Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act

116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4104 AN ACT 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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 † S 4104 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Improper 2 Payments to Deceased People Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FUR- 4 NISHED TO OR MAINTAINED BY THE SOCIAL 5 SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(r) of the Social 8 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended— 9 (A) in paragraph (2)— 10 (i) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘shall’’; and 12 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and to ensure the 13 completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of,’’ 14 after ‘‘transmitting’’; 15 (B) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), and 16 (5) and inserting the following: 17 ‘‘(3)(A) In the case of individuals with respect to 18 whom federally funded benefits are provided by (or 19 through) a Federal or State agency, the Commissioner of 20 Social Security shall, to the extent feasible, provide such 21 information through a cooperative arrangement with such 22 agency for ensuring proper payment of those benefits with 23 respect to such individuals if— 24 ‘‘(i) under such arrangement the agency agrees 25 to such safeguards as the Commissioner determines 26 3 † S 4104 ES are necessary or appropriate to protect the informa- 1 tion from unauthorized use or disclosure; 2 ‘‘(ii) under such arrangement the agency pro- 3 vides reimbursement to the Commissioner of Social 4 Security for the reasonable cost of carrying out such 5 arrangement, including the reasonable costs associ- 6 ated with the collection and maintenance of informa- 7 tion regarding deceased individuals furnished to the 8 Commissioner pursuant to paragraph (1); and 9 ‘‘(iii) such arrangement does not conflict with 10 the duties of the Commissioner of Social Security 11 under paragraph (1). 12 ‘‘(B) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to 13 the extent feasible, provide for the use of information re- 14 garding all deceased individuals furnished to or main- 15 tained by the Commissioner under this subsection, 16 through a cooperative arrangement in order for a Federal 17 agency to carry out any of the following purposes, if the 18 requirements of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph 19 (A) are met: 20 ‘‘(i) Under such arrangement, the agency oper- 21 ating the Do Not Pay working system established 22 under section 5 of the Improper Payments Elimi- 23 nation and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 may 24 compare death information disclosed by the Commis- 25 4 † S 4104 ES sioner with personally identifiable information re- 1 viewed through the working system, and may redis- 2 close such comparison of information, as appro- 3 priate, to any Federal or State agency authorized to 4 use the working system. 5 ‘‘(ii) The tax administration duties of the agen- 6 cy. 7 ‘‘(iii) Oversight activities of the Inspector Gen- 8 eral of an agency that is provided information re- 9 garding all deceased individuals pursuant to this 10 subsection. 11 ‘‘(iv) Civil or criminal enforcement activities 12 that are authorized by law. 13 ‘‘(C) With respect to the reimbursement to the Com- 14 missioner of Social Security for the reasonable cost of car- 15 rying out a cooperative arrangement described in subpara- 16 graph (A) between the Commissioner of Social Security 17 and an agency, the Commissioner shall— 18 ‘‘(i) establish a defined calculation method for 19 purposes of calculating the reasonable cost of car- 20 rying out the arrangement that does not take into 21 account any services, information, or unrelated pay- 22 ments provided by the agency to the Commissioner; 23 and 24 5 † S 4104 ES ‘‘(ii) reimbursement payments shall be ac- 1 counted for and recorded separately from other 2 transactions. 3 ‘‘(4) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter 4 into similar arrangements with States to provide informa- 5 tion regarding all deceased individuals furnished to or 6 maintained by the Commissioner under this subsection for 7 use by States in programs wholly funded by the States, 8 or for use in the administration of a benefit pension plan 9 or retirement system for employees of a State or a political 10 subdivision thereof, if the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), 11 and (iii) of paragraph (3)(A) are met. For purposes of 12 this paragraph, the terms retirement system and political 13 subdivision have the meanings given such terms in section 14 218(b). 