under deceased individuals’ Social Security Numbers 
(SSNs). 
(2) Various Federal entities rely on the Social 
Security Administration’s (SSA) death information 
to detect unreported deaths and verify the accuracy 
of reported deaths. 
(3) The Numident is the SSA’s computer data-
base file on all who have applied for a Social Secu-
rity number. The Office of the Inspector General 
(OIG) of the SSA conducted an audit and deter-
mined that the SSA did not have controls in place 
to annotate death information on the Numident 
records of numberholders who exceeded maximum 
reasonable life expectancies and were likely deceased. 
(4) The OIG identified 34 cases in which it ap-
peared that the deceased numberholder’s name and 
Social Security Number (SSN) had been misused. In 
one instance an employer reported paying wages to 
someone 
from 
2008 
through 
2012 
using 
a 
numberholder’s name and SSN that had been born 
in 1886. SSA payment records indicated that the 
numberholder died in January 1965, but the SSA 
did not record the numberholder’s death on the 
Numident. SSA continued paying benefits to the 
numberholder’s widow until her death in February 
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1973. SSA’s Master Earning File (MEF) contained 
no 
reported 
earnings 
information 
for 
this 
numberholder from 1956 through 2007. 
(5) The OIG determined that thousands of the 
SSNs could have been used to commit identity 
fraud. For tax years 2006 through 2011, SSA re-
ceived reports that individuals using 66,920 SSNs 
had approximately $3.1 billion in wages, tips, and 
self-employment income. SSA transferred the earn-
ings to the Earnings Suspense File because the em-
ployees’ or self-employed individuals’ names on the 
earnings reports did not match the numberholders’ 
names. 
(6) During calendar years 2008 through 2011, 
employers made 4,024 E-Verify inquiries using 
3,873 SSNs belonging to numberholders born before 
June 16, 1901. According to the OIG, these inquir-
ies indicate individuals’ attempts to use the SSNs to 
apply for work. 
(7) The OIG determined that resolving these 
discrepancies will improve the accuracy and com-
pleteness of the Death Master File and help prevent 
future misuse of these SSNs. 
(8) The American taxpayer deserves to have the 
surety of knowing that every agency and department 
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within the Federal Government takes the prudent 
actions necessary to prevent future fraud and waste 
of hard-earned dollars. 
(9) In 2015, the OIG identified approximately 
6.5 million numberholders age 112 or older who did 
not have death information on the Numident. 
(10) Of the 6.5 million cases OIG identified, 
based on initial review, SSA believed approximately 
1.5 million of these individuals were deceased. After 
further in-depth analysis, SSA posted death infor-
mation to records for only those cases that passed 
complex identity matching protocols, and where the 
most current information indicated the individuals 
are in fact deceased. 
(11) For the remaining 5 million cases, the 
SSA reports that it does not have sufficient or reli-
able evidence that these individuals are deceased. 
However, the SSA also notes that the individuals 
have never received payments from the SSA; the 
records are decades old, and are the result of error- 
prone paper reporting processes; it is possible that, 
decades ago, SSA incorrectly recorded some dates of 
birth and that some individuals are much younger 
than current records indicate; and it would be im-
prudent to presume death in order to add these 
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cases to the DMF because doing so could result in 
the inappropriate release of living individuals’ per-
sonally identifiable information—an action that has 
far-reaching and adverse consequences for these in-
dividuals. 
(12) In line with the OIG’s recommendations, 
the SSA should take proactive action to fully protect 
the American taxpayer by ensuring that there are 
comprehensive controls in place to annotate death 
information 
on 
the 
Numident 
records 
of 
numberholders who exceeded maximum reasonable 
life expectancies. 
SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF OIG RECOMMENDATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of 
Social Security shall implement all of the recommenda-
tions described in the memorandum from the Office of the 
Inspector General of the Social Security Administration 
entitled ‘‘Numberholders Age 112 or Older Who Did Not 
Have a Death Entry on the Numident (A–06–14–34030)’’ 
and dated March 4, 2015. 
(b) ADDITIONAL PAYMENT TO INDIVIDUALS ATTAIN-
ING 100 YEARS OF AGE.—The Commissioner of Social Se-
curity shall make a one-time payment in the amount of 
$100 to each individual who, according to the records of 
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the Commissioner of Social Security, attains 100 years of 
age after the date of enactment of this Act and applies 
for such payment. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than December 31 of each 
calendar year that begins after the date of the enactment 
of this Act and ends before the date that is 3 years after 
such date of enactment, the Commissioner shall submit 
to the Congress a report on the progress made toward im-
plementation of each of the recommendations described in 
the memorandum specified in subsection (a), the methods 
used to implement such recommendations, the amount of 
funds expended and any other resources utilized to imple-
ment such recommendations, and the projected date of full 
implementation. 
Æ 
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