Sponsors (6)
Requires Social Security to share death data with the federal Do Not Pay system, raises proof needed to record deaths, and mandates correction notifications and cost-sharing agreements with states.
The bill improves federal detection and recovery of improper payments and clarifies state cost sharing and agency notifications, at the cost of broader death‑record data sharing that raises privacy risks and can temporarily harm wrongly flagged beneficiaries while imposing modest state burdens.
Taxpayers and federal programs: sharing Social Security death data with the Do Not Pay system helps detect and recover improper federal payments, reducing waste and lowering taxpayer costs.
People wrongly recorded as deceased and beneficiaries: agencies are required to be notified when someone was incorrectly identified as deceased, enabling faster correction of benefits and records and reducing disruption for affected individuals.
State governments: establishes an explicit, reviewable cost‑share agreement and methodology for states that provide death data, making cost allocation more predictable and transparent.
Seniors, people with disabilities, and other beneficiaries: incorrect death recordings could still occur and temporarily block benefits or services until corrected, causing serious short‑term harm.
Individuals whose death data is shared: expanding data sharing with Do Not Pay increases the risk of privacy breaches or misuse of personal information.
State governments: providing and periodically reviewing death data may impose additional administrative and financial burdens on states despite a required cost‑share approach.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Social Security Commissioner, when feasible, to share Social Security records about deaths with the federal Do Not Pay working system so agencies can prevent or recover improper payments, subject to safeguards and an interagency agreement on cost-sharing for state death data. It also raises the evidentiary standard before recording a death in shared records and requires prompt correction notifications when someone is wrongly identified as deceased. The changes amend existing law to add stronger verification rules, set cost-sharing/agreements for state death data, expand agency notification duties for erroneous death matches, and take effect December 27, 2026.
Official title: Improve coordination between Federal and State agencies and the Do Not Pay working system.
Introduced January 28, 2025 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress February 10, 2026