BRUNSWICK, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) announced his support for the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, a bipartisan bill that would help save taxpayer funds by ending erroneous payments to deceased individuals.

“Commonsense solutions don’t get more commonsense than this: deceased individuals should not be receiving taxpayer dollars,” said Senator King. “The Social Security Administration’s database needs to be improved and shared widely, so federal departments can reduce wasteful spending and make sure that payments are delivered to people who need them.”

Under current law, the Social Security Administration (SSA) maintains the most complete federal database of individuals who are reported to have died – but only a small number of federal agencies have access to this official list, and most federal agencies rely on a slimmed down, incomplete and less timely version of the death information. As a result, many federal agencies make erroneous payments to people who are actually deceased; for example, the Office of Personnel Management Inspector General reported that $601 million in improper payments were made to federal retirees found to have died over a five year period. 

This legislation would help correct this problem by enacting solutions including:

• Allowing Federal Agencies Access to the Complete Death Database. Under current law, only agencies that directly handle beneficiary payments may have access to the complete death data. The Act allows all appropriate federal agencies to have access to the complete death data for program integrity purposes, as well as other needs such as public safety and health.
• Requiring Use of Death Data to Curb Improper Payments. The Act would require that federal agencies make appropriate use of the death data in order to curb improper payments.
• Improving the Death Data. The legislation establishes procedures to ensure more accurate death data.  For example, in response to a recent Inspector General report that identified 6.5 million individuals listed as being older than 112 years of age, the Act prompts the SSA to screen for “extremely elderly” individuals currently listed as being alive, and make corrections. The Act will also urge improved procedures for fixing errors where living beneficiaries are mistakenly listed as dead.

In addition to Senator King, the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act is supported by Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah). A companion bill was also introduced in the House of Representatives.

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