Woman told she needs to pay back $63,000 to Social Security Administration by Friday

A woman says that she has nowhere else to turn after the Social Security Administration sent her a notice asking for more than $60,000.

She reached out to 11 Investigates concerned she won't be able to take care of her son who has disabilities. Amy Hudak has covered the Social Security clawbacks for more than two years now. She is live at the Administration office with the plea for help, Amy. Yeah, Gordon and Lisa Ruth Ann Pickard

has a rare autoimmune disease. That's why after 30 years working as a nurse for the VA, she had to quit her job. She gets monthly infusions that she now can't afford, and it's all because of a letter from

the Social Security Administration. The offices right behind me.

How can you do this?

That's what Ruthann Pickard wants to ask the Social Security Administration after the government agency said it overpaid her $63,000 and she needs to pay it back by December 5th. Pickard said the first letter

came in February of 2024. That's when her Social Security disability payments stopped coming. She filed for a waiver and waited. I got a letter from Social Security office payments. Stopped coming. She filed for a waiver and waited.

I got a letter from Social Security office 17 months later. Saying we request we received your request for a waiver.

17 months I waited. They told her she was out of luck.

The reason it says you've been working full time.

And. I'm not working, you know, I haven't worked. Her adult son with disabilities gets a waiver for his care through Medicaid. The Social Security Administration treats the waiver as her income and said she should have never qualified for Social Security disability in the first place. So I've been sitting

on eggshells For almost two years. Waiting for them now, right before the holiday to decide. You know what we want our money. It doesn't matter. What happens to you or what

happens to your son? We just want our money.

Pickard already lost her husband,

a Vietnam veteran.

Suddenly now she's afraid of losing her

home if you start taking my money that I do get. What's going to be first?

My electric my heat and fears her son will lose the care he deserves

to put him in a group home? Would probably kill me.

Now we did reach out to our state senators as well as her local congressman Mike Kelly. Mike Kelly's team got back to us saying they are aware of Ruth Ann Pickard's case and they've been working with her for several weeks but they do not comment on these cases kind of as they're pending and everybody's figuring it out. We also reached out to the Social Security Administration. They did not send a statement and they also did not say why it took 17 months for them to respond to her waiver.

to respond to her waiver. Reporting live from the Social Security Administration, Amy Hudak, Channel 11 News.