Social Security Mistake Impacted Payments to Thousands—Who's Affected?
Summary
Thousands of widows and widowers were paid less Social Security survivor benefits due to calculation errors by the Social Security Administration (SSA). A government report found that mistakes affected over 8,600 people, costing them an average of about $5,800 each, and unclear guidance caused additional losses for thousands more.Key Facts
- The Social Security Administration failed to apply a required calculation called WINDEX when processing some survivor benefit claims.
- This error impacted about 8,618 widows and widowers, with a combined loss of more than $50 million.
- WINDEX adjusts earnings of the deceased worker to determine the survivor’s monthly benefit.
- About 40% of surviving spouses with manually processed claims may have been affected during the review period.
- Many affected spouses had partners who died before age 62, and manual processes made errors more likely.
- Another problem was unclear SSA guidance, causing 5,367 survivors to lose an estimated $114 million more due to early claiming choices.
- Delaying retirement claims while collecting survivor benefits could have increased payments by an average of over $21,000 per person.
- The SSA is reviewing recommendations from the Inspector General to identify affected individuals and correct payments.
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