Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Kennedy (for himself and Mr. Peters) introduced the following …
Passed Senate (inferred from es version)
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill strengthens the system for preventing government payments to deceased people by requiring the Social Security Administration to share death records with the federal "Do Not Pay" working system. It also requires SSA to have "clear and convincing evidence" before recording someone as deceased, and mandates notification to partner agencies when death record errors are discovered.
Who Benefits and How
Federal taxpayers benefit from reduced improper payments to deceased individuals. Federal agencies using the Do Not Pay system gain better access to death data to verify payments. Living individuals mistakenly flagged as deceased benefit from the higher evidence standard before death is recorded.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Social Security Administration bears increased data-sharing responsibilities and must establish cost-sharing agreements with the Do Not Pay system operator. The agency operating Do Not Pay must contribute to State death data costs. Both agencies face compliance requirements for the new notification process when errors are found.
Key Provisions
- Requires SSA to share death records with Do Not Pay system (effective December 27, 2026)
- Mandates cost-sharing agreements for State death data between SSA and Do Not Pay operator
- Requires "clear and convincing evidence" before recording a death
- Requires agencies to be notified when death record errors are discovered
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Improves coordination between SSA death records and the federal Do Not Pay system to prevent improper payments to deceased individuals, while requiring clear evidence before recording deaths.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Data sharing mandate to reduce improper payments while adding safeguards against erroneous death determinations"
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "dnp_agency"
- → Agency operating the Do Not Pay working system
- "commissioner"
- → Commissioner of Social Security
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology