I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4929 
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 
FEBRUARY 5, 2018 
Mrs. BUSTOS (for herself, Mr. GIANFORTE, Mr. COOPER, Mrs. COMSTOCK, 
Ms. SINEMA, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. SCHRADER, and Mr. RODNEY 
DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined 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, 
prevention, and recovery of improper payments to de-
ceased individuals, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Improper 
Payments to Deceased People Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FUR-
NISHED TO OR MAINTAINED BY THE SOCIAL 
SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(r) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 
‘‘shall’’; and 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘, and to ensure the 
completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of,’’ 
after ‘‘transmitting’’; 
(B) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), and 
(5) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(3)(A) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, 
to the extent feasible, provide for the use of information 
regarding all deceased individuals furnished to or main-
tained by the Commissioner under this subsection in ac-
cordance with subparagraph (B), subject to such safe-
guards as the Commissioner of Social Security determines 
are necessary or appropriate to protect the information 
from unauthorized use or disclosure, by any Federal or 
State agency providing federally funded benefits or admin-
istering a Federal program for such benefits, including the 
agency operating the Do Not Pay working system for en-
suring proper payment of those benefits, through a cooper-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:00 Feb 08, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
ative arrangement with the agency (that includes the 
agency’s Inspector General) or with an agency’s Inspector 
General, if— 
‘‘(i) under such arrangement the agency (in-
cluding, if applicable, the agency’s Inspector Gen-
eral) provides reimbursement to the Commissioner of 
Social Security for the reasonable cost of carrying 
out such arrangement, including the reasonable 
costs associated with the collection and maintenance 
of information regarding deceased individuals fur-
nished to the Commissioner pursuant to paragraph 
(1); and 
‘‘(ii) such arrangement does not conflict with 
the duties of the Commissioner of Social Security 
under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to 
the extent feasible, provide for the use of information re-
garding all deceased individuals furnished to or main-
tained by the Commissioner under this subsection, 
through a cooperative arrangement in order for a Federal 
agency to carry out any of the following purposes, if the 
requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) 
are met: 
‘‘(i) Operating the Do Not Pay working system 
established by section 5 of the Improper Payments 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012. 
Under such arrangement, the agency operating the 
working system may compare death information dis-
closed by the Commissioner with personally identifi-
able information reviewed through the working sys-
tem, and may redisclose such comparison of infor-
mation, as appropriate, to any Federal or State 
agency authorized to use the working system. 
‘‘(ii) To ensure proper payments under a Fed-
eral program or the proper payment of federally 
funded benefits, including for purposes of payment 
certification, payment disbursement, and the preven-
tion, identification, or recoupment of improper pay-
ments. 
‘‘(iii) To carry out tax administration or debt 
collection duties of the agency. 
‘‘(iv) For use by any policing agency of the 
Federal Government with the principle function of 
prevention, detection, or investigation of crime or 
the apprehension of alleged offenders. 
‘‘(C) With respect to the reimbursement to the Com-
missioner of Social Security for the reasonable cost of car-
rying out a cooperative arrangement described in subpara-
graph (A) between the Commissioner of Social Security 
and an agency, the Commissioner shall— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(i) establish a defined calculation method for 
purposes of calculating the reasonable cost of car-
rying out the arrangement that does not take into 
account any services, information, or unrelated pay-
ments provided by the agency to the Commissioner; 
and 
‘‘(ii) reimbursement payments shall be ac-
counted for and recorded separately from other 
transactions. 
‘‘(4) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter 
into similar arrangements with States to provide informa-
tion regarding all deceased individuals furnished to or 
maintained by the Commissioner under this subsection, 
for any of the purposes specified in paragraph (3)(B), for 
use by States in programs wholly funded by the States, 
or for use in the administration of a benefit pension plan 
or retirement system for employees of a State or a political 
subdivision thereof, if the requirements of clauses (i) and 
(ii) of paragraph (3)(A) are met. For purposes of this 
paragraph, the terms ‘retirement system’ and ‘political 
subdivision’ have the meanings given such terms in section 
218(b). 
‘‘(5) The Commissioner of Social Security may use 
or provide for the use of information regarding all de-
ceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Com-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
missioner under this subsection, subject to such safe-
guards as the Commissioner of Social Security determines 
are necessary or appropriate to protect the information 
from unauthorized use or disclosure, for statistical pur-
poses and research activities by Federal and State agen-
cies if the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph 
(3)(A) are met. For purposes of this paragraph, the term 
‘statistical purposes’ has the meaning given that term in 
section 502 of the Confidential Information Protection 
and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002.’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking 
‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph 
(3)(A)’’. 
