Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 269) to improve coordination between Federal and State agencies and the Do Not Pay working system.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: S. 269
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act''. SEC. 2. IMPROVING COORDINATION BETWEEN FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES AND THE DO NOT PAY WORKING SYSTEM.
(a) In General.--Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)), as amended by section 801(a)(7) of title VIII of division FF of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260), is amended by striking paragraph (11) and inserting the following:
``(11) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to the extent feasible, provide information furnished to the Commissioner under paragraph (1) to the agency operating the Do Not Pay working system described in section 3354(c) of title 31, United States Code, for the authorized uses of the Do Not Pay working system to help prevent improper payments of, and support the recovery of improperly paid, benefits or other payments through a cooperative arrangement with such agency, provided that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3) are met with respect to such arrangement with such agency. The Commissioner of Social Security and the agency operating the Do Not Pay working system shall, while the data described in the preceding sentence is being provided to the agency operating the Do Not Pay working system, enter into an agreement based upon an agreed upon methodology, which covers the proportional share of State death data costs, which the Commissioner of Social Security and the agency operating the Do Not Pay working system may periodically review.
``(12) The Commissioner of Social Security may not record a death to a record that may be provided under this section for any individual unless the Commissioner of Social Security has found it has clear and convincing evidence to support that the individual should be presumed to be deceased.''.
(b) Improving Coordination Regarding Individuals Incorrectly Identified as Deceased.--Section 205(r)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(7)), as added by section 801(a)(4) of title VIII of division FF of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260), is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (A), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting ``; and'', and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) notify any agency that has a cooperative arrangement with the Commissioner of Social Security under paragraph (3) or (11) of the error.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take effect on December 27, 2026.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act.
This bipartisan bill continues a bipartisan policy that has already enabled the Federal Government to identify, prevent, and recover hundreds of millions of dollars of improper payments made to dead people.
Currently, the Social Security Administration has temporary authority to share its death data with the Treasury Department's Do Not Pay Portal to identify, prevent, and recover improper payments. In its first year alone, Treasury reported this data exchange saved American taxpayers over $108 million.
Unfortunately, Social Security's authority to share its data with Treasury is temporary and lapses at the end of this year if Congress doesn't pass this bill. That would only increase the likelihood that more taxpayer money is erroneously sent to dead people. In 2023 alone, before this policy was implemented, the Office of Management and Budget found the Federal Government sent $1.3 billion to dead people. That is unacceptable. The American people expect Congress to safeguard their hard-earned tax money from waste, fraud, and abuse.
I thank Representative Higgins for his leadership on this issue as well as Senator Kennedy. As a former law enforcement officer, Clay Higgins has worked to protect Americans from criminals, and now he is translating that commitment into finding ways that we can protect taxpayer dollars as well.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Estes).
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bean).
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, this bill is another piece of the puzzle in the fight against waste, fraud, and abuse. Before the Social Security Administration began sharing its complete death records with the Treasury Department, the Federal Government paid $1.3 billion to the dead in just a single year.
Congress authorized the Treasury to access Social Security's death data for 3 years ending in 2026. In the first year alone, Treasury reported that it helped the Federal Government identify, prevent, or recover $108 million in improper payments, with another $200 million expected by the end of this year. It is only common sense to make this fraud prevention measure permanent.
This policy has already passed both the Senate and the Ways and Means Committee with broad, bipartisan support. I hope the House does the same and sends this to President Trump's desk as soon as possible.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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