Title: Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
This bill requires the Social Security Administration (SSA) to pay to states their reasonable costs for compiling and sharing records of deaths with the SSA. Under current law, the SSA is not required to pay the states but may choose to do so.
The SSA may share the death data with federal and state agencies for various purposes. Such purposes include ensuring proper payments of benefits and tax administration duties.
The Office of Management and Budget shall develop a plan to help federal and state agencies and Indian tribes use the death data.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2374 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2374

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, and 
  Mr. Warner) 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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''.

SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FURNISHED 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 maintained by the Commissioner under this 
subsection in accordance with subparagraph (B), subject to such 
safeguards 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 administering a Federal program for such benefits, 
including the agency operating the Do Not Pay working system for 
ensuring proper payment of those benefits, through a cooperative 
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 (including, if 
        applicable, the agency's Inspector General) 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 furnished 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 regarding all deceased 
individuals furnished to or maintained 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 Elimination and Recovery 
        Improvement Act of 2012. Under such arrangement, the agency 
        operating the working system may compare death information 
        disclosed by the Commissioner with personally identifiable 
        information reviewed through the working system, and may 
        redisclose such comparison of information, as appropriate, to 
        any Federal or State agency authorized to use the working 
        system.
            ``(ii) To ensure proper payments under a Federal program or 
        the proper payment of federally funded benefits, including for 
        purposes of payment certification, payment disbursement, and 
        the prevention, identification, or recoupment of improper 
        payments.
            ``(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 Commissioner of 
Social Security for the reasonable cost of carrying out a cooperative 
arrangement described in subparagraph (A) between the Commissioner of 
Social Security and an agency, the Commissioner shall--
            ``(i) establish a defined calculation method for purposes 
        of calculating the reasonable cost of carrying out the 
        arrangement that does not take into account any services, 
        information, or unrelated payments provided by the agency to 
        the Commissioner; and
            ``(ii) reimbursement payments shall be accounted for and 
        recorded separately from other transactions.
    ``(4) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter into similar 
arrangements with States to provide information 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 deceased individuals furnished to 
or maintained by the Commissioner under this subsection, subject to 
such safeguards as the Commissioner of Social Security determines are 
necessary or appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized 
use or disclosure, for statistical purposes and research activities by 
Federal and State agencies 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 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 605(r)) so amended are restored and 
        revived as if such amendments had not been enacted.
    (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 Social Security''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``such Secretary'' 
        and all that follows through ``deceased individuals.'' and 
        inserting ``such Commissioner pursuant 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 Social Security 
        Act or this title.''.
    (c) Report to Congress on Alternative Sources of Death Data.--
            (1) Requirements.--The Director of the Office of Management 
        and Budget shall conduct a review 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--
                    (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 accessing 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 distributed 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 report 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).

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 GOVERNMENT 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 
        Director 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 recipients, 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 implementation of this section to provide 
        such agencies or 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 organizations.--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 recommendations 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 agencies and Indian tribes and 
        tribal organizations can provide such records electronically. 
        The plan may include recommendations for the authorization of 
        appropriations or other funding to carry out the plan.
    ``(b) Reports.--
            ``(1) Report to congress on improving data matching 
        regarding payments to deceased individuals.--Not later than 270 
        days after the date of enactment of this section, the Director 
        of the Office of Management and Budget, in 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 organizations that provide benefits under a federally 
        funded program will improve data matching with the Federal 
        Government with respect to the death of individuals 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 `Indian tribe' and 
`tribal organization' have the meanings given those terms in section 4 
of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
U.S.C. 450b).''.

SEC. 4. PLAN FOR ENSURING THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF DEATH DATA 
              MAINTAINED AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY 
              ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit to 
Congress a plan, which shall include an estimate of the cost of 
implementing the policies and procedures described in such plan, to 
improve the accuracy and completeness of the death data (including, 
where feasible and cost-effective, data regarding individuals who are 
not eligible for or receiving benefits under titles II or XVI of the 
Social Security Act) maintained and distributed by the Social Security 
Administration.
    (b) Content of Plan.--In developing the plan required under 
subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social Security shall consider 
whether to include the following elements:
            (1) Procedures for--
                    (A) identifying individuals who are extremely 
                elderly, as determined by the Commissioner, but for 
                whom no record of death exists in the records of the 
                Social Security Administration;
                    (B) verifying the information contained in the 
                records of the Social Security Administration with 
                respect to individuals described in subparagraph (A) 
                and correcting any inaccuracies; and
                    (C) where appropriate, disclosing corrections made 
                to the records of the Social Security Administration.
            (2) Improved policies and procedures for identifying and 
        correcting erroneous death records, including policies and 
        procedures for--
                    (A) identifying individuals listed as dead who are 
                actually alive;
                    (B) identifying individuals listed as alive who are 
                actually dead; and
                    (C) allowing individuals or survivors of deceased 
                individuals to notify the Social Security 
                Administration of potential errors.
            (3) Improved policies and procedures to identify and 
        correct discrepancies in the records of the Social Security 
        Administration, including social security number records.
            (4) A process for employing statistical analysis of the 
        death data maintained and distributed by the Social Security 
        Administration to determine an estimate of the number of 
        erroneous records.
            (5) Recommendations for legislation, as necessary.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON INFORMATION SECURITY.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit a report to the 
Committees on Ways and Means, Oversight and Government Reform, and 
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the Committees 
on Finance and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
that--
            (1) identifies all information systems of the Social 
        Security Administration containing sensitive information; and
            (2) describes the measures the Commissioner is taking to 
        secure and protect such information systems.
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