I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3555 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2013 

Mrs. BUSTOS (for herself, Mr. GIBSON, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. ENYART, 

Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. OWENS, Mr. WELCH, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. 

BRALEY of Iowa, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. KIND, Mr. RUSH, Mr. MAFFEI, 

Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. HIMES, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. PETERS of 

Michigan, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. WALZ, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

BARBER, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. CLAY, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN

GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. COHEN, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. HASTINGS of 

Florida, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. DELANEY, Mr. 

MORAN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. HONDA, Mr. SCHRADER, 

Mr. MATHESON, Mr. BARROW of Georgia, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. DINGELL, 

Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. TITUS, Ms. MENG, Mr. PETERS of 

California, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. HOLT, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 

Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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, 


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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’’. 

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

7 DATA BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO CURB 

8 IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Improper Payments Elimi10 nation and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 

11 3321 note) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

13 DATA BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO CURB 

14 IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 

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

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Commissioner’ means the Com17 missioner of Social Security; 

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

19 the Office of Management and Budget; 

20 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Inspector General’ has the mean21 ing defined by section 5(e)(1); 

22 ‘‘(4) the term ‘local government’ means the gov23 ernment of a political subdivision of a State; 


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

2 that term under section 2(g) of the Improper Pay3 ment Information Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. 3321 

4 note); 

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

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

7 and 

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

9 government of an Indian tribe, as that term is de10 fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

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

12 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGISTRY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner shall es14 tablish and maintain a registry of information relat15 ing to the deaths of individuals, to be known as the 

16 National Deaths Registry. 

17 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION.—As pro18 vided under this section and in accordance with the 

19 guidance issued under subsection (f), the Commis20 sioner shall include information relating to the 

21 deaths of individuals in the Registry for the purpose 

22 of supporting the Do Not Pay Initiative under sec23 tion 5 and otherwise preventing, identifying, or re24 covering improper payments. 

25 ‘‘(c) USE OF THE REGISTRY.— 


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

2 The Commissioner shall enter into cooperative 

3 agreements with agencies, including Inspectors Gen4 eral— 

5 ‘‘(A) under which the Commissioner shall 

6 provide the information in the Registry (in full 

7 and without limitation, as provided in sub8 section (h)(1)) to the agency or Inspector Gen9 eral for purposes of facilitating— 

10 ‘‘(i) the making of authorized pay11 ments or the prevention, identification, or 

12 recovery of improper payments; 

13 ‘‘(ii) carrying out section 5; 

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

15 Census, verifying information obtained as 

16 part of a decennial census conducted under 

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

18 Code; or 

19 ‘‘(iv) other agency functions, including 

20 public health or safety, law enforcement, 

21 tax administration, health administration 

22 oversight, and debt collection, as deter23 mined appropriate by the Commissioner 

24 and in accordance with guidance issued 

25 under subsection (f); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) which shall require the agency or In2 spector General to provide reimbursement to 

3 the Commissioner for the reasonable cost of 

4 carrying out the agreement. 

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

6 TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) FOR MAKING FEDERALLY FUNDED

8 PAYMENTS OR AVOIDING FEDERALLY FUNDED

9 IMPROPER PAYMENTS.—The Commissioner 

10 shall, to the extent feasible, enter into coopera11 tive agreements with States and local and tribal 

12 governments— 

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

14 Registry to the State or local or tribal gov15 ernment for purposes of facilitating the 

16 making of authorized payments and the 

17 prevention, identification, or recovery of 

18 improper payments under federally funded 

19 programs; and 

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

21 local or tribal government to provide reim22 bursement to the Commissioner for the 

23 reasonable cost of carrying out the agree24 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FOR PROGRAMS WHOLLY FUNDED BY

2 STATES AND LOCAL AND TRIBAL GOVERN3 MENTS.—The Commissioner may enter into co4 operative agreements with States and local and 

5 tribal governments— 

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

7 Registry for purposes relating to programs 

8 wholly funded by the State or local or trib9 al governments; and 

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

11 local or tribal government to provide reim12 bursement to the Commissioner for the 

13 reasonable cost of carrying out the agree14 ment. 

15 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—The 

16 Commissioner may withhold information that would 

17 otherwise be required to be disclosed under a cooper18 ative agreement under this subsection if the Com19 missioner determines there are exceptional cir20 cumstances warranting an exception (such as safety 

21 of the individual or interference with an investiga22 tion). 

23 ‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Information provided 

24 by the Commission under an agreement under this 

25 subsection or by an individual to any agency that 


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1 has entered into a cooperative agreement under this 

2 subsection shall be— 

3 ‘‘(A) considered as strictly confidential; 

4 and 

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

6 in this subsection and for carrying out an 

7 agreement under this subsection. 

