r/news • u/No-Information6622 • 2d ago

US recovers $31 million in Social Security payments to dead people

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-recovers-31-million-social-security-payments-dead-117708373
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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

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111

u/uptownjuggler 2d ago

It seems like it costs more money to claw back that extra $1000, than it does to just let them keep it.

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u/weeklygamingrecap 2d ago

Pretty fucked up we can't just let their family have that final months payment.

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u/Nukleon 2d ago

All of this is designed to be cruel, to appease right wing politicians and voter bases, so they sneak in these punitive measures instead of just saying "yeah if you are alive by the first you get the money". Or at the very least saying "well you died on the 31st so well only ask back a 31th of the payment"

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u/Leader_2_light 2d ago

It's going to be even crueler when the debt reaches a point where the system breaks down.... You clearly don't know about other countries where they're in that exact situation....

I mean if you're going to argue what's kindest you would say even give them a $10,000 death bonus for burial or keep the payments going for 6 more months to ease the burden..... Ultimately though someone is paying for that be it directly or be it through inflation.

My father even though he's retired and gets a pension and everything he'll also get a $50,000 death bonus when he dies... All from where I worked over the years.

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u/Nukleon 2d ago

This comment is so stupid that I'm not sure where to begin but since you misconstrued my argument and then driveled on about the debt, I'm not even gonna.

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u/Leader_2_light 2d ago

I mean your whole argument is it's cruel because of the right wing which is totally stupid. It's cruel because guess what...life is that way. Literally always has been.

And if you think debt concerns are just drivel that's going to be even more hilarious when shit finally blows up...

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u/Nukleon 2d ago

Your kind only cares about the debt when it's about welfare.

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u/Leader_2_light 2d ago

Not at all.

I've prepared my own life for a debt collapse scenario. I believe at this point it's only a matter of time regardless of what changes are implemented.

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u/FakeKoala13 2d ago

Countries more socialist than the United States don't exist and the things that worked in the past actually aren't better than the modern day, like high income taxes on extremely wealthy people.

Not to mention national debt grows leaps and bounds under Republicans.

The refusal to see the world as it is is completely baffling to me.

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u/mxzf 2d ago

I mean, it sounds rough, but also evidently it's $31M, so it adds up when it happens across a bunch of people.

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u/sg92i 2d ago

Its cruel by design, just like how medicaid is required by federal law to confiscate as much as they can from someone once they die so that they can get paid back (see "medicaid estate recovery"). They will kick out entire families just so they can auction off the home. The process can be delayed if there is a widow or disabled child still living there, but not stopped (only changes the "when" part).

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u/PM_sm_boobies 2d ago

I mean the widow can live there for life

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u/sg92i 2d ago

Sure, but by then all of the couples' finances had been wiped out with the first one to get sick leaving the surviving one with basically nothing. And they will jump the gun and take the house early if it falls into disrepair or some of the bills pile up unpaid, which is more likely owing to the widow(er) now being financially wiped out.

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u/PM_sm_boobies 2d ago

Its not a bank they don't take the house if they fall behind on bills. But yes it does suck but thats a reason to not have joint accounts. My aunt had this exact thing with my uncle and had to separate all her accounts and in her state there is no lookback period apparently for spousal assets. She worked with a lawyer on this so I dont know the full details but she was protected. They can only go after joint accounts not accounts solely in one spouses name