Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery or Change in Repayment Rate
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
Approved with change
09/12/2023
10/29/2021
The agency made revisions to the form to further reduce burden on respondents, including through removing certain questions, adding a question related to administrative tolerance (under 20 CFR 416.555) and aligning how it collects and uses active SSI receipt to support determinations under 20 CFR 416.553.
The agency will complete an additional ICR revision and initiate the process through a Federal Register sixty-day notice no later than December 12, 2023. In the sixty-day Federal Register notice, the agency will specifically solicit feedback on:
1. How it can most effectively ask questions related to determining whether or not a respondent is âwithout faultâ in a manner that is minimally burdensome. The agency will specifically seek comment on replacing the free-form response option ("Tells us what you know about why the overpayment may have happened.") with a set of structured responses options intended to reflect common reasons related to a failure to timely report a change to the agency. Response options the agency should take comment on should include, but not be limited to:
"⢠I did not know that I needed to report the change that SSA says caused the overpayment
⢠I did not know about the change that SSA says caused the overpayment
⢠I did not believe it was a significant enough change to report.
⢠I knew that I was supposed to report the change but chose not to report it.
⢠I thought I reported the change, or I tried to report the change but was unable to.
⢠I do not believe SSA is correct that there was a change.
⢠I forgot to report the change.
⢠I donât know.
⢠Other"
2. Whether, consistent with SSAâs regulations, it is necessary or whether there is a better way to ask about the respondent the "reason" (current question 2, part 2 of the SSA-632) they are requesting an overpayment waiver.
3. How it can revise the form, associated notice, or agency business processes to most effectively facilitate minimally burdensome collection requirements under its administrative waiver policy.
4. How it can revise the form, associated notice, or agency business processes to most effectively facilitate minimally burdensome collection requirements for individuals whose overpayment is the result of receipt of benefits under the statutory benefits continuation policy (after having pursued an appeal in good faith)
5. Other suggestions for improving the design or communication on the form or associated notices to reduce burden on respondents.
6. Whether it should provide a mechanism on the form to allow for respondents to jointly request a reconsideration and a waiver on the same form.
7. Whether there are less burdensome ways to ask respondents about the expenses they incur, or whether there are alternative mechanisms for ascertaining or asking whether or not a claimant uses their income for ordinary and necessary living expenses.
8. Whether or not documentation should be required for expenses when an individualâs alleged expenses are not unusually high.
9. Whether or not there are particular payment rules that, in the experience of the commenter, are particularly difficult to timely comply with or understand, resulting in overpayments.
10. Whether or not the agencyâs burden estimate of 120 minutes accurately reflects the beginning-to-end quantified time burden associated with this form, which may include reviewing and comprehending relevant notices; reading and understanding instructions; tracking down records and documentation; filling out the form; consulting with any third parties to help navigate form requirements (to include time spent by third-parties separate from the respondentâs time spent); and travel associated with the collection.
In revising the ICR a further time, the agency will also re-evaluate the time burden of completing the information collection, lending due weight to recent public comments that estimate this burden.
Finally, the agency will work collaboratively with OMB to develop a redesigned overpayment notice this fall with an objective of more clearly and concisely explaining available recourses to respondents consistent with human-centered design best practices. In developing this notice, the agency will also consider how to include in the notice specific information regarding how each payment rule relevant to the beneficiaryâs total payment amount contributed to the overall determination of the revised payment amount for each month the claimant was overpaid.
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
09/30/2024
36 Months From Approved
09/30/2023
500,000
0
1,060,000
475,000
0
979,166
0
0
0
An overpayment occurs when we pay a beneficiary or recipient more benefits than they are due for a given period. When the individual receives the overpaid benefits, they are responsible for repaying the debt. The information collected on the SSA-632 BK is mandatory for SSA to determine if we can waive an overpayment that is $1,000 or more. To determine if an overpaid individual has the ability to repay the overpayment, respondents are required to provide authorization for SSA to obtain their financial account information. A legal guardian must sign the financial authorization for an adult who is legally incompetent or if the overpaid individual is a child. In addition, respondents must provide household expenses, the income for the entire household, and the assets for all dependent household members. The respondent may complete this form alone or with help. The information collected on the SSA-634 is mandatory for SSA to approve a negotiated monthly rate of withholding that would not permit recovery of the overpayment within 36 months. SSA employees will collect this information one-time. An overpaid individual completes and submits this form along with proofs of their income, assets, and expenses. The individual may complete this form alone or with help. Respondents are overpaid individuals who are requesting a waiver of recovery of an overpayment, or a lesser rate of withholding.
US Code:
42 USC 1383
Name of Law: Social Security Act
US Code:
42 USC 404
Name of Law: Social Security Act
US Code:
42 USC 1395pp
Name of Law: Social Security Act
When we last cleared this IC in 2018, the burden was 979,166 hours. However, we are currently reporting a burden of 875,000 hours. This change stems from a decrease in the number of responses from 1,060,000 to 500,000. There is no change to the burden time per response. Although the number of responses changed, SSA did not take any actions to cause this change. These figures represent current Management Information data.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form SSA-632-BK Request to Waiver of Overpayment Recovery
Addendum - 0037 (Final).docx
SSA-632 - Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery