Social Security's Death Master File (DMF), a public record of the names and Social Security numbers of individuals whom Social Security believes to have died, has come under criticism lately. There have been many names on the DMF of individuals who are very much alive. These individuals have lost Social Security and other government benefits until the problem is resolved, a process that can take months. They have also suffered problems as non-governmental entities such as banks treat them as deceased. There is also the threat of identity theft.
Social Security has responded to the criticism by altering the DMF. Social Security will no longer accept state death records as proof of death.
Unfortunately, this will inevitably lead to an increased problem of Social Security checks and direct deposits continuing to be sent to deceased individuals. Most of the families of those involved will return the money but not all. I can easily predict a round of investigations and Congressional hearings on this fraud at some point in the future.
By the way, the first people to notice the change in the DMF were genealogists. They make extensive use of the DMF.
4 comments:
The vast majority of the erroneous reports of death SSA receives are not from the states, but rather from CMS. And, I don't hear them trying to do anything about that...
So, this change really won't change anything.
Why, exactly, does the process to prove that you are alive take months? I'd imagine that a simple one-time visit to a field office would solve that little pickle.
"Hi, I am John. Here is my license and SS card. I am alive."
"Thanks, John. I've made the change in the system."
Really, can that not be done?
You have this backwards. Read Sec. 205(r) of the Social Security Act. The law states that death info obtained from the states is not FOIA-able. So, what SSA is doing is complying with the law, not "respond[ing] to criticism" as that info should never have been made public BY SSA in the first place.
This does not mean that SSA cannot get the info from states and use it for its own internal purposes of stopping benefits.
My 5th Great Grandfather was getting Rev War pension at 92 years old, even though he died at 78. So you see this stuff has been going on for over 2 hundred years.
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