II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1360 

To amend the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement 

Act of 2012, including making changes to the Do Not Pay initiative, 

for improved detection, prevention, and recovery of improper payments 

to deceased individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2013 

Mr. CARPER (for himself and Mr. COBURN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery 

Improvement Act of 2012, including making changes 

to the Do Not Pay initiative, for improved detection, 

prevention, and recovery of improper payments to deceased individuals, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improper Payments 

5 Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE SHARING AND USE OF DEATH 

2 DATA BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO CURB 

3 IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Improper Payments Elimi5 nation and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 

6 3321 note) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 7. IMPROVING THE SHARING AND USE OF DEATH 

8 DATA BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO CURB 

9 IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Commissioner’ means the Com12 missioner of Social Security; 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 

14 the Office of Management and Budget; 

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Inspector General’ has the mean16 ing defined by section 5(e)(1); 

17 ‘‘(4) the term ‘local government’ means the gov18 ernment of a political subdivision of a State; 

19 ‘‘(5) the term ‘payment’ has the meaning given 

20 that term under section 2(g) of the Improper Pay21 ment Information Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. 3321 

22 note); 

23 ‘‘(6) the term ‘Registry’ means the National 

24 Deaths Registry established under subsection (b)(1); 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(7) the term ‘tribal government’ means the 

2 government of an Indian tribe, as that term is de3 fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

4 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

5 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGISTRY.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner shall es7 tablish and maintain a registry of information relat8 ing to the deaths of individuals, to be known as the 

9 National Deaths Registry. 

10 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION.—As pro11 vided under this section and in accordance with the 

12 guidance issued under subsection (f), the Commis13 sioner shall include information relating to the 

14 deaths of individuals in the Registry for the purpose 

15 of supporting the Do Not Pay Initiative under sec16 tion 5 and otherwise preventing, identifying, or re17 covering improper payments. 

18 ‘‘(c) USE OF THE REGISTRY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY TO FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

20 The Commissioner shall enter into cooperative 

21 agreements with agencies, including Inspectors Gen22 eral— 

23 ‘‘(A) under which the Commissioner shall 

24 provide the information in the Registry (in full 

25 and without limitation, as provided in subVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:09 Jul 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360

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1 section (h)(1)) to the agency or Inspector Gen2 eral for purposes of facilitating— 

3 ‘‘(i) the making of authorized pay4 ments or the prevention, identification, or 

5 recovery of improper payments; 

6 ‘‘(ii) carrying out section 5; 

7 ‘‘(iii) in the case of the Bureau of the 

8 Census, verifying information obtained as 

9 part of a decennial census conducted under 

10 section 141(a) of title 13, United States 

11 Code; or 

12 ‘‘(iv) other agency functions, including 

13 public health or safety, law enforcement, 

14 tax administration, health administration 

15 oversight, and debt collection, as deter16 mined appropriate by the Commissioner 

17 and in accordance with guidance issued 

18 under subsection (f); and 

19 ‘‘(B) which shall require the agency or In20 spector General to provide reimbursement to 

21 the Commissioner for the reasonable cost of 

22 carrying out the agreement. 

23 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY TO STATES AND LOCAL AND

24 TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) FOR MAKING FEDERALLY FUNDED

2 PAYMENTS OR AVOIDING FEDERALLY FUNDED

3 IMPROPER PAYMENTS.—The Commissioner 

4 shall, to the extent feasible, enter into coopera5 tive agreements with States and local and tribal 

6 governments— 

7 ‘‘(i) to provide the information in the 

8 Registry to the State or local or tribal gov9 ernment for purposes of facilitating the 

10 making of authorized payments and the 

11 prevention, identification, or recovery of 

12 improper payments under federally funded 

13 programs; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) which shall require the State or 

15 local or tribal government to provide reim16 bursement to the Commissioner for the 

17 reasonable cost of carrying out the agree18 ment. 

19 ‘‘(B) FOR PROGRAMS WHOLLY FUNDED BY

20 STATES AND LOCAL AND TRIBAL GOVERN21 MENTS.—The Commissioner may enter into co22 operative agreements with States and local and 

23 tribal governments— 

24 ‘‘(i) to provide the information in the 

25 Registry for purposes relating to programs 


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1 wholly funded by the State or local or trib2 al governments; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) which shall require the State or 

4 local or tribal government to provide reim5 bursement to the Commissioner for the 

6 reasonable cost of carrying out the agree7 ment. 

