II 

Calendar No. 639 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2374 

[Report No. 115–352] 

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 

FEBRUARY 5, 2018 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 

WARNER, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. HEITKAMP, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. TESTER, Mr. 

LEE, and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs 

NOVEMBER 13, 2018 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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. 


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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 ‘‘Stopping Improper 

5 Payments to Deceased People Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FUR7 NISHED TO OR MAINTAINED BY THE SOCIAL 

8 SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(r) of the Social 

11 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended— 

12 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘shall’’; and 

15 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and to ensure the 

16 completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of,’’ 

17 after ‘‘transmitting’’; 

18 (B) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), and 

19 (5) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(3)(A) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, 

21 to the extent feasible, provide for the use of information 

22 regarding all deceased individuals furnished to or main23 tained by the Commissioner under this subsection in ac24 cordance with subparagraph (B), subject to such safe25 guards as the Commissioner of Social Security determines 


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1 are necessary or appropriate to protect the information 

2 from unauthorized use or disclosure, by any Federal or 

3 State agency providing federally funded benefits or admin4 istering a Federal program for such benefits, including the 

5 agency operating the Do Not Pay working system for en6 suring proper payment of those benefits, through a cooper7 ative arrangement with the agency (that includes the 

8 agency’s Inspector General) or with an agency’s Inspector 

9 General, if— 

10 ‘‘(i) under such arrangement the agency (in11 cluding, if applicable, the agency’s Inspector Gen12 eral) provides reimbursement to the Commissioner of 

13 Social Security for the reasonable cost of carrying 

14 out such arrangement, including the reasonable 

15 costs associated with the collection and maintenance 

16 of information regarding deceased individuals fur17 nished to the Commissioner pursuant to paragraph 

18 (1); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) such arrangement does not conflict with 

20 the duties of the Commissioner of Social Security 

21 under paragraph (1). 

22 ‘‘(B) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to 

23 the extent feasible, provide for the use of information re24 garding all deceased individuals furnished to or main25 tained by the Commissioner under this subsection, 


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1 through a cooperative arrangement in order for a Federal 

2 agency to carry out any of the following purposes, if the 

3 requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) 

4 are met: 

5 ‘‘(i) Operating the Do Not Pay working system 

6 established by section 5 of the Improper Payments 

7 Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012. 

8 Under such arrangement, the agency operating the 

9 working system may compare death information dis10 closed by the Commissioner with personally identifi11 able information reviewed through the working sys12 tem, and may redisclose such comparison of infor13 mation, as appropriate, to any Federal or State 

14 agency authorized to use the working system. 

15 ‘‘(ii) To ensure proper payments under a Fed16 eral program or the proper payment of federally 

17 funded benefits, including for purposes of payment 

18 certification, payment disbursement, and the preven19 tion, identification, or recoupment of improper pay20 ments. 

21 ‘‘(iii) To carry out tax administration or debt 

22 collection duties of the agency. 

23 ‘‘(iv) For use by any policing agency of the 

24 Federal Government with the principle function of 


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1 prevention, detection, or investigation of crime or 

2 the apprehension of alleged offenders. 

3 ‘‘(C) With respect to the reimbursement to the Com4 missioner of Social Security for the reasonable cost of car5 rying out a cooperative arrangement described in subpara6 graph (A) between the Commissioner of Social Security 

7 and an agency, the Commissioner shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) establish a defined calculation method for 

9 purposes of calculating the reasonable cost of car10 rying out the arrangement that does not take into 

11 account any services, information, or unrelated pay12 ments provided by the agency to the Commissioner; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) reimbursement payments shall be ac15 counted for and recorded separately from other 

16 transactions. 

17 ‘‘(4) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter 

18 into similar arrangements with States to provide informa19 tion regarding all deceased individuals furnished to or 

20 maintained by the Commissioner under this subsection, 

21 for any of the purposes specified in paragraph (3)(B), for 

22 use by States in programs wholly funded by the States, 

23 or for use in the administration of a benefit pension plan 

24 or retirement system for employees of a State or a political 

25 subdivision thereof, if the requirements of clauses (i) and 


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1 (ii) of paragraph (3)(A) are met. For purposes of this 

2 paragraph, the terms ‘retirement system’ and ‘political 

3 subdivision’ have the meanings given such terms in section 

4 218(b). 

5 ‘‘(5) The Commissioner of Social Security may use 

6 or provide for the use of information regarding all de7 ceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Com8 missioner under this subsection, subject to such safe9 guards as the Commissioner of Social Security determines 

10 are necessary or appropriate to protect the information 

11 from unauthorized use or disclosure, for statistical pur12 poses and research activities by Federal and State agen13 cies if the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph 

14 (3)(A) are met. For purposes of this paragraph, the term 

15 ‘statistical purposes’ has the meaning given that term in 

16 section 502 of the Confidential Information Protection 

17 and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002.’’; and 

18 (C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking 

19 ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3)’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph 

21 (3)(A)’’. 

22 (2) REPEAL.—Effective on the date that is 5 

23 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

24 amendments made by this subsection to paragraphs 

25 (3), (4), (5), and (8) of section 205(r) of the Social 


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1 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) are repealed, and 

2 the provisions of section 205(r) of the Social Secu3 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 605(r)) so amended are restored 

4 and revived as if such amendments had not been en5 acted. 

6 (b) AMENDMENT TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.— 

7 Section 6103(d)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by striking 

10 ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ each 

11 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Commissioner of So12 cial Security’’; and 

13 (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘such 

14 Secretary’’ and all that follows through ‘‘deceased 

15 individuals.’’ and inserting ‘‘such Commissioner pur16 suant to such contract, except that such contract 

17 may provide that such information is only to be used 

18 by the Social Security Administration (or any other 

19 Federal agency) for purposes authorized in the So20 cial Security Act or this title.’’. 

21 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ALTERNATIVE

22 SOURCES OF DEATH DATA.— 

23 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—The Director of the Of24 fice of Management and Budget shall conduct a re25 view of potential alternative sources of death data 


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1 maintained by the non-Federal sources, including 

2 sources maintained by State agencies or associations 

3 of State agencies, for use by Federal agencies and 

4 programs. The review shall include analyses of— 

5 (A) the accuracy and completeness of such 

6 data; 

7 (B) interoperability of such data; 

8 (C) the extent to which there is efficient 

9 accessibility of such data by Federal agencies; 

10 (D) the cost to Federal agencies of access11 ing and maintaining such data; 

12 (E) the security of such data; 

13 (F) the reliability of such data; and 

14 (G) a comparison of the potential alternate 

15 sources of death data to the death data distrib16 uted by the Commissioner of Social Security. 

17 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

19 Office of Management and Budget shall submit a re20 port to Congress on the results of the review and 

21 analyses required under paragraph (1). The report 

22 shall include a recommendation by the Director of 

23 the Office of Management and Budget regarding 

24 whether to extend the agency access to death data 

25 distributed by the Commissioner of Social Security 


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1 provided under the amendments made by subsection 

2 (a)(1) beyond the date on which such amendments 

3 are to be repealed under subsection (a)(2). 

4 SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE USE OF DATA BY GOVERNMENT 

5 AGENCIES TO CURB IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 

6 The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery 

7 Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 8. IMPROVING THE USE OF DEATH DATA BY GOVERN10 MENT AGENCIES. 

11 ‘‘(a) GUIDANCE BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT

12 AND BUDGET.— 

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

14 6 months after the date of enactment of this section, 

15 and in consultation with the Council of Inspectors 

16 General on Integrity and Efficiency and the heads of 

17 other relevant Federal, State, and local agencies, 

18 and Indian tribes and tribal organizations, the Di19 rector of the Office of Management and Budget 

20 shall issue guidance for each agency or component 

21 of an agency that operates or maintains a database 

22 of information relating to beneficiaries, annuity re23 cipients, or any purpose described in section 

24 205(r)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 405(r)(3)(B)) for which improved data matching 


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1 with databases relating to the death of an individual 

2 (in this section referred to as ‘death databases’) 

3 would be relevant and necessary regarding imple4 mentation of this section to provide such agencies or 

5 components access to the death databases no later 

6 than 6 months after such date of enactment. 

7 ‘‘(2) PLAN TO ASSIST STATES AND LOCAL

8 AGENCIES AND INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANI9 ZATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

10 enactment of this section, the Director of the Office 

11 of Management and Budget shall develop a plan to 

12 assist States and local agencies, and Indian tribes 

13 and tribal organizations, in providing electronically 

14 to the Federal Government records relating to the 

15 death of individuals, which may include rec16 ommendations to Congress for any statutory 

17 changes or financial assistance to States and local 

18 agencies and Indian tribes and tribal organizations 

19 that are necessary to ensure States and local agen20 cies and Indian tribes and tribal organizations can 

21 provide such records electronically. The plan may in22 clude recommendations for the authorization of ap23 propriations or other funding to carry out the plan. 

24 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPROVING

2 DATA MATCHING REGARDING PAYMENTS TO DE3 CEASED INDIVIDUALS.—Not later than 270 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this section, the Di5 rector of the Office of Management and Budget, in 

6 consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal 

7 agencies, and in consultation with States and local 

8 agencies, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, shall 

9 submit to Congress a plan to improve how States 

10 and local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal orga11 nizations that provide benefits under a federally 

12 funded program will improve data matching with the 

13 Federal Government with respect to the death of in14 dividuals who are recipients of such benefits. 

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

16 after the date of enactment of this section, and for 

17 each of the 4 succeeding years, the Director of the 

18 Office of Management and Budget shall submit to 

19 Congress a report regarding the implementation of 

20 this section. The first report submitted under this 

21 paragraph shall include the recommendations of the 

22 Director required under subsection (a)(2). 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘In24 dian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ have the meanings 

25 given those terms in section 4 of the Indian Self-DeterVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Nov 15, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2374.RS S2374

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1 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

2 450b).’’. 

3 SEC. 4. PLAN FOR ENSURING THE ACCURACY AND COM4 PLETENESS OF DEATH DATA MAINTAINED 

5 AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY 

6 ADMINISTRATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social 

9 Security shall submit to Congress a plan, which shall in10 clude an estimate of the cost of implementing the policies 

11 and procedures described in such plan, to improve the ac12 curacy and completeness of the death data (including, 

13 where feasible and cost-effective, data regarding individ14 uals who are not eligible for or receiving benefits under 

15 titles II or XVI of the Social Security Act) maintained 

16 and distributed by the Social Security Administration. 

17 (b) CONTENT OF PLAN.—In developing the plan re18 quired under subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social 

19 Security shall consider whether to include the following 

20 elements: 

21 (1) Procedures for— 

22 (A) identifying individuals who are ex23 tremely elderly, as determined by the Commis24 sioner, but for whom no record of death exists 


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1 in the records of the Social Security Adminis2 tration; 

3 (B) verifying the information contained in 

4 the records of the Social Security Administra5 tion with respect to individuals described in 

6 subparagraph (A) and correcting any inaccura7 cies; and 

8 (C) where appropriate, disclosing correc9 tions made to the records of the Social Security 

10 Administration. 

11 (2) Improved policies and procedures for identi12 fying and correcting erroneous death records, includ13 ing policies and procedures for— 

14 (A) identifying individuals listed as dead 

15 who are actually alive; 

16 (B) identifying individuals listed as alive 

17 who are actually dead; and 

18 (C) allowing individuals or survivors of de19 ceased individuals to notify the Social Security 

20 Administration of potential errors. 

21 (3) Improved policies and procedures to identify 

22 and correct discrepancies in the records of the Social 

23 Security Administration, including social security 

24 number records. 


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1 (4) A process for employing statistical analysis 

2 of the death data maintained and distributed by the 

3 Social Security Administration to determine an esti4 mate of the number of erroneous records. 

5 (5) Recommendations for legislation, as nec6 essary. 

7 SEC. 5. REPORT ON INFORMATION SECURITY. 

8 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security 

10 shall submit a report to the Committees on Ways and 

11 Means, Oversight and Government Reform, and Home12 land Security of the House of Representatives, and the 

13 Committees on Finance and Homeland Security and Gov14 ernmental Affairs of the Senate that— 

15 (1) identifies all information systems of the So16 cial Security Administration containing sensitive in17 formation; and 

18 (2) describes the measures the Commissioner is 

19 taking to secure and protect such information sys20 tems. 

21 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

22 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Improper Pay23 ments to Deceased People Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FUR2 NISHED TO OR MAINTAINED BY THE SOCIAL 

3 SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(r) of the Social 

6 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended— 

7 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘shall’’; and 

10 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and to ensure the 

11 completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of,’’ 

12 after ‘‘transmitting’’; 

13 (B) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) 

14 and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(3)(A) In the case of individuals with respect to 

16 whom federally funded benefits are provided by (or through) 

17 a Federal or State agency, the Commissioner of Social Se18 curity shall to the extent feasible provide such information 

19 through a cooperative arrangement with such agency for en20 suring proper payment of those benefits with respect to such 

21 individuals if— 

22 ‘‘(i) under such arrangement the agency agrees 

23 to such safeguards as the Commissioner determines 

24 are necessary or appropriate to protect the informa25 tion from unauthorized use or disclosure; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) under such arrangement the agency pro2 vides reimbursement to the Commissioner of Social 

3 Security for the reasonable cost of carrying out such 

4 arrangement, including the reasonable costs associated 

5 with the collection and maintenance of information 

6 regarding deceased individuals furnished to the Com7 missioner pursuant to paragraph (1); and 

8 ‘‘(iii) such arrangement does not conflict with 

9 the duties of the Commissioner of Social Security 

10 under paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(B) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to the 

12 extent feasible, provide for the use of information regarding 

13 all deceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the 

14 Commissioner under this subsection, through a cooperative 

15 arrangement in order for a Federal agency to carry out 

16 any of the following purposes, if the requirements of clauses 

17 (i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (A) are met: 

18 ‘‘(i) Operating the Do Not Pay working system 

19 established by section 5 of the Improper Payments 

20 Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012. 

21 Under such arrangement, the agency operating the 

22 working system may compare death information dis23 closed by the Commissioner with personally identifi24 able information reviewed through the working sys25 tem, and may redisclose such comparison of informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Nov 15, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2374.RS S2374

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1 tion, as appropriate, to any Federal or State agency 

2 authorized to use the working system. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The tax administration duties of the agen4 cy. 

5 ‘‘(iii) Oversight activities of the Inspector Gen6 eral of an agency that is provided information re7 garding all deceased individuals pursuant to this sub8 section. 

9 ‘‘(iv) Civil or criminal enforcement activities 

10 that are authorized by law. 

11 ‘‘(C) With respect to the reimbursement to the Commis12 sioner of Social Security for the reasonable cost of carrying 

13 out a cooperative arrangement described in subparagraph 

14 (A) between the Commissioner of Social Security and an 

15 agency, the Commissioner shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) establish a defined calculation method for 

17 purposes of calculating the reasonable cost of carrying 

18 out the arrangement that does not take into account 

19 any services, information, or unrelated payments pro20 vided by the agency to the Commissioner; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) reimbursement payments shall be accounted 

22 for and recorded separately from other transactions. 

23 ‘‘(4) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter 

24 into similar arrangements with States to provide informa25 tion regarding all deceased individuals furnished to or 


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1 maintained by the Commissioner under this subsection for 

2 use by States in programs wholly funded by the States, or 

3 for use in the administration of a benefit pension plan or 

4 retirement system for employees of a State or a political 

5 subdivision thereof, if the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), 

6 and (iii) of paragraph (3)(A) are met. For purposes of this 

7 paragraph, the terms ‘retirement system’ and ‘political sub8 division’ have the meanings given such terms in section 

9 218(b). 

10 ‘‘(5) The Commissioner of Social Security may use or 

11 provide for the use of information regarding all deceased 

12 individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commis13 sioner under this subsection for statistical purposes and re14 search activities by Federal and State agencies (including 

15 research activities conducted under a contract or a coopera16 tive arrangement (as such terms are defined for purposes 

17 of sections 6303 and 6305, respectively, of title 31, United 

18 States Code) with such an agency) if the requirements of 

19 clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (3)(A) are met.’’; and 

20 (C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking 

21 ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3)’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of para23 graph (3)(A)’’. 

