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 guidance for federal agencies that collect death data, and the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Health and Human Services shall jointly develop a plan to assist and states, local agencies, and Indian tribes in providing the data.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2543 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2543

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

                              May 7, 2019

 Mrs. Bustos (for herself, Mr. Gianforte, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Meadows, Ms. 
  Kuster of New Hampshire, Mr. Gallagher, Miss Rice of New York, Mr. 
Cisneros, and Mr. Krishnamoorthi) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 
  Committee on Oversight and Reform, 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, 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) In the case of individuals with respect to whom federally 
funded benefits are provided by (or through) a Federal or State agency, 
the Commissioner of Social Security shall, to the extent feasible, 
provide such information through a cooperative arrangement with such 
agency for ensuring proper payment of those benefits with respect to 
such individuals if--
            ``(i) under such arrangement the agency agrees to such 
        safeguards as the Commissioner determines are necessary or 
        appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized use or 
        disclosure;
            ``(ii) under such arrangement the agency 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
            ``(iii) 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), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (A) are met:
            ``(i) Under such arrangement, the agency operating the Do 
        Not Pay working system established under section 5 of the 
        Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 
        2012 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) The tax administration duties of the agency.
            ``(iii) Oversight activities of the Inspector General of an 
        agency that is provided information regarding all deceased 
        individuals pursuant to this subsection.
            ``(iv) Civil or criminal enforcement activities that are 
        authorized by law.
    ``(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 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), (ii), and (iii) 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 for statistical 
purposes and research activities by Federal and State agencies 
(including research activities conducted under a contract or a 
cooperative arrangement (as such terms are defined for purposes of 
sections 6303 and 6305, respectively, of title 31, United States Code) 
with such an agency) if the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of 
paragraph (3)(A) are met.''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking 
                ``subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3)'' and 
                inserting ``clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) 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. 405(r)) so amended are restored and 
        revived as if such amendments had not been enacted.
    (b) Amendments to Internal Revenue Code.--
            (1) In general.--Section 6103(d)(4) of the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986 is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by striking 
                ``Secretary of Health and Human Services'' each place 
                it appears and inserting ``Commissioner of Social 
                Security''; and
                    (B) 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.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Report to Congress on Alternative Sources of Death Data.--
            (1) Requirements.--The Commissioner of Social Security, in 
        coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, 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 1 year 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 1 year 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 Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        jointly 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 1 
        year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 
        of the Treasury, 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 Secretary of the Treasury 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 Secretary 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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