8 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—The 

9 Commissioner may withhold information that would 

10 otherwise be required to be disclosed under a cooper11 ative agreement under this subsection if the Com12 missioner determines there are exceptional cir13 cumstances warranting an exception (such as safety 

14 of the individual or interference with an investiga15 tion). 

16 ‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Information provided 

17 by the Commission under an agreement under this 

18 subsection or by an individual to any agency that 

19 has entered into a cooperative agreement under this 

20 subsection shall be— 

21 ‘‘(A) considered as strictly confidential; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) used only for the purposes described 

24 in this subsection and for carrying out an 

25 agreement under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REGISTRY REQUIREMENTS.—The Commissioner 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) implement procedures for identifying and 

4 correcting errors, including those identified— 

5 ‘‘(A) by agencies; 

6 ‘‘(B) by States and local and tribal govern7 ments; and 

8 ‘‘(C) by members of the public; 

9 ‘‘(2) include a process for determining the accu10 racy of death records in the Registry, including esti11 mates of accuracy through the use of statistical sam12 pling of errors on a systematic basis; 

13 ‘‘(3) ensure the Registry is operated and main14 tained in accordance with protocols that ensure the 

15 secure transfer and storage of any information pro16 vided to another entity consistent with applicable 

17 laws and best practices of the Federal Government 

18 relating to information, privacy, security, and disclo19 sure, including protecting social security numbers 

20 and other identifiers determined appropriate by the 

21 Commissioner; and 

22 ‘‘(4) make the information in the Registry 

23 available to a contractor of an agency, State, or local 

24 or tribal government for carrying out a purpose de25 scribed in subsection (c)(1) or (c)(2) and in accordVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:09 Jul 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360

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1 ance with the cooperative agreement with the agen2 cy, State, or local or tribal government if the agency, 

3 State, or local or tribal government submits to the 

4 Commissioner a certification that the contractor is 

5 in compliance with the requirements of the agency 

6 relating to privacy and security described in para7 graph (3). 

8 ‘‘(e) REPORTING BY FEDERAL AGENCIES OF ADDI9 TIONAL DEATH DATA TO THE REGISTRY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IMPROVED DEATH DATA MATCHING BY

11 FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

13 days after the date of enactment of the Im14 proper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhance15 ment Act of 2013, the Director shall identify 

16 each agency or component of an agency that 

17 operates or maintains a database of information 

18 relating to beneficiaries, annuity recipients, or 

19 other matters such that improved data match20 ing with the Registry would be desirable, as de21 termined by the Director. 

22 ‘‘(B) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The head of each 

24 agency identified by the Director under 

25 subparagraph (A) shall establish a data 


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1 matching procedure under which the agen2 cy shall compare information in the data3 base of the agency with information in the 

4 Registry in order to improve the accuracy 

5 and completeness of the information in 

6 both the database of the agency and in the 

7 Registry relating to the death of individ8 uals and to facilitate the prevention, identi9 fication, and recovery of improper pay10 ments. 

11 ‘‘(ii) DO NOT PAY PROGRAM.—The re12 quirement to establish a data matching 

13 procedure under this subparagraph shall 

14 not be construed to diminish in any way 

15 the requirements for an agency under sec16 tion 5, relating to preventing identifying, 

17 and recovering improper payments, includ18 ing to deceased individuals. 

19 ‘‘(2) PROMPT REPORTING.—Not later than 1 

20 year after the date of enactment of the Improper 

21 Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 

22 2013, each agency identified by the Director under 

23 paragraph (1)(A) shall establish a procedure (con24 sistent with guidance issued under subsection (f)) 

25 under which the agency shall, promptly and on a 


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1 regular basis, submit to the Commissioner informa2 tion relating to the death of a Federal beneficiary, 

3 Federal annuitant recipient, or other individual rel4 evant for the purposes of this section. 

5 ‘‘(f) GUIDANCE BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT

6 AND BUDGET.— 

7 ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE TO AGENCIES.—Not later than 

8 6 months after the date of enactment of the Im9 proper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement 

10 Act of 2013, and in consultation with the Council of 

11 Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, the 

12 Commissioner, and the heads of other relevant agen13 cies, the Director shall issue guidance for agencies 

14 regarding implementation of this section. 