24 (2) REPEAL.—Effective on the date that is 5 

25 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 


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1 amendments made by this subsection to paragraphs 

2 (3), (4), (5), and (8) of section 205(r) of the Social 

3 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) are repealed, and the 

4 provisions of section 205(r) of the Social Security Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) so amended are restored and re6 vived as if such amendments had not been enacted. 

7 (b) AMENDMENTS TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(d)(4) of the In9 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

10 (A) in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by strik11 ing ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ 

12 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Commis13 sioner of Social Security’’; and 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 

15 ‘‘such Secretary’’ and all that follows through 

16 ‘‘deceased individuals.’’ and inserting ‘‘such 

17 Commissioner pursuant to such contract, except 

18 that such contract may provide that such infor19 mation is only to be used by the Social Security 

20 Administration (or any other Federal agency) 

21 for purposes authorized in the Social Security 

22 Act or this title.’’. 

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

24 by this subsection take effect 180 days after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act. 


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1 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ALTERNATIVE SOURCES

2 OF DEATH DATA.— 

3 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commissioner of So4 cial Security, in coordination with the Secretary of 

5 the Treasury, shall conduct a review of potential al6 ternative sources of death data maintained by the 

7 non-Federal sources, including sources maintained by 

8 State agencies or associations of State agencies, for 

9 use by Federal agencies and programs. The review 

10 shall include analyses of— 

11 (A) the accuracy and completeness of such 

12 data; 

13 (B) interoperability of such data; 

14 (C) the extent to which there is efficient ac15 cessibility of such data by Federal agencies; 

16 (D) the cost to Federal agencies of accessing 

17 and maintaining such data; 

18 (E) the security of such data; 

19 (F) the reliability of such data; and 

20 (G) a comparison of the potential alternate 

21 sources of death data to the death data distrib22 uted by the Commissioner of Social Security. 

23 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of25 fice of Management and Budget shall submit a report 


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1 to Congress on the results of the review and analyses 

2 required under paragraph (1). The report shall in3 clude a recommendation by the Director of the Office 

4 of Management and Budget regarding whether to ex5 tend the agency access to death data distributed by 

6 the Commissioner of Social Security provided under 

7 the amendments made by subsection (a)(1) beyond the 

8 date on which such amendments are to be repealed 

9 under subsection (a)(2). 

10 SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE USE OF DATA BY GOVERNMENT 

11 AGENCIES TO CURB IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 

12 The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery 

13 Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is amended 

14 by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 8. IMPROVING THE USE OF DEATH DATA BY GOVERN16 MENT AGENCIES. 

17 ‘‘(a) GUIDANCE BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND

18 BUDGET.— 

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

20 year after the date of enactment of this section, and 

21 in consultation with the Council of Inspectors General 

22 on Integrity and Efficiency and the heads of other 

23 relevant Federal, State, and local agencies, and In24 dian tribes and tribal organizations, the Director of 

25 the Office of Management and Budget shall issue 


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1 guidance for each agency or component of an agency 

2 that operates or maintains a database of information 

3 relating to beneficiaries, annuity recipients, or any 

4 purpose described in section 205(r)(3)(B) of the So5 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(3)(B)) for which 

6 improved data matching with databases relating to 

7 the death of an individual (in this section referred to 

8 as ‘death databases’) would be relevant and necessary 

9 regarding implementation of this section to provide 

10 such agencies or components access to the death data11 bases no later than 1 year after such date of enact12 ment. 

13 ‘‘(2) PLAN TO ASSIST STATES AND LOCAL AGEN14 CIES AND INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZA15 TIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact16 ment of this section, the Secretary of Health and 

17 Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury 

18 shall jointly develop a plan to assist States and local 

19 agencies, and Indian tribes and tribal organizations, 

20 in providing electronically to the Federal Government 

21 records relating to the death of individuals, which 

22 may include recommendations to Congress for any 

23 statutory changes or financial assistance to States 

24 and local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal orga25 nizations that are necessary to ensure States and 


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1 local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal organiza2 tions can provide such records electronically. The 

3 plan may include recommendations for the authoriza4 tion of appropriations or other funding to carry out 

5 the plan. 

