Lafayette Reporter

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) has unanimously passed the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, a bipartisan bill proposed by Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.). The legislation aims to put an end to incorrect payments made to deceased individuals, potentially saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

In 2020, the senators' Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act was enacted. This law established provisions to rectify communication inefficiencies among government agencies that resulted in improper payments being made to deceased individuals. The current proposal seeks to make these solutions permanent.

Kennedy commented on the committee's decision, stating, "The committee was right to advance our bipartisan bill to save taxpayers millions of dollars. There’s no reason for hard working Americans to be on the hook for government’s mistaken payments to dead people. The full Senate should pass our bill immediately."

Carper echoed this sentiment, adding, "It’s important that we, as lawmakers, act as good stewards of American taxpayer dollars. Today, I was proud to join my colleagues on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to unanimously advance the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act."

The proposed legislation would amend the Social Security Act, allowing the Social Security Administration to share its Death Master File—a record of deceased individuals—with the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay system permanently. This change is expected to curtail the government's pattern of making improper payments in future.

Additionally, the bill would permit Treasury’s Do Not Pay system to compare death information from the Social Security Administration with personal data from other entities and share this information with any paying or administering agency authorized to use the Do Not Pay system.

Kennedy and Carper's Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act became law in December 2020. It mandated that the Social Security Administration's Death Master File be shared with the Department of the Treasury’s Do Not Pay system for three years after enactment, from December 27, 2023 to December 27, 2026.

The Government Accountability Office estimated that federal agencies made approximately $236 billion in improper payments in FY 2023 alone, including payments to deceased Americans. The GAO also estimated that cumulative federal improper payments have totaled about $2.7 trillion since FY 2003.

In 2021, Kennedy penned an op-ed highlighting the issue of billions in erroneous payments made by the government to deceased Americans. In 2019, he questioned U.S. Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Hon. Gene L. Dodaro about these improper payments.

The full text of the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act can be found here.