(2) REPEAL.—Effective on the date that is 5 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
amendments made by this subsection to paragraphs 
(3), (4), (5), and (8) of section 205(r) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) are repealed, and 
the provisions of section 205(r) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 605(r)) so amended are restored 
and revived as if such amendments had not been en-
acted. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
(b) AMENDMENT TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.— 
Section 6103(d)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended— 
(1) in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by striking 
‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘Commissioner of So-
cial Security’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘such 
Secretary’’ and all that follows through ‘‘deceased 
individuals.’’ and inserting ‘‘such Commissioner pur-
suant to such contract, except that such contract 
may provide that such information is only to be used 
by the Social Security Administration (or any other 
Federal agency) for purposes authorized in the So-
cial Security Act or this title.’’. 
(c) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS
ON
ALTERNATIVE 
SOURCES OF DEATH DATA.— 
(1) REQUIREMENTS.—The Director of the Of-
fice of Management and Budget shall conduct a re-
view of potential alternative sources of death data 
maintained by the non-Federal sources, including 
sources maintained by State agencies or associations 
of State agencies, for use by Federal agencies and 
programs. The review shall include analyses of— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
(A) the accuracy and completeness of such 
data; 
(B) interoperability of such data; 
(C) the extent to which there is efficient 
accessibility of such data by Federal agencies; 
(D) the cost to Federal agencies of access-
ing and maintaining such data; 
(E) the security of such data; 
(F) the reliability of such data; and 
(G) a comparison of the potential alternate 
sources of death data to the death data distrib-
uted by the Commissioner of Social Security. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget shall submit a re-
port to Congress on the results of the review and 
analyses required under paragraph (1). The report 
shall include a recommendation by the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget regarding 
whether to extend the agency access to death data 
distributed by the Commissioner of Social Security 
provided under the amendments made by subsection 
(a)(1) beyond the date on which such amendments 
are to be repealed under subsection (a)(2). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE USE OF DATA BY GOVERNMENT 
AGENCIES TO CURB IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 
The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery 
Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 8. IMPROVING THE USE OF DEATH DATA BY GOVERN-
MENT AGENCIES. 
‘‘(a) GUIDANCE BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT 
AND BUDGET.— 
‘‘(1) GUIDANCE TO AGENCIES.—Not later than 
6 months after the date of enactment of this section, 
and in consultation with the Council of Inspectors 
General on Integrity and Efficiency and the heads of 
other relevant Federal, State, and local agencies, 
and Indian tribes and tribal organizations, the Di-
rector of the Office of Management and Budget 
shall issue guidance for each agency or component 
of an agency that operates or maintains a database 
of information relating to beneficiaries, annuity re-
cipients, or any purpose described in section 
205(r)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
405(r)(3)(B)) for which improved data matching 
with databases relating to the death of an individual 
(in this section referred to as ‘death databases’) 
would be relevant and necessary regarding imple-
mentation of this section to provide such agencies or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
components access to the death databases no later 
than 6 months after such date of enactment. 
‘‘(2) PLAN
TO
ASSIST
STATES
AND
LOCAL 
AGENCIES AND INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANI-
ZATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this section, the Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget shall develop a plan to 
assist States and local agencies, and Indian tribes 
and tribal organizations, in providing electronically 
to the Federal Government records relating to the 
death of individuals, which may include rec-
ommendations to Congress for any statutory 
changes or financial assistance to States and local 
agencies and Indian tribes and tribal organizations 
that are necessary to ensure States and local agen-
cies and Indian tribes and tribal organizations can 
provide such records electronically. The plan may in-
clude recommendations for the authorization of ap-
propriations or other funding to carry out the plan. 
‘‘(b) REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS
ON
IMPROVING 
DATA
MATCHING
REGARDING
PAYMENTS
TO
DE-
CEASED
INDIVIDUALS.—Not later than 270 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Di-
rector of the Office of Management and Budget, in 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal 
agencies, and in consultation with States and local 
agencies, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, shall 
submit to Congress a plan to improve how States 
and local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal orga-
nizations that provide benefits under a federally 
funded program will improve data matching with the 
Federal Government with respect to the death of in-
dividuals who are recipients of such benefits. 
‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this section, and for 
each of the 4 succeeding years, the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget shall submit to 
Congress a report regarding the implementation of 
this section. The first report submitted under this 
paragraph shall include the recommendations of the 
Director required under subsection (a)(2). 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘In-
dian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ have the meanings 
given those terms in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-
mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
450b).’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Feb 06, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4929.IH
H4929
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS