The Social Security Administration (SSA) is working to correct errors that caused same sex couples grief over the past few years, just as they started to achieve equality under the law.
The administrator said this month that it is no longer asking married gay Americans to repay benefits that deemed them single. The payments were systematically and mistakenly issued by SSA after the Supreme Court in 2013 struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that prohibited the US government from recognizing same sex marriages.
Social Security payments to married individuals are less generous than the same benefits for single Americans. When SSA realized it had sent single benefits to individuals in same sex marriages, it had asked them to reimburse the government.
“If you determine that the overpayment occurred due to deeming based on recognition of a same-sex marriage …presume the recipient requests waiver of the overpayment,” SSA said earlier this month in an “emergency message.” It instructed its workers to “not obtain a written request for waiver in these cases.”
In October, more than 120 Democratic lawmakers had demanded that the SSA stop asking Americans to cover for these administrative errors. On Wednesday, two lawmakers who organized that protest cheered this month’s move.
“The SSA is taking necessary and appropriate action to protect same-sex couples from being penalized for an error that was not of their own doing,” said Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.). “Providing these couples a streamlined process for resolving this situation recognizes that they have been treated unfairly.”
“SSA’s announcement means that these legally-married couples will not have to jump through additional hoops to secure the remedy they deserve,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said.
Takano noted that he also asked SSA to “consider increasing their outreach to ensure everyone affected receives the support they need.”
Both lawmakers said in a joint statement that they are still waiting for SSA to answer questions asked in October about same sex couples who already reimbursed the administration. They also noted that they’re still waiting for SSA to answer questions about system updates “so that it can correctly account for same-sex marriages and administer benefits fairly to all individuals.”
