Federal Benefit Payments: Agencies Need Death Information From Social Security to Avoid Erroneous Payments

Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal agencies' use of the Social Security Administration's (SSA) death information for preventing erroneous benefit payments and the collection of overpayments.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter	Status	Comments
To prevent erroneous federal benefit payments to decedents' accounts, Congress should legislatively require, as a condition of receiving related federal assistance, that the states lift the restrictions on the use of their death information.	Closed – Implemented	Public Law 103-213, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, requires the states to remove restrictions on the use of their data.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Office of Management and Budget	To ensure the systematic sharing and use of death information among federal agencies, the Director, OMB, should require the heads of all executive departments and agencies responsible for administering benefit programs to: (1) obtain, as frequently as appropriate, SSA voluntarily reported death information and, if and when available, state death certificate information; (2) match this information with agencies' current benefit payment files; (3) independently verify beneficiary deaths; and (4) when appropriate, take prompt action to end benefits and collect erroneous payments.	Closed – Implemented OMB Bulletin 92-04 requires government-wide use of SSA death data.
Office of Management and Budget	The Director, OMB, should require SSA to provide such information to all agencies requesting it. Furthermore, the Director should require those agencies to advise SSA of the results of agency investigations to improve the accuracy of SSA death information.	Closed – Implemented OMB Bulletin 92-04 requires SSA to provide death data to all agencies requesting it. Further, the using agencies are to provide the results of their investigations to SSA in order for SSA to update its death database.

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Topics

Government Operations

BeneficiariesComputer matchingErroneous paymentsstate relationsInteragency relationsOverpaymentsSocial security benefitsVital recordsDeceased personsFederal agencies