From a press release:
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.)’s Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, which would save hard-earned taxpayer money by curbing erroneous payments to individuals who have passed away. ...
The Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act would permanently amend the Social Security Act to allow the Social Security Administration to share the Death Master File—a record of deceased individuals—with the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay system. This change would rein in the government’s ability to make improper payments to deceased people in the future. ...
Are there some safeguards here? Doesn't this make it easier to cut off benefits to anyone the Trump Administration wishes? There are standards for the Death Master File. Are there any legal standards for the Treasury system? Maybe everyone voted for this because they halfway believed Elon Musk's lies about payments to deceased people. Who is actually going to be cut off benefits? Dead people or people the Trump Administration wants to punish without affording them due process?
2 comments:
If you read the bill, this is just extending something that already exists. And adding a provision that SSA actually has to think the identities shared are deceased - possibly inspired by the events of this spring.
Please speak up if I’m mistaken but if it’s recorded in the DMF what is the likelihood benefits are still being paid? I was under the impression that improper payments to those deceased were mostly due to delays in death reports reaching the DMF (not the fault of SSA) or the occasional burying of mom or dad so the adult kids can keep getting paid?
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