15 ‘‘(2) GUIDANCE FOR STATES AND LOCAL AND

16 TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—Not later than 6 months 

17 after the date of enactment of the Improper Pay18 ments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 

19 2013, the Director shall provide guidance to States 

20 and local and tribal governments relating to access21 ing and using information in the Registry. 

22 ‘‘(3) PLAN TO ASSIST STATES AND LOCAL AND

23 TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—The Director shall develop 

24 a plan to assist States and local and tribal govern25 ments in providing electronically to the CommisVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:09 Jul 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1360.IS S1360

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1 sioner, for use or inclusion in the Registry, records 

2 relating to the death of individuals, which shall in3 clude recommendations to Congress for any statu4 tory changes or financial assistance to States and 

5 local and tribal governments that are necessary to 

6 ensure States and local and tribal governments can 

7 provide such records electronically not later than 

8 January 1, 2015. 

9 ‘‘(g) REPORTING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPROVING

11 DATA MATCHING REGARDING PAYMENTS TO INDIVID12 UALS WHO ARE DECEASED.—Not later than 270 

13 days after the date of enactment of Improper Pay14 ments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 

15 2013, the Director, after consultation with the Com16 missioner, the heads of other relevant agencies, and 

17 States and local and tribal governments, shall sub18 mit to Congress a plan regarding how States and 

19 local and tribal governments that provide benefits 

20 under a federally funded program will improve data 

21 matching with the Registry. 

22 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

23 after the date of enactment of the Improper Pay24 ments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 

25 2013, and every year thereafter until the date that 


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1 is 4 years after such date of enactment, the Director 

2 shall submit to Congress a report, which may be in3 cluded as part of another report submitted to Con4 gress by the Director, regarding the implementation 

5 of this section and the Improper Payments Agency 

6 Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013. The first re7 port under this paragraph shall include the rec8 ommendations of the Director described in sub9 section (f)(3). 

10 ‘‘(h) CONSISTENCY WITH THE SOCIAL SECURITY

11 ACT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

13 205(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) 

14 or any other provision of that Act, the Commissioner 

15 may include in the Registry any information pro16 vided to the Commissioner pursuant to that Act (in17 cluding any information received from a State or 

18 any other source) and may use or provide all such 

19 information (including information received from 

20 States or any other source) as authorized under this 

21 section to any agency, including any Inspector Gen22 eral. 

23 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—To the extent any function 

24 of the Commissioner under the Social Security Act 

25 (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is the same as a required 


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1 function of the Commissioner under this section, 

2 performance of the function under that Act shall 

3 also satisfy the requirement to perform the function 

4 under this section. 

5 ‘‘(3) USE REGARDLESS OF SOURCE OF INFOR6 MATION.—The Commissioner may use any informa7 tion in the Registry for any purpose authorized 

8 under the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et 

9 seq.), regardless of whether the information was pro10 vided to the Commissioner under authority of this 

11 section or any provision of the Social Security Act.’’. 

12 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

13 Section 2(g)(3) of the Improper Payments Information 

14 Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is amended by striking 

15 ‘‘Federal employee,’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal employee or 

16 any other individual in Federal service,’’. 

17 SEC. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF PREPAYMENT AND PRE-AWARD 

18 PROCEDURES. 

19 Section 5(a) of the Improper Payments Elimination 

20 and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 

21 note) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (2) by adding, after subpara23 graph (E), the following: 


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1 ‘‘(F) The registry of people who are de2 ceased established by the Commissioner of So3 cial Security under section 7.’’; and 

4 (2) by adding, after paragraph (2), the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(3) AGENCIES TO PROVIDE ACCESS.—Each 

7 agency that operates or maintains a database de8 scribed in paragraph (2) shall provide each other 

9 agency with access to the information contained in 

10 that database for purposes of complying with para11 graphs (1) and (2), subject to such reasonable and 

12 permissible conditions as the agency operating or 

13 maintaining the database establishes.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. DATA ANALYTICS. 