15 ‘‘(5) The Commissioner of Social Security may use 16 or provide for the use of information regarding all de- 17 ceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Com- 18 missioner under this subsection for statistical purposes 19 and research activities by Federal and State agencies (in- 20 cluding research activities conducted under a contract or 21 a cooperative arrangement (as such terms are defined for 22 purposes of sections 6303 and 6305, respectively, of title 23 31, United States Code) with such an agency) if the re- 24 6 † S 4104 ES quirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (3)(A) are 1 met.’’; and 2 (C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking 3 ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3)’’ 4 and inserting ‘‘clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of para- 5 graph (3)(A)’’. 6 (2) REPEAL.—Effective on the date that is 5 7 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 8 amendments made by this subsection to paragraphs 9 (3), (4), (5), and (8) of section 205(r) of the Social 10 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) are repealed, and 11 the provisions of section 205(r) of the Social Secu- 12 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) so amended are restored 13 and revived as if such amendments had not been en- 14 acted. 15 (b) AMENDMENTS TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(d)(4) of the 17 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 18 (A) in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by 19 striking ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 20 ices’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Com- 21 missioner of Social Security’’; and 22 (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 23 ‘‘such Secretary’’ and all that follows through 24 ‘‘deceased individuals.’’ and inserting ‘‘such 25 7 † S 4104 ES Commissioner pursuant to such contract, except 1 that such contract may provide that such infor- 2 mation is only to be used by the Social Security 3 Administration (or any other Federal agency) 4 for purposes authorized in the Social Security 5 Act or this title.’’. 6 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 7 by this subsection take effect 180 days after the 8 date of enactment of this Act. 9 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ALTERNATIVE 10 SOURCES OF DEATH DATA.— 11 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commissioner of So- 12 cial Security, in coordination with the Secretary of 13 the Treasury, shall conduct a review of potential al- 14 ternative sources of death data maintained by the 15 non-Federal sources, including sources maintained 16 by State agencies or associations of State agencies, 17 for use by Federal agencies and programs. The re- 18 view shall include analyses of— 19 (A) the accuracy and completeness of such 20 data; 21 (B) interoperability of such data; 22 (C) the extent to which there is efficient 23 accessibility of such data by Federal agencies; 24 8 † S 4104 ES (D) the cost to Federal agencies of access- 1 ing and maintaining such data; 2 (E) the security of such data; 3 (F) the reliability of such data; and 4 (G) a comparison of the potential alternate 5 sources of death data to the death data distrib- 6 uted by the Commissioner of Social Security. 7 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 9 Office of Management and Budget shall submit a re- 10 port to Congress on the results of the review and 11 analyses required under paragraph (1). The report 12 shall include a recommendation by the Director of 13 the Office of Management and Budget regarding 14 whether to extend the agency access to death data 15 distributed by the Commissioner of Social Security 16 provided under the amendments made by subsection 17 (a)(1) beyond the date on which such amendments 18 are to be repealed under subsection (a)(2). 19 SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE USE OF DATA BY GOVERNMENT 20 AGENCIES TO CURB IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 21 The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery 22 Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is 23 amended by adding at the end the following: 24 9 † S 4104 ES ‘‘SEC. 8. IMPROVING THE USE OF DEATH DATA BY GOVERN- 1 MENT AGENCIES. 2 ‘‘(a) GUIDANCE BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT 3 AND BUDGET.— 4 ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE TO AGENCIES.—Not later than 5 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, 6 and in consultation with the Council of Inspectors 7 General on Integrity and Efficiency and the heads of 8 other relevant Federal, State, and local agencies, 9 and Indian tribes and tribal organizations, the Di- 10 rector of the Office of Management and Budget 11 shall issue guidance for each agency or component 12 of an agency that operates or maintains a database 13 of information relating to beneficiaries, annuity re- 14 cipients, or any purpose described in section 15 205(r)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 16 405(r)(3)(B)) for which improved data matching 17 with databases relating to the death of an individual 18 (in this section referred to as death databases) 19 would be relevant and necessary regarding imple- 20 mentation of this section to provide such agencies or 21 components access to the death databases no later 22 than 1 year after such date of enactment. 