House Panel to Hold Hearing on Erroneous Social Security Payments

Published

7 months ago

October 13, 2023

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A House of Representatives panel has scheduled a hearing for next week on how the Social Security Administration has been clawing back payments it mistakenly made to beneficiaries.

This story is part of the Overpayment Outrage series onCox Media GroupTV stations. It can be republished for free. Share Your Story

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The announcement signals that members of Congress are focusing on the trauma many poor, retired, and disabled people have experienced from the government trying to reclaim safety-net payments some in the tens of thousands of dollars it says they shouldnt have received.

The hearing comes in the wake of an investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group (CMG) that found that, by the time the government catches a mistake and demands repayment, years may have passed and, often, the beneficiary has already spent the money to cover basic living expenses.

The House Ways and Means Committees subcommittee on Social Security is scheduled to hold the hearing on Oct. 18.

The hearing will examine how the Social Security Administration can better identify improper payments before they occur and provide beneficiaries with adequate notice when they occur, the chairmen of the two panels, Reps. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), said in a brief announcement.

The announcement did not say who would be testifying. Email Sign-Up

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A media contact for the Ways and Means Committee did not respond to a request for more information.

Since KFF Health News and CMG published and broadcast their initial reports in September, some members of the House and Senate have expressed outrage about the overpayments and the governments efforts to recover them. At least two lawmakers have called on the Social Security Administration to stop trying to get the money back from beneficiaries.

The No. 2 Republican on the Social Security subcommittee, Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio), recently called for a hearing.

He said in an interview the general sense from members is, We do have a problem, weve got to address it, weve got to fix it.

Last week, the Social Security Administrations acting commissioner, Kilolo Kijakazi, said she was assembling a team to review the agencys overpayment policies and procedures. The agency has declined to say how many people it has demanded repayments from. Some members of Congress have said the agency should disclose that information, and questions about it could come up at the hearing.

Overpayments result from beneficiaries failing to comply with requirements, whether innocently or intentionally, or from lapses or errors on the part of the Social Security Administration. In recent years, the agency has been issuing between $6 billion and $7 billion annually in new overpayments, according to government reports.

The agency has said that, when overpayments occur, it is required to try to recoup the money. However, it has the power to waive debts if the beneficiary wasnt at fault and, for instance, if the recipient cant afford to repay the government. David Hilzenrath: @DavidHilzenrath

Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group: @jodieTVnews Related Topics Aging Health Care Costs Disabilities Investigation U.S. Congress Contact Us Submit a Story Tip

Politics

Sir Keir Starmer has ‘no doubt’ Rwanda flights will get off ground – but Labour would cancel scheme ‘straight away’

Published

19 mins ago

May 10, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer has 'no doubt' Rwanda flights will get off ground - but Labour would cancel scheme 'straight away'

Sir Keir Starmer has said he has no doubt the government will get flights off the ground to Rwanda but Labour would “cancel the scheme straight away” if they win the next general election.

The Labour leader, announcing his party’s policy on illegal immigration in Dover, said the government’s flagship policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda will not work.

“They will get flights off the ground, I don’t doubt that but I also don’t doubt it will not work,” he said.

When asked by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby if that means he would stop any deportation flights to Rwanda on day one of a Labour government, he said: “We will scrap the Rwanda scheme.

“I said that to you when we last met last week, the time before last and you know, that means ending the scheme.

“Absolutely. Flights and all.”

He added: “We will cancel the scheme – of course that means we won’t operate the scheme at all, it’s a gimmick, I won’t flog a dead horse.

“We’re going to get rid of the policy straight away.”

Labour later clarified the party would not stop any flights already planned but would not schedule any further.

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The government’s Rwanda scheme, aimed at deterring asylum seekers arriving in the UK in boats over the Channel, has been stalled by legal arguments but last month became law. However, no flights have yet departed.

The scheme means any asylum seeker entering the UK illegally from a safe country such as France could be sent to Rwanda where their asylum claims would be processed. They would not be allowed to apply to return to the UK.

As Sir Keir announced Labour’s plans to stop small boats coming across to the UK, Sky News witnessed a Border Force boat with about 70 migrants, including at least one child, disembarking in Dover after being picked up in the Channel.

In the speech in Dover alongside new Labour MP Natalie Elphicke, Sir Keir insisted “our asylum system must be rebuilt”.

As part of Labour’s plan, he announced:

• A new Border Security Command, funded by scrapping the Rwanda scheme, with “hundreds of specialist investigators” from the NCA, Border Force, CPS, MI5 and Immigration Enforcement

• Hopes for a new partnership with Europol and new intelligence-sharing networks

• New counter-terrorism powers to allow officers to conduct stop and searches at the border, close bank accounts, trace movements and shut off internet access of people smugglers

• A rules-based asylum system with fast-track reforms, an enforcement unit and a returns agreement with the EU.

