New US Social Security chief contradicts claims that millions of dead people getting payouts

Washington, Feb 20 (AP) The new head of the Social Security Administration said on Wednesday that deceased centenarians are "not necessarily receiving benefits", contradicting claims that tens of millions of dead people over the age of 100 are getting payments from the agency.

Lee Dudek, the new acting SSA commissioner who was placed in the role by President Donald Trump, gave the clarification after Trump and billionaire advisor Elon Musk falsely claimed on social media and in press briefings that people who are 100, 200 and even 300 years old are improperly and routinely getting benefits.

While it is true that improper payments have been made, including some to dead people, the numbers thrown out by Trump and Musk are overstated and misrepresent Social Security data.

* What has the Trump administration said about payments to centenarians? On Tuesday, Trump said at a press briefing in Florida that "we have millions and millions of people over 100 years old" receiving Social Security benefits. "They're obviously fraudulent or incompetent." "If you take all of those millions of people off Social Security, all of a sudden we have a very powerful Social Security with people that are 80 and 70 and 90, but not 200 years old," he said. He also said that there's one person in the system listed as 360 years old.

Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is seeking to root out fraud, waste and abuse, issued a slew of posts on his social media platform X on Monday night, including, "Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security".

* So are tens of millions of people over 100 years old receiving benefits? No.

Part of the confusion comes from Social Security's software system based on the COBOL programming language, which has a lack of date type. This means that some entries with missing or incomplete birthdates will default to a reference point of more than 150 years ago. The news organisation WIRED first reported on the use of COBOL programming language at the Social Security Administration.

Additionally, a series of reports from the Social Security Administration's inspector general in March 2023 and July 2024 state that the agency has not established a new system to properly annotate death information in its database, which included roughly 18.9 million Social Security numbers of people born in 1920 or earlier but were not marked as deceased. This does not mean, however, that these individuals were receiving benefits.

The agency decided not to update the database because of the cost to do so, which would run upward of USD 9 million.

A July 2023 Social Security OIG report states that "almost none of the numberholders discussed in the report currently receive SSA payments". And, as of September 2015, the agency automatically stops payments to people who are older than 115 years old.

* What does the acting Social Security commissioner say about that? Dudek, who was named acting chief of the Social Security Administration after the resignation of Michelle King, issued a news release on Wednesday reiterating the agency's commitment to transparency. The last lines of the note acknowledged recent reporting about people older than 100 receiving benefits from the agency.

He seemed to confirm that confusion had arisen because of the default settings on the database.

"I am confident that with DOGE's help and the commitment of our executive team and workforce, that Social Security will continue to deliver for the American people," Dudek said.

* How big of a problem is Social Security fraud? A July 2024 report from Social Security's inspector general states that from fiscal years 2015 through 2022, the agency paid out almost USD 8.6 trillion in benefits, including USD 71.8 billion -- or less than 1 per cent -- in improper payments. Most of the erroneous payments were overpayments to living people.

In addition, in early January, the Treasury clawed back more than USD 31 million in a variety of federal payments -- not just Social Security payments -- that improperly went to dead people.

Treasury estimated in January that it would recover more than USD 215 million during its three-year access period, which runs from December 2023 through 2026.

* What are some of the concerns about misinformation on Social Security payments? Chuck Blahous, a senior research strategist at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, said, "Two cheers for Elon Musk if he can root out and put a stop to improper payments." Sita Nataraj Slavov, a professor of public policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, said the claims by Musk and Trump will make people think the solutions to the government's financial problems are simpler than they appear.

* What does the White House say about the criticism? Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokesperson, referred back to the Social Security's inspector general report.

"A previous investigation revealed the SSA paid at least USD 71.8 billion in improper payments," she said. "The Social Security Administration is now working to find even more waste, fraud, and abuse in the Administration's whole-of-government effort to protect American taxpayers." (AP) SZM

Source: PTI