The Treasury Department announced this week that it has recovered more than $31 million in fraudulent and improper payments to deceased persons in just five months after accessing the Social Security Administration's (SSA) federal death database.
The Treasury Department makes billions of dollars in payments each year, including benefits, federally funded state payments, and other miscellaneous payments. Accidentally transferring these and other funds to deceased people has been a long-standing problem within the federal government, according to fiscal watchdog group Open the Books..
In 2020, the Government Accountability Office estimated that $1.4 billion was sent to the dead in the first round of COVID-19 relief measures. About $3.6 billion has been paid out to the dead in all three stimulus checks during the pandemic, according to OpenTheBooks.
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SSA is the only government agency with a database that records deaths of U.S. citizens. In 2023, as part of an omnibus spending bill, Congress temporarily granted the Treasury Department access to a database to prevent improper payments to deceased persons. This interim standard is scheduled to expire in 2026.
A Social Security card sits alongside a check from the U.S. Treasury Department on October 14, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
John Hart, executive director of OpenTheBooks, said: “This should have been a given for a long time, but it's encouraging to see some basic communication between government agencies recouping some taxpayer dollars. ” he said. “In many cases, the left hand just doesn't know what the right hand is doing, resulting in trillions of dollars in improper payments.”
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Hart blamed the Internal Revenue Service's failure to check the SSA's death database for about $4 billion in COVID-19 benefits sent to the dead.
He also said that in addition to improper payments through the stimulus check program, the Small Business Administration provided “an additional 30% in the form of forgivable loans to businesses on the Treasury Department's 'Do Not Pay' list.” “More than $1 billion was transferred,” he said. . ”
“Congress granting permanent access to the full death master file will significantly reduce fraud, improve program integrity, and save taxpayer dollars,” said Assistant Secretary of Finance David Lebrick. Protection will be strengthened.” (Kurt “Cyber Guy” Knutson)
“Today's news is a step in the right direction, but we still have many miles to go before breakeven,” Hart said.
After news was announced that the payments had been recovered, Assistant Treasury Secretary David Lebrick pointed out that the results were just the “tip of the iceberg.”
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“Congress granting permanent access to the full death master file will significantly reduce fraud, improve program integrity, and better protect taxpayer dollars.” he said.
