Social Security Addressing Aged Records
Reading Time: 1 MinuteLast Updated: March 5, 2025
The Social Security Administration (SSA) today shared its significant progress in identifying and correcting beneficiary records of people 100 years old or older. The data reported in the media represent people who do not have a date of death associated with their record. While these people may not be receiving benefits, it is important for the agency to maintain accurate and complete records.
“I thank President Trump for highlighting these inconsistencies during his speech last night to a joint session of Congress,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “We are steadfast in our commitment to root out fraud, waste, and abuse in our programs, and actively correcting the inconsistencies with missing dates of death.”
The agency follows long established program integrity initiatives that identify people who have a higher likelihood of being deceased due to their age or incomplete death reports. For example, SSA receives data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of individuals who have not used Medicare Part A or Part B for three or more years. SSA uses the data as an indicator to select and prioritize cases of individuals age 90 or older, who are currently in pay status and living in the United States, to determine continued eligibility for Social Security benefits. The agency attempts to conduct an interview with these individuals to verify they are still alive. If the agency identifies someone is deceased, it immediately stops payment and reports any suspicions of fraud to SSA’s Office of the Inspector General.
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Will P.
Is there still an Inspector General of the Social Security Administration? I thought Trump fired them all.
Cynthia A.
I did not believe the false claims made by persons who are presently courted by the media. I am grateful to you for this assurance that the SSA is taking the lead in correction of incomplete data. For the past 4 months I have been afraid of losing my social security benefits as a result of the activity of bad actors. This information has somewhat eased my fears.
Tommy
How many hundreds of millions of dollars are sent out for three years to those who have passed? Do you investigate who is getting the money?
William P.
I thought that funeral homes are required to report deaths to the SSA. How long has this practice been relevant? I am pleased that someone has finally moved to make an investigation possible. It is long overdue.
Lisa B.
Thank you and President Trump for working to save taxpayers’ hard earned money! Common sense is back in America, again! Now let’s keep on searching for waste and fraud in all areas of the government!
Teresa K.
My mother is 95 years old and receives social security. She is in a nursing home, on hospice. Is she at risk of losing her social security ? Will she be doged?
Greg
The updates that are being provided and openness is great. The quick movement and willingness to be flexible is appreciated. Thank you.
Sharon M.
These people aren’t receiving benefits so exactly HOW does this “action” save any money???
Kay L.
Oh for pity’s sakes. Don’t be a sniveling slave to a money grubbing Trump administration. You did not have to explain this. And, you probably did not have to waste time doing any program fixes on it either. How much money did you waste in fixing a problem that wasn’t a problem. I know you are doing what they ask you to do, but need to stand up to a group of 20ish IT geeks who do not know how the world works. Trust me I know. I was in finance and computing for years and the younger ones do not know and do not want to know how things really work.
Thanks for your time in reading this.
Gary
Thank you for the update..I have to ask: Are there instances where deceased individuals are receiving monthly payments or not? It is one thing to be way behind in updating the database but entirely another if payments are being made.