Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2008/07/17/E8-16330/technical-revisions-to-overpayment-rules
Timestamp: 2017-09-21 12:47:49
Document Index: 536993700

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u2009404', 'art 404', 'art 416', '§\u2009404', '§\u2009404', '§\u2009404']

A Proposed Rule by the Social Security Administration on 07/17/2008
To be sure that your comments are considered, we must receive them no later than September 15, 2008.
73 FR 40997
40997-40999 (3 pages)
E8-16330
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E8-16330 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E8-16330
You may submit comments by any one of four methods—Internet, facsimile, regular mail, or hand-delivery. Commenters should not submit the same comments multiple times or by more than one method. Regardless of which of the following methods you choose, please state that your comments refer to Docket No. SSA-2007-0093 to ensure that we can associate your comments with the correct regulation:
1. Federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov. (This is the most expedient method for submitting your comments, and we strongly urge you to use it.) In the “Comment or Submission” section of the Web page, type “SSA-2007-0093”, select “Go,” and then click “Send a Comment or Submission.” The Federal eRulemaking portal issues you a tracking number when you submit a comment.
Joshua Silverman, Office of Regulations, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401, (410) 594-2128, for information about these rules. For information on eligibility or filing for benefits, call our national toll-free Start Printed Page 40998number, 1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-800-325-0778, or visit our Internet site, Social Security Online, at http://www.socialsecurity.gov.
We can apply underpayments to reduce overpayments. 42 U.S.C. 404(a)(1)(A) and 1383(b)(1)(A). Our current title XVI regulations explicitly provide that we “apply any underpayment due an individual to reduce any overpayment to that individual that we determine to exist * * * for a different period, unless we have waived recovery of the overpayment * * *.” 20 CFR 416.543. However, there is no parallel section in our current title II regulations. We propose to modify our regulations to reflect our current process of applying underpayments to reduce overpayments under title II.
We propose to amend 20 CFR 404.503 to state that we will apply any underpayment due an individual to reduce any overpayment owed by that individual that we determine to exist for a different period, unless we waive recovery. In cases when the underpaid individual has died, we will make the adjustment before distributing any underpayment according to the priority list in 20 CFR 404.503(b).
Under title II, we currently collect overpayments from an overpaid beneficiary, from any other beneficiary entitled to benefits based an overpaid beneficiary's earnings, or from the estate of a deceased overpaid individual. 20 CFR 404.502. Under title XVI, we may collect overpayments from the overpaid recipient, his eligible spouse, or the recipient's or eligible spouse's estate if one of them dies before we finish collecting the overpayment. 20 CFR 416.570.
When a representative payee receives benefits on behalf of a beneficiary, we generally collect any overpayment using these same procedures. However, when a representative payee receives benefits intended for a beneficiary after the beneficiary has died, the representative payee is liable for repaying the overpayment. 42 U.S.C. §§ 404(a)(2) and 1383(b)(2). While these amendments became effective on December 14, 2000, we are now proposing to update our regulations to reflect these statutory changes.
These proposed rules would clarify that we collect these overpayments solely from the representative payee's benefits and his estate. We do not collect from the benefits of the representative payee's spouse, the estate of the spouse, the auxiliaries of the overpaid representative payee, or the deceased beneficiary's estate. We would continue to use all other means for collecting such overpayments allowed by federal law, including cross-program recovery, administrative offset, tax refund offset, administrative wage garnishment, and federal salary offset. See 20 CFR 404.520, 404.527, 404.530, 416.572, 416.580, 416.590, 422.310, and 422.403.
For title II, we propose to add a new paragraph, 404.502(a)(3), which would state that we apply the procedures found in paragraph 404.502(a)(1) to recover an overpayment made to a representative payee after the death of a beneficiary. In this situation, we will not recover these overpayments from any other individual entitled to benefits based on the beneficiary's earnings because only the representative payee or his estate is liable for repayment. We also propose to add paragraph 404.502(b)(5) to state that, if an overpaid representative payee dies before we recover the full amount of the overpayment, we would collect the overpayment from the representative payee's estate, but we would not adjust the benefits based on the representative payee's record owed to the representative payee's spouse or children.
For title XVI, we propose to redesignate the existing language in 416.570 as paragraph (a) and to add a new paragraph (b). This new paragraph would provide that some of the procedures in paragraph (a) would apply to recover overpayments from a representative payee or his estate. We would clarify that we would not adjust benefits owed to the representative payee's eligible spouse or the eligible spouse's estate because only the representative payee is liable.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, we are proposing to amend subpart F of part 404 and subpart E of Part 416 of chapter III of title 20 of the Start Printed Page 40999Code of Federal Regulations as set forth below:
Authority: Secs. 204, 205(a), 702(a)(5), and 1147 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 404, 405(a), 902(a)(5), and 1320b-17); 31 U.S.C. 3720A. 2. Amend § 404.502 by adding paragraphs (a)(3) and (b)(5) to read as follows:
(5) The methods in paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section for overpayments owed by a representative payee for payments made after the beneficiary's death. We will not recover such overpayments from any person other than the individual who was representative payee or his estate, but may be recovered from such other person under § 404.503(b).
3. Amend § 404.503 by adding a second sentence to paragraph (a) and revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:
(b) Overpayment made to representative payee after the beneficiary's death. A representative payee or his estate is solely liable for repaying an overpayment made to the representative payee on behalf of a recipient after the recipient's death. In such case, we will recover the overpayment according to paragraph (a) of this section, except that:
(2) If the overpaid representative payee dies before we complete adjustment, we will not seek to recover the overpayment from the eligible spouse or his estate.
[FR Doc. E8-16330 Filed 7-16-08; 8:45 am]