HENRICO COUNTY, Va — A Henrico County woman was stunned when she received a letter from the government seeking nearly $100,000 in disability benefit repayments from her.
Though a judge would rule years later that the government was wrong, she said her battle with the Social Security Administration (SSA) is still not over.
In 2015, Amanda Brown said a pseudocyst on her pancreas triggered a serious of intense medical issues that have left her persistently sick and in pain.
"Imagine your worst day of a stomach problem. Mine's like that every day, and then it's like, flareups in between that. So it's just constant," Brown said.
So, she left her job and applied for disability benefits through the SSA, which is supposed to be a lifeline for Americans who suffer from conditions that render them unable to work.
But she joined the many other Virginians who told CBS 6 they faced mounting bureaucratic hurdles getting the assistance they needed.
"It's really, really stressful. Like, it scares me. Like, I definitely have sleepless nights over it," Brown said.
After receiving multiple initial denials from the SSA, Brown was eventually approved for a period of back pay. But according to her case files, the SSA incorrectly processed her benefits, causing an over payment that a judge concluded was not her fault.
Brown never realized there was an error, until a letter arrived in 2021, right after she applied for a second period of disability.
What the letter said sent her into shock.
It told her she needed to pay back the SSA $95,000 within less than three weeks.
"I was completely distraught," she said.
Brown said she repeatedly called her local office seeking explanations but received little help.
She filed appeals, which were denied, and said the SSA continued sending her confusing letters up until 2024.
The updated letters changed the amount of alleged over payment.
"They were wrong on the $90,000. They reduced it, said, 'No, no, you owe us $60-some-thousand.' So I had to start the process over again. I had to ask for appeals. The appeals were denied. I had asked for waivers. The waivers were denied. Then they sent me a third letter that said, 'We were wrong again. You owe us $53,000,'" she said. "So I again put an appeal in. It was denied. I put waivers in. It was denied."
She recalled feeling like she was on a "hamster wheel."
In October 2025, Brown finally went before Administrative Law Judge Kelley Day, who found Brown was not overpaid for the full timeline SSA claimed.
In fact, the judge found Brown had been underpaid.
Day directed Brown's local office to calculate how much money she's owed.
Brown estimates it's about $80,000.
Going without that money for years, she said, caused a financial strain.
"We had to move from our home," Brown said. "It completely disrupted my life. It's a lot of money, but it's a lot of money over those years that I would have used to pay a house payment."
The judge's order, dated December 19, 2025, said Brown should get her payment within 40-60 days.
Nearly four months have now passed, and still, Brown said she's received no word and no money from the SSA.
She's desperate for a resolution to what she describes as a long, grueling, and unfair process.
"I'm just defeated. I feel like nobody's listening. You guys are listening. Thank you for listening to me and thank you for responding to me and thank you for being there for me. I feel like someone has finally said, 'We acknowledge you, we acknowledge your problem, we will help you.' That's all I wanted from Social Security," she said.
CBS 6 reached out to the SSA multiple times seeking comment about Brown's case. The agency has not provided a response.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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