OMAHA, Neb. and TREYNOR — Treynor neighbor, Christopher Storm, lost his father when he was 17 and received survivor benefits until he was 18. Now, the Social Security Administration says it was an overpayment and wants all that money back.
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Since KMTV aired it's first story about Storm, Social Security raised the amount it claims he was overpaid — from just under $8,000 to more than $10,000.
"It feels nearly impossible to try to get this resolved without just paying the money back," Storm said.
The story has resonated far beyond the Omaha metro area. After it aired, people across the country responded to our social media post, emailed and even called the newsroom.
Katrina Markel: "Were you surprised when I told you that this story has had more than a half-a-million pageviews?"
"I was definitely shocked," Storm said.
He said the widespread response has been validating in some ways, but "it is troubling that this is impacting so many people."
I left messages on Storm's behalf to members of Congress and again to the Social Security Administration.
The experience has also made Storm worried about his granddaughter, who was born premature and qualified for Social Security benefits.
"We're now afraid that they will have a hard reality in their future and, again, this was something that was supposed to be there to help," he said.
It has helped to hear from others who have overcome similar situations, many of whom owed much more money.
"It's sad. Something should happen. Something needs to get better," he said. "And I know there's no perfect solution and it can't happen overnight. But I really wish that someone would hear this. Someone would be able to take it wherever it needs to go and get some real change."
If you have a story similar to Storm's we want to hear from you. When we learn more from the federal government about this story we will update this report.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