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

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) implement procedures for identifying and 

11 correcting errors, including those identified— 

12 ‘‘(A) by agencies; 

13 ‘‘(B) by States and local and tribal govern14 ments; and 

15 ‘‘(C) by members of the public; 

16 ‘‘(2) include a process for determining the accu17 racy of death records in the Registry, including esti18 mates of accuracy through the use of statistical sam19 pling of errors on a systematic basis; 

20 ‘‘(3) ensure the Registry is operated and main21 tained in accordance with protocols that ensure the 

22 secure transfer and storage of any information pro23 vided to another entity consistent with applicable 

24 laws and best practices of the Federal Government 

25 relating to information, privacy, security, and discloVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:34 Nov 22, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3555.IH H3555

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1 sure, including protecting social security numbers 

2 and other identifiers determined appropriate by the 

3 Commissioner; and 

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

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

6 or tribal government for carrying out a purpose de7 scribed in subsection (c)(1) or (c)(2) and in accord8 ance with the cooperative agreement with the agen9 cy, State, or local or tribal government if the agency, 

10 State, or local or tribal government submits to the 

11 Commissioner a certification that the contractor is 

12 in compliance with the requirements of the agency 

13 relating to privacy and security described in para14 graph (3). 

15 ‘‘(e) REPORTING BY FEDERAL AGENCIES OF ADDI16 TIONAL DEATH DATA TO THE REGISTRY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IMPROVED DEATH DATA MATCHING BY

18 FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

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

20 days after the date of enactment of the Im21 proper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhance22 ment Act of 2013, the Director shall identify 

23 each agency or component of an agency that 

24 operates or maintains a database of information 

25 relating to beneficiaries, annuity recipients, or 


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1 other matters such that improved data match2 ing with the Registry would be desirable, as de3 termined by the Director. 

4 ‘‘(B) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The head of each 

6 agency identified by the Director under 

7 subparagraph (A) shall establish a data 

8 matching procedure under which the agen9 cy shall compare information in the data10 base of the agency with information in the 

11 Registry in order to improve the accuracy 

12 and completeness of the information in 

13 both the database of the agency and in the 

14 Registry relating to the death of individ15 uals and to facilitate the prevention, identi16 fication, and recovery of improper pay17 ments. 

18 ‘‘(ii) DO NOT PAY PROGRAM.—The re19 quirement to establish a data matching 

20 procedure under this subparagraph shall 

21 not be construed to diminish in any way 

22 the requirements for an agency under sec23 tion 5, relating to preventing identifying, 

24 and recovering improper payments, includ25 ing to deceased individuals. 


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

2 year after the date of enactment of the Improper 

3 Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 

4 2013, each agency identified by the Director under 

5 paragraph (1)(A) shall establish a procedure (con6 sistent with guidance issued under subsection (f)) 

7 under which the agency shall, promptly and on a 

8 regular basis, submit to the Commissioner informa9 tion relating to the death of a Federal beneficiary, 

10 Federal annuitant recipient, or other individual rel11 evant for the purposes of this section. 

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

13 AND BUDGET.— 

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

15 6 months after the date of enactment of the Im16 proper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement 

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

18 Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, the 

19 Commissioner, and the heads of other relevant agen20 cies, the Director shall issue guidance for agencies 

21 regarding implementation of this section. 

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

23 TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—Not later than 6 months 

24 after the date of enactment of the Improper Pay25 ments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 


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1 2013, the Director shall provide guidance to States 

2 and local and tribal governments relating to access3 ing and using information in the Registry. 

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

5 TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—The Director shall develop 

6 a plan to assist States and local and tribal govern7 ments in providing electronically to the Commis8 sioner, for use or inclusion in the Registry, records 

9 relating to the death of individuals, which shall in10 clude recommendations to Congress for any statu11 tory changes or financial assistance to States and 

12 local and tribal governments that are necessary to 

13 ensure States and local and tribal governments can 

14 provide such records electronically not later than 

15 January 1, 2015. 

16 ‘‘(g) REPORTING.— 

17 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPROVING

18 DATA MATCHING REGARDING PAYMENTS TO INDIVID19 UALS WHO ARE DECEASED.—Not later than 270 

20 days after the date of enactment of Improper Pay21 ments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 

22 2013, the Director, after consultation with the Com23 missioner, the heads of other relevant agencies, and 

24 States and local and tribal governments, shall sub25 mit to Congress a plan regarding how States and 


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1 local and tribal governments that provide benefits 

2 under a federally funded program will improve data 

3 matching with the Registry. 

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

5 after the date of enactment of the Improper Pay6 ments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 

7 2013, and every year thereafter until the date that 

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

9 shall submit to Congress a report, which may be in10 cluded as part of another report submitted to Con11 gress by the Director, regarding the implementation 

12 of this section and the Improper Payments Agency 

13 Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013. The first re14 port under this paragraph shall include the rec15 ommendations of the Director described in sub16 section (f)(3). 

