SSI wants me to pay them back the money they gave me for my son?

Question

I was receiving SSI for the my son who was born with a mild heart condition, he is now 2 years old and I started working at the post office. I received a letter from the SSI office telling me I needed to come in because they wanted to see my pay stubs and prof of my new address. When I got there they checked my pay stubs then told me I had to pay them back the money I received over the last year for my son because I make over $1500 a forthnight and that's before tax. Can they really do that?? can they make me pay back money they gave me for my son's heart condition because I am now working????

Answer 1

What she said, YES, they can make you pay it back.

Answer 2

There are two conditions that must be met in order to qualify for the the SSI program

1. Your child must have an eligible disability

and

2. Your family income (and assets) must be below a certain maximum.

SSI is what's known as a "needs-based" program. You don't get money because your son has a medical condition, you get money because your son has a medical condition AND your family has little or no income.

Once you exceed the income maximum, your son loses eligibility for SSI benefits.

The actual calculations of your income eligibility are pretty complex, so I'm not going to go into any great detail here.  

A child is not eligible for SSI benefits if the parent(s) have more than $2000 in cash, savings, stocks and bonds, and various other assets.

As I said, all of the rules are pretty complicated - the maximum income that you would be allowed - yet still qualify for SSI benefits for your son is determined by how many children are in your household, whether you live with another wage earner, and whether your son has any assets of his own. The best resource for you is your local Social Security Office.

I can tell you, however, that Social Security will monitor your income situation over time, and investigate as they deem reasonable.

If I had to guess, I'd say that you have been earning well beyond the SSI maximum, and  that your pay stubs indicated that you have been earning this money for at least the last benefit year.

If that's the case, then you were not actually eligible to receive the payments that you received last year, and yes, the government is required to insist that you pay back any SSI payments that you should not have received.

By the way, as a benefits recipient, it is YOUR responsibility to make Social Security aware of any changes in your job and income status.

Unfortunately, the government is the most powerful collection agency of all, so there's little chance that you'll be able to just ignore their request for repayment. They will, however, work with you to establish a reasonable repayment schedule - as long as you approach them and express your willingness.

I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but in these difficult financial times, the government has become extremely vigilant about whether aid recipients continue to qualify for government benefits.

Good luck!