‘This is a mistake’: Social Security demanding man repay $92,000 in overpayments

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC/Gray News) - An Alabama man says he and his wife have started their Social Security retirement benefits earlier than they planned due to an overpayment issue the government is still working on.

Mike Burrow applied and qualified for Social Security disability insurance about 10 years ago due to being unable to work for a year after suffering a massive heart attack.

He was in his 30th year of teaching and coaching football at a Jefferson County high school but that career ended due to health reasons.

“The surgery that I had was to repair a microvalve and stress is obviously a big contributor to any kind of heart disease,” he said.

Burrow said he began to start to feel well enough in 2014 to return to a substitute teaching role.

“I felt like I had something to give, I had something to give the students,” he said.

In 2018, he took a long-term teaching position to fill in for a teacher who was having surgery. However, the pay pushed him over the earned income limit for disability insurance.

“He went over by $2,000 that year and we were not aware of it,” said Vivian Burrow, Mike’s wife.

In late 2021, the Burrows received a letter from the Social Security Administration stating Mike Burrow had been overpaid and would need to repay $92,000.

“It was sort of unreal, like, this is a mistake. It couldn’t happen,” Mike Burrow said.

According to the Burrows, the Social Security Administration stopped Mike Burrow’s disability benefits in early 2022, and that forced them to start drawing from their retirement benefits earlier than planned to make up for the income loss.

“At our age, if they take our benefits for several years that could render us homeless without that benefit or if we cannot keep working,” Vivian Burrow said. “I don’t know if we’d have enough money to survive monthly.”

The Burrows have reached out to U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, who leads the Senate Committee on Aging, for assistance.

WBRC also reached out to Sen. Katie Britt, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, and Rep. Gary Palmer about the Burrows case.

Each office confirmed it was aware of the situation, but they could not elaborate, citing privacy concerns.

“Bureaucratic mistakes that lead to overpayments ultimately burden both the recipient and the entire system. In the coming months, I hope that the SSA is able to put forward a plan to curb overpayment issues,” Britt’s office responded.

Palmer’s office added, “The Social Security Administration’s poor handling of this issue is extremely troubling. People experiencing issues like this should contact their representatives in order to get the best help possible.”

Social Security representatives said they could not comment on individual cases such as the Burrows’.