More politics:
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Scotland’s new leader scraps gender recognition reforms

Will Labour’s new plan woo voters?

By Darren McCaffrey, political correspondent

Given the impressive GDP figures released this morning, Labour needed a counter narrative to Conserative crowing.

And so it was to Dover and migration for Sir Keir Starmer to put some flesh on the bones of what a Labour government would do to tackle the small boats crisis.

More money, hundreds of more specialist investigators and the involvement of counter-terrorism are all part of the plan – funded by savings from abandoning the Tories’ Rwanda scheme.

It’s fascinating that Starmer now feels confident enough, not only talking about illegal migration (not traditional Labour territory) but taking the government head-on, on an issue that he feels is up for grabs.

It demonstrates Starmer’s strength inside Labour but also the Conservatives’ perceived weakness on illegal migration.

The Rwanda scheme though, is in principle popular with lots of the public, so if Labour is to abandon it, with this frankly less eye-catching alternative announced today – it leaves one big question – will their plan cut it with voters?

The Labour leader said: “We will restore serious government to our borders, tackle this problem at source and replace the Rwanda policy permanently.”

Turning a blind eye to people smuggling was “not a progressive or compassionate position”, Sir Keir said.

He said “our asylum system must be rebuilt and our borders must be secured”, and accused the Tories of being driven from a serious party of government “onto the rocks of their own delusion” in their pursuit of “gesture politics” over immigration.

“Our rules-based system should align with global rules that protect individual human rights,” Sir Keir added.

“That is in our interests and the right thing to do.”

Sir Keir insisted new Labour MP Ms Elphicke’s defection from the Tories on Wednesday reflected the mood of the country as Rishi Sunak is “clinging on” to power.

Asked if he was concerned about the backlash from within the Labour Party to Ms Elphicke’s defection, he said: “This is a very important and significant crossing of the floor for reasons Natalie set out.

“I think anyone reading the words she set out this morning would be persuaded this is a very significant thing, you’ve got a Tory party that is losing votes, losing MPs, losing councillors, losing mayors across the country.”

Reacting to Sir Keir’s announcement, Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Labour have no plan to stop the boats.

“Labour have an illegal immigration amnesty, Labour blocked of the deportation of violent sexual offenders and Labour voted over 130 times against tougher legislation to stop the boats. They will create a haven for criminal gangs, not stop them.

“Even Labour MPs are saying Labour can’t be trusted to stop the boats which shows you nothing will change.

“If people can apply for asylum from outside the UK then unlimited claims can be made, many of which will have to be accepted under the law and even then, many of those declined will then get on a small boat anyway.”

UK

‘I couldn’t cope with Britain anymore’: Kurdish man pays smuggler to return him to France after failed asylum claim

Published

19 mins ago

May 10, 2024

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'I couldn't cope with Britain anymore': Kurdish man pays smuggler to return him to France after failed asylum claim

We are rushing down the beach. In the gloom just before dawn, people are waiting by the seashore, a few hundred metres away.

We can see a dinghy out at sea. And then a voice rings out, in Kurdish.

“Whose passengers are you?”

In the half-light, the people smuggler thinks we are customers here to clamber on to the boat, and wants to know who we had paid.

We tell him we’re journalists.

“Keep out of the way,” he warns.

There are several dozen people gathered together, standing on the shoreline, moving anxiously from side to side.

I can see some women and children, but most of the passengers are men.

Some are clinging to a bag of possessions; others have nothing but the clothes they stand in. A man has his child held up on his shoulders.

Just about everyone is wearing a life jacket.

Just beyond, the boat is coming near the shore, already half full of people.

It seems impossible that all the people on the land can really fit into the space left in the boat, but that’s what happens.

On a signal, the movement starts – the younger men clamber in first, and then help the women, children and older people to get into the boat.

It all happens remarkably quickly. From a distance, migrant boats may look ramshackle and chaotic, but when you get up close, there is method and practice.

Some people jump off; the men who didn’t have life jackets on.

It becomes clear that these are the smugglers – or, more accurately, the smugglers’ assistants who have been sent to sort things out.

On one side, we see a moment of tension as two passengers square up – one accuses the other of not leaving a space for him to get aboard.

It is a faintly ridiculous squabble, like something between two drunk men in a pub, and it blows over. They end up sitting next to each other, brooding.

And then the engine is started and the boat sets off. At first, it’s a failure – the boat, low in the water with around 70 people on board, gets stuck on a small bar of sand and spins around.

But, with a push here and there, it gets going and slowly chugs away into the mist of the morning.

‘Migrants are desperate’

We turn around. The smugglers are leaving. We shout a question – are all these people Kurds?

“All of them,” he says. “These are the last Kurdish customers I have. There are no more.”

“Why not?”

And his answer is one succinct word: “Rwanda.”

