The Nation : Social Security Error Cited

A California congressman said that more than 750,000 Social Security recipients were shorted $226.9 million in their 1984 pension checks, an average of $25 a month per person. Rep. Fortney H. (Pete) Stark Jr. (D-Oakland) said figures reported to him by the Social Security Administration showed an error rate of 2.8%, which he called an improvement over the 3.2% of the previous year but still too high. Stark said: “When . . . people who have faithfully paid into the system are being cheated out of $25 a month, there is much work to be done in the system.� Social Security spokesman James Brown acknowledged that errors are being made, but said the agency is working on the problem.