Lafayette Reporter

Senators John Kennedy and Gary Peters have introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at ending improper government payments to deceased individuals. The legislation, known as the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, seeks to make permanent the temporary provisions established by previous legislation, which was initially set for a three-year period.

Senator Kennedy highlighted the magnitude of the issue, stating, "In 2023 alone, the federal government sent $1.3 billion to dead people. The Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act would permanently correct bureaucratic errors so that Americans’ tax dollars don’t get wasted or stolen."

Senator Peters emphasized the financial benefits of the proposed law: “This bill would help save millions of taxpayer dollars by ensuring that the Social Security Administration can permanently share important data with the Treasury’s Do Not Pay system, preventing wrongful payments to deceased individuals. I have long supported this legislation because I believe it is a vital step in safeguarding taxpayer dollars and ensuring the integrity of our payment systems.”

Earlier this month, following Senator Kennedy's Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, the Treasury Department announced it had recovered $31 million in fraud and improper payments within five months. This was achieved through sharing information from the Social Security Administration's Death Master File with Treasury's Do Not Pay system on a temporary basis.

The new bill proposes amending the Social Security Act to allow permanent sharing of death records between these entities. It also seeks to enable comparisons between death information from various federal agencies and personal information within any agency using the Do Not Pay system.

Background on related efforts shows Senator Kennedy has been actively pursuing measures against improper payments since at least 2019. His earlier legislative efforts include urging support for similar bills and questioning officials about erroneous payments made to deceased persons.