17 ‘‘(h) CONSISTENCY WITH THE SOCIAL SECURITY

18 ACT.— 

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

20 205(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) 

21 or any other provision of that Act, the Commissioner 

22 may include in the Registry any information pro23 vided to the Commissioner pursuant to that Act (in24 cluding any information received from a State or 

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


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1 information (including information received from 

2 States or any other source) as authorized under this 

3 section to any agency, including any Inspector Gen4 eral. 

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

6 of the Commissioner under the Social Security Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is the same as a required 

8 function of the Commissioner under this section, 

9 performance of the function under that Act shall 

10 also satisfy the requirement to perform the function 

11 under this section. 

12 ‘‘(3) USE REGARDLESS OF SOURCE OF INFOR13 MATION.—The Commissioner may use any informa14 tion in the Registry for any purpose authorized 

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

16 seq.), regardless of whether the information was pro17 vided to the Commissioner under authority of this 

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

19 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

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

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

23 any other individual in Federal service,’’. 


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

2 PROCEDURES. 

3 Section 5(a) of the Improper Payments Elimination 

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

5 note) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2) by adding, after subpara7 graph (E), the following: 

8 ‘‘(F) The registry of people who are de9 ceased established by the Commissioner of So10 cial Security under section 7.’’; and 

11 (2) by adding, after paragraph (2), the fol12 lowing: 

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

14 agency that operates or maintains a database de15 scribed in paragraph (2) shall provide each other 

16 agency with access to the information contained in 

17 that database for purposes of complying with para18 graphs (1) and (2), subject to such reasonable and 

19 permissible conditions as the agency operating or 

20 maintaining the database establishes.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. DATA ANALYTICS. 

22 Section 5 of the Improper Payments Elimination and 

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

24 is amended by adding at the end the following— 

25 ‘‘(h) REPORT ON IMPROPER PAYMENTS DATA ANAL26 YSIS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:34 Nov 22, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3555.IH H3555

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1 ment of the Improper Payments Agency Cooperation En2 hancement Act of 2013, the Secretary of the Treasury 

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

4 as part of another report submitted to Congress, which 

5 shall include a description of— 

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

7 Not Pay Initiative for the purpose of detecting, pre8 venting, and recovering improper payments through 

9 pre-award, post-award pre-payment, and post-pay10 ment analysis, which shall include a description of 

11 any analysis or investigations incorporating— 

12 ‘‘(A) review and data matching of pay13 ments and beneficiary enrollment lists of State 

14 programs carried out using Federal funds for 

15 the purposes of identifying eligibility duplica16 tion, residency ineligibility, duplicate payments, 

17 or other potential improper payment issues; 

18 ‘‘(B) review of multiple Federal agencies 

19 and programs for which comparison of data 

20 could show payment duplication; and 

21 ‘‘(C) review of other information the Sec22 retary of the Treasury determines are effective, 

23 which may include investigation or review of in24 formation from multiple Federal agencies or 

25 programs; and 


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

2 the analytic and investigatory efforts have reduced, 

3 or contributed to the reduction of, improper pay4 ments or improper awards.’’. 

5 SEC. 5. CURBING IMPROPER PAYMENT OF FEDERAL RE6 TIREMENT ANNUITIES TO DECEASED INDI7 VIDUALS. 

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

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of10 fice of Management and Budget shall convene a task force 

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

12 to— 

13 (1) identify ways to improve the sharing of in14 formation relating to the death of an individual re15 ceiving an annuity under a Federal retirement pro16 gram; and 

17 (2) share best practices for identifying deceased 

18 annuitants. 

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

20 Management and Budget shall appoint the members of the 

21 task force, which shall include a representative of— 

22 (1) the Department of Defense; 

23 (2) the Social Security Administration; 

24 (3) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 

25 (4) the Office of Personnel Management; and 


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1 (5) any other agency that provides annuities or 

2 is relevant to the oversight of annuity payments. 

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

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

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

6 (d) REPORTS.—The task force shall— 

7 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en8 actment of this Act, submit to Congress a report on 

9 the plan established under subsection (c); and 

10 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of en11 actment of this Act, submit to Congress a report on 

12 implementation of the plan by agencies. 

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

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

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

16 SEC. 6. AGENCY ACCESS TO POSTAL DATABASE. 

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

18 amended— 

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

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

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

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

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

24 agency as that term is defined under section 102 of 

25 title 31; 


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

2 meaning given that term in section 2(g) of the Im3 proper Payments Information Act of 2002 (31 

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

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

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

7 Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Im8 provement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note). 

9 ‘‘(2) The Postal Service shall provide to agencies (in10 cluding to Inspectors General) access to information con11 cerning delivery addresses, including the Commercial Mail 

12 Receiving Agency lists of known locations of commercial 

13 mailbox offices, for purposes of improved detection, pre14 vention, and recovery of improper payments. 

15 ‘‘(3) The provision of information under this sub16 section shall be in accordance with such mutually agree17 able terms and conditions, including reimbursability, as 

18 the Postal Service and the agency or Inspector General 

19 determine appropriate.’’. 

Æ 


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