23 ‘‘(2) PLAN TO ASSIST STATES AND LOCAL 24 AGENCIES AND INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANI- 25 ZATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 26 10 † S 4104 ES enactment of this section, the Secretary of Health 1 and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treas- 2 ury shall jointly develop a plan to assist States and 3 local agencies, and Indian tribes and tribal organiza- 4 tions, in providing electronically to the Federal Gov- 5 ernment records relating to the death of individuals, 6 which may include recommendations to Congress for 7 any statutory changes or financial assistance to 8 States and local agencies and Indian tribes and trib- 9 al organizations that are necessary to ensure States 10 and local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal orga- 11 nizations can provide such records electronically. 12 The plan may include recommendations for the au- 13 thorization of appropriations or other funding to 14 carry out the plan. 15 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.— 16 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPROVING 17 DATA MATCHING REGARDING PAYMENTS TO DE- 18 CEASED INDIVIDUALS.—Not later than 1 year after 19 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 20 of the Treasury, in consultation with the heads of 21 other relevant Federal agencies, and in consultation 22 with States and local agencies, Indian tribes and 23 tribal organizations, shall submit to Congress a plan 24 to improve how States and local agencies and Indian 25 11 † S 4104 ES tribes and tribal organizations that provide benefits 1 under a federally funded program will improve data 2 matching with the Federal Government with respect 3 to the death of individuals who are recipients of such 4 benefits. 5 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 6 after the date of enactment of this section, and for 7 each of the 4 succeeding years, the Secretary of the 8 Treasury shall submit to Congress a report regard- 9 ing the implementation of this section. The first re- 10 port submitted under this paragraph shall include 11 the recommendations of the Secretary required 12 under subsection (a)(2). 13 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms Indian 14 tribe and tribal organization have the meanings given 15 those terms in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 16 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).’’. 17 SEC. 4. PLAN FOR ENSURING THE ACCURACY AND COM- 18 PLETENESS OF DEATH DATA MAINTAINED 19 AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY 20 ADMINISTRATION. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 22 date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social 23 Security shall submit to Congress a plan, which shall in- 24 clude an estimate of the cost of implementing the policies 25 12 † S 4104 ES and procedures described in such plan, to improve the ac- 1 curacy and completeness of the death data (including, 2 where feasible and cost-effective, data regarding individ- 3 uals who are not eligible for or receiving benefits under 4 titles II or XVI of the Social Security Act) maintained 5 and distributed by the Social Security Administration. 6 (b) CONTENT OF PLAN.—In developing the plan re- 7 quired under subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social 8 Security shall consider whether to include the following 9 elements: 10 (1) Procedures for— 11 (A) identifying individuals who are ex- 12 tremely elderly, as determined by the Commis- 13 sioner, but for whom no record of death exists 14 in the records of the Social Security Adminis- 15 tration; 16 (B) verifying the information contained in 17 the records of the Social Security Administra- 18 tion with respect to individuals described in 19 subparagraph (A) and correcting any inaccura- 20 cies; and 21 (C) where appropriate, disclosing correc- 22 tions made to the records of the Social Security 23 Administration. 24 13 † S 4104 ES (2) Improved policies and procedures for identi- 1 fying and correcting erroneous death records, includ- 2 ing policies and procedures for— 3 (A) identifying individuals listed as dead 4 who are actually alive; 5 (B) identifying individuals listed as alive 6 who are actually dead; and 7 (C) allowing individuals or survivors of de- 8 ceased individuals to notify the Social Security 9 Administration of potential errors. 10 (3) Improved policies and procedures to identify 11 and correct discrepancies in the records of the Social 12 Security Administration, including social security 13 number records. 14 (4) A process for employing statistical analysis 15 of the death data maintained and distributed by the 16 Social Security Administration to determine an esti- 17 mate of the number of erroneous records. 18 (5) Recommendations for legislation, as nec- 19 essary. 20 SEC. 5. REPORT ON INFORMATION SECURITY. 21 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 22 ment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security 23 shall submit a report to the Committees on Ways and 24 Means, Oversight and Reform, and Homeland Security [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]