Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
Key claim: The Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act permanently authorizes Treasury access to SSA death records to prevent and recover improper payments to deceased individuals while requiring clear and convincing evidence before SSA records a death and allowing corrections to be shared with benefit-paying agencies.
Abstract
(S269 · 119th Congress) Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act This act permanently allows the Department of the Treasury to access certain death records maintained by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to help prevent and recover improper payments (e.g., payments to deceased individuals). The act also establishes evidentiary requirements the SSA must meet before identifying an individual as deceased. Current law requires the SSA to share its Death Master File with the Do Not Pay system maintained by Treasury for three years. The act makes this requirement permanent. Treasury must enter into an agreement with the SSA related to Treasury’s share of the cost of state death data. The act also prohibits the SSA from recording a death in the master file unless the SSA has clear and convincing evidence that the individual should be presumed deceased. If an individual is incorrectly identified as deceased and provides the SSA with supporting documentation, the SSA may notify certain agencies that have access to the master file, including Treasury and federal or state agencies that provide or disburse federally funded benefits. Latest action (2026-02-10): Became Public Law No: 119-77.
Why this matters
For federal benefit-paying agencies and their payroll/benefits staff, permanent Treasury access to SSA death records tightens controls that reduce improper payments to deceased individuals, while the clear-and-convincing evidentiary standard and correction procedures aim to protect living beneficiaries from erroneous death listings that can freeze wages, pensions, and benefits. In the labor and employment context, it affects how quickly workers wrongly flagged as deceased can restore paychecks and benefits, and how agencies coordinate on payroll and benefit terminations.