An audit by the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) revealed that the agency failed to issue policy-compliant Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) overpayment notices for 46 percent of reviewed cases and incorrectly processed 63 percent of explanation requests.
The OIG estimated that over 469,000 of approximately one million OASDI overpayments established in Fiscal Year 2023 had inaccurate or non-compliant notices. Common issues included missing required information, inaccurate overpayment amounts, and conflicting language regarding reconsideration and waiver rights. Additionally, more than 7,000 overpayments with explanation request indicators were processed incorrectly, with errors such as misuse of the indicator and deficient explanation notices.
In response to these findings, the OIG issued six recommendations to the SSA, urging the establishment of controls and updates to systems, policy, and procedures. The aim is to ensure the issuance of complete and accurate overpayment notices and proper processing of explanation requests. The SSA has agreed with all recommendations.