, then we are better off with Erin quitting her job and saving the gas money, that’s $60—80 per week savings, while not suffering the pain that working causes for Erin every day she ventures out to work. If it’s a choice of $1,100—1,200 per month for working or $1,419 per month for staying at home, why would anyone want to work?
I feel so incredibly hopeless, we have been 100% honest, not hiding anything to get benefits. I don’t know what to do, our child support payments stopped in August as our son turned 18, and being approved for SSDI was our saving grace, to replace that lost child support income. Despite our son turning 18, we still have to keep a roof over his head, food in his mouth, cover his medical costs and transport him where he needs to go, as he has special needs, and is unable to do as others his age could without support.
To answer the question in the title, I believe that the Social Security Administration is corrupt as all hell, making up numbers to deny Americans financial help, and making it as difficult as possible to get any sort of SSI benefits, to the point where you need a lawyer to even get anything out of them.