The smugglers, dressed in black, disappear into the gloom.

We can just about see them clambering into the dunes, and then they are gone. It is a good ten minutes before we see the police – four officers marching down the beach.

They ask only two questions – firstly, did we see women and children on the boat (yes) and secondly, had the boat been launched from the beach (no).

They’d only just started their patrol, one of the officers tells me. He looks at the calm waters and shrugs. It could be busy.

Over the course of that night, we had seen plenty of police officers. We’d been questioned on the beach, checked as we walked near the beach and then pulled over at a road block.

We’d chatted with a team of CRS riot officers on the beach, one of whom bemoaned the fact that so few people grasped the sheer complexity of what they took on.

“It is so, so complicated – the migrants are desperate, and they can get everywhere. We cannot have a team in every place, at every time.”

It turned out that the road block officers were exactly the same team who we’d met on a different beach the previous evening.

“Ah, Sky News you are back,” he said, with a smile and a handshake.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

‘I cannot go to Rwanda’

We meet two young Sudanese men who tell us they are determined to get to Britain. When I ask if they’re worried about the Rwanda plan, they look blank. They’ve never heard of it.

And then we drop into a migrant camp that is growing in size and bump into another group of Kurds.

They are cooking food – this is the cafe for the migrants – and brewing tea that is strong, and scented with cinnamon.

They give me a cup. It’s delicious.

Omar is kneading dough, making crispy flatbread, and serving it with yoghurt. And he talks as he cooks, serving a remarkable story.

Two years ago, Omar left Kurdistan and paid a smuggler $15,000 (£12,000) to get him to Britain. He was there for 20 months, suffered a stroke, failed to gain asylum and ended up paying a smuggler £500 to get him out of Britain and back to this squalid camp in France.

Yes, you read that correctly. He paid to be smuggled out of Britain, and back to France.

“Here there is no washing or bath,” he says.

“You can’t clean yourself. Life is hard. But in Britain I had to give my fingerprints and signature regularly. Once every two weeks.

“Then I was told they had turned me down for asylum. I couldn’t cope with Britain anymore.

“They could arrest me and send me to Rwanda or Iraq. Rwanda – I cannot go there.

“So that’s why I came back here, to this place. But I have no money. I am 52 years old. It’s a terrible feeling to be back here, but what can I do?”

Listening to him is Barzan, who arrived in the camp five days ago after eight months on the road since leaving Kurdistan.

By striking contrast, he is not remotely bothered by the Rwanda plan.

“People won’t stop, whatever you tell them.

“Even if you tell them they will be taken to Africa, they would still go without hesitation. Rwanda is better than Kurdistan.

“But in Britain there is work. The currency is strong. I’m young and I want to make a life for myself.”

Another voice is raised – a man named Karwan.

He hears the word Rwanda, shrugs, smiles and shakes his head: “I think it’s a joke. Two years ago they started going on about Rwanda and nothing came of it.

“Now, it’s just for the sake of the election. Nothing else.”

UK

UK weather: Thunderstorm warning for large parts of country after temperatures set to reach as high as 27C

Published

19 mins ago

May 10, 2024

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UK weather: Thunderstorm warning for large parts of country after temperatures set to reach as high as 27C

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for thunderstorms for large of parts of the UK after temperatures are predicted to reach as high as 27C.

It comes as the UK experiences high temperatures today and over the weekend – before forecasters warn of “thundery breakdowns” on Sunday.

The warning is in place from noon to 10pm on Sunday and covers northwest England, most of Wales, much of central England and the South West.

See the latest weather forecast where you are

“Heavy showers and thunderstorms could lead to some disruption in places, especially to travel,” the Met Office says.

“Isolated property flooding is possible.”

It adds: “There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds.”

The south of England will see highs of 25C (77F) today, with the potential of temperatures reaching 26C (78.8F) on Saturday and possibly 27C (80.6F) on Sunday, according to the Met Office.

Scotland and Northern Ireland are also expected to enjoy warmer springtime weather, with 22C (71.6F) forecast for Saturday in Glasgow.

The spell of warm weather is down to a block of high pressure that has been over the UK for much of this week.

With it, the country has also seen increased levels of UV and pollen and even two wildfire warnings.

Fire services for Dorset and Wiltshire as well as Hampshire and the Isle of Wight issued the warnings for this weekend.

However, much of the sunshine and blue skies will give way to rain and thunderstorms during Sunday.

Deputy chief meteorologist Tony Wisson previously said: “Many places will start fine and warm on Sunday, though it is likely to become cloudier from the west or South West during the day. This will be accompanied by scattered showers, which could be heavy with thunder.

“On Monday we’re likely to see more widespread and longer-lived spells of rain, some of which will be heavy and thundery. This will also lead to a much cooler feel to the day.”

Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said that along with the wind and rain, next week temperatures will drop back closer to the average for this time of year.