The Social Security Administration pushed back on claims by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk that it was paying benefits to tens of millions of dead people and said Sunday that less than one-third of 1% of death claims are false.
The agency, whose most sensitive data is being reviewed by Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, said that it receives reports of more than 3 million deaths each year and its records are “highly accurate.” The SSA oversees the Social Security benefits for more than 68 million people.
“Of these millions of death reports received each year, less than one-third of 1% are erroneously reported deaths that need to be corrected,” the agency said in a press statement.
The agency’s statement comes after Trump and Musk have said that dead people are still in the Social Security database and receiving Social Security benefits.
“Money is being paid to many of them, and we’re searching right now,” Trump said in a recent speech to Congress. Musk, meanwhile, has called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and promised to wipe out fraud at the agency.
According to a report by Fortune, “DOGE,” as Musk labeled the newly constituted entity, now has 10 staffers in place at SSA to look for evidence to support its claim that there could be millions of dead people receiving public benefits.
The Social Security Administration said deaths are reported to the agency primarily via the states, as well as sources such as family members, funeral homes, federal agencies and financial institutions.
“SSA receives most death reports from funeral homes or friends/relatives of the deceased. SSA considers such first-party death reports to be verified and immediately posts them to the Death Master File,” according to a 2008 audit report by the Office of the Inspector General.
“Instances when a person is erroneously reported as deceased to Social Security can be [devastating] to the individual, spouse and dependent children. Benefits are stopped in the short term, which can cause financial hardship until fixed and benefits restored, and the process to prove an erroneous death will always seem too long and challenging,” according to the agency.
The agency said that if a person suspects that they have been incorrectly listed as deceased on their Social Security record, they should contact their local Social Security office as soon as possible. They can locate their nearest Social Security office at ssa.gov/agency/contact and bring at least one piece of current, original form of identification.
Social Security said it takes immediate action to correct its records and the agency can provide a letter that the error has been corrected that can be shared with other organizations, agencies and employers.
The Social Security Administration previously said it does not pay out benefits to people who are 115 years or older, a policy made effective in September 2015. It also said that instances in which a birth or death date is missing in the records does not mean the person is receiving benefits.
Social Security last month announced a massive restructuring, saying it would cut about 7,000 jobs, or about 12% of its workforce, and reduce its regional offices to four from 10.
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