15 Section 5 of the Improper Payments Elimination and 

16 Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) 

17 is amended by adding at the end the following— 

18 ‘‘(h) REPORT ON IMPROPER PAYMENTS DATA ANAL19 YSIS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact20 ment of the Improper Payments Agency Cooperation En21 hancement Act of 2013, the Secretary of the Treasury 

22 shall submit to Congress a report, which may be included 

23 as part of another report submitted to Congress, which 

24 shall include a description of— 


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1 ‘‘(1) data analytics performed as part of the Do 

2 Not Pay Initiative for the purpose of detecting, pre3 venting, and recovering improper payments through 

4 pre-award, post-award pre-payment, and post-pay5 ment analysis, which shall include a description of 

6 any analysis or investigations incorporating— 

7 ‘‘(A) review and data matching of pay8 ments and beneficiary enrollment lists of State 

9 programs carried out using Federal funds for 

10 the purposes of identifying eligibility duplica11 tion, residency ineligibility, duplicate payments, 

12 or other potential improper payment issues; 

13 ‘‘(B) review of multiple Federal agencies 

14 and programs for which comparison of data 

15 could show payment duplication; and 

16 ‘‘(C) review of other information the Sec17 retary of the Treasury determines are effective, 

18 which may include investigation or review of in19 formation from multiple Federal agencies or 

20 programs; and 

21 ‘‘(2) the metrics used in determining whether 

22 the analytic and investigatory efforts have reduced, 

23 or contributed to the reduction of, improper pay24 ments or improper awards.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. CURBING IMPROPER PAYMENT OF FEDERAL RE2 TIREMENT ANNUITIES TO DECEASED INDI3 VIDUALS. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of6 fice of Management and Budget shall convene a task force 

7 of agencies (in this section referred to as the ‘‘task force’’) 

8 to— 

9 (1) identify ways to improve the sharing of in10 formation relating to the death of an individual re11 ceiving an annuity under a Federal retirement pro12 gram; and 

13 (2) share best practices for identifying deceased 

14 annuitants. 

15 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Director of the Office of 

16 Management and Budget shall appoint the members of the 

17 task force, which shall include a representative of— 

18 (1) the Department of Defense; 

19 (2) the Social Security Administration; 

20 (3) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 

21 (4) the Office of Personnel Management; and 

22 (5) any other agency that provides annuities or 

23 is relevant to the oversight of annuity payments. 

24 (c) PLAN.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, the task force shall establish a 

26 plan to carry out the purposes described in subsection (a). 


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1 (d) REPORTS.—The task force shall— 

2 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en3 actment of this Act, submit to Congress a report on 

4 the plan established under subsection (c); and 

5 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of en6 actment of this Act, submit to Congress a report on 

7 implementation of the plan by agencies. 

8 (e) TERMINATION.—The task force shall terminate 

9 on the day after the date on which the task force submits 

10 the report required under subsection (d)(2). 

11 SEC. 6. AGENCY ACCESS TO POSTAL DATABASE. 

12 Section 412 of title 39, United States Code, is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subsection 

15 (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b) or (c)’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(c)(1) For purposes of this subsection— 

18 ‘‘(A) the term ‘agency’ means an executive 

19 agency as that term is defined under section 102 of 

20 title 31; 

21 ‘‘(B) the term ‘improper payment’ has the 

22 meaning given that term in section 2(g) of the Im23 proper Payments Information Act of 2002 (31 

24 U.S.C. 3321 note); and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the term ‘Inspector General’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 5(e)(1) of the 

3 Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Im4 provement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note); 

5 ‘‘(2) The Postal Service shall provide to agencies (in6 cluding to Inspectors General) access to information con7 cerning delivery addresses, including the Commercial Mail 

8 Receiving Agency lists of known locations of commercial 

9 mailbox offices, for purposes of improved detection, pre10 vention, and recovery of improper payments. 

11 ‘‘(3) The provision of information under this sub12 section shall be in accordance with such mutually agree13 able terms and conditions, including reimbursability, as 

14 the Postal Service and the agency or Inspector General 

15 determine appropriate.’’. 

Æ 


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