6 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPROVING DATA

8 MATCHING REGARDING PAYMENTS TO DECEASED INDI9 VIDUALS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of en10 actment of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury, 

11 in consultation with the heads of other relevant Fed12 eral agencies, and in consultation with States and 

13 local agencies, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, 

14 shall submit to Congress a plan to improve how 

15 States and local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal 

16 organizations that provide benefits under a federally 

17 funded program will improve data matching with the 

18 Federal Government with respect to the death of indi19 viduals who are recipients of such benefits. 

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

21 after the date of enactment of this section, and for 

22 each of the 4 succeeding years, the Secretary of the 

23 Treasury shall submit to Congress a report regarding 

24 the implementation of this section. The first report 

25 submitted under this paragraph shall include the recVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Nov 15, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2374.RS S2374

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1 ommendations of the Secretary required under sub2 section (a)(2). 

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘Indian 

4 tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ have the meanings given 

5 those terms in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

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

7 SEC. 4. PLAN FOR ENSURING THE ACCURACY AND COM8 PLETENESS OF DEATH DATA MAINTAINED 

9 AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY 

10 ADMINISTRATION. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Secu13 rity shall submit to Congress a plan, which shall include 

14 an estimate of the cost of implementing the policies and 

15 procedures described in such plan, to improve the accuracy 

16 and completeness of the death data (including, where fea17 sible and cost-effective, data regarding individuals who are 

18 not eligible for or receiving benefits under titles II or XVI 

19 of the Social Security Act) maintained and distributed by 

20 the Social Security Administration. 

21 (b) CONTENT OF PLAN.—In developing the plan re22 quired under subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social Se23 curity shall consider whether to include the following ele24 ments: 

25 (1) Procedures for— 


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1 (A) identifying individuals who are ex2 tremely elderly, as determined by the Commis3 sioner, but for whom no record of death exists in 

4 the records of the Social Security Administra5 tion; 

6 (B) verifying the information contained in 

7 the records of the Social Security Administration 

8 with respect to individuals described in subpara9 graph (A) and correcting any inaccuracies; and 

10 (C) where appropriate, disclosing correc11 tions made to the records of the Social Security 

12 Administration. 

13 (2) Improved policies and procedures for identi14 fying and correcting erroneous death records, includ15 ing policies and procedures for— 

16 (A) identifying individuals listed as dead 

17 who are actually alive; 

18 (B) identifying individuals listed as alive 

19 who are actually dead; and 

20 (C) allowing individuals or survivors of de21 ceased individuals to notify the Social Security 

22 Administration of potential errors. 

23 (3) Improved policies and procedures to identify 

24 and correct discrepancies in the records of the Social 


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•S 2374 RS

1 Security Administration, including social security 

2 number records. 

3 (4) A process for employing statistical analysis 

4 of the death data maintained and distributed by the 

5 Social Security Administration to determine an esti6 mate of the number of erroneous records. 

7 (5) Recommendations for legislation, as nec8 essary. 

9 SEC. 5. REPORT ON INFORMATION SECURITY. 

10 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall sub12 mit a report to the Committees on Ways and Means, Over13 sight and Government Reform, and Homeland Security of 

14 the House of Representatives, and the Committees on Fi15 nance and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

16 of the Senate that— 

17 (1) identifies all information systems of the So18 cial Security Administration containing sensitive in19 formation; and 

20 (2) describes the measures the Commissioner is 

21 taking to secure and protect such information sys22 tems. 


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Calendar No. 639 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2374 

[Report No. 115–352] 

A BILL 

To amend the Improper Payments Elimination and 

for other purposes. improper payments to deceased individuals, and improved detection, prevention, and recovery of making changes to the Do Not Pay Initiative, for Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, including 

NOVEMBER 13, 2018 

Reported with an amendment 


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