Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
Sponsored By: Representative Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3]
In Committee
Summary
The bill directs the Social Security Administration to share death records with the federal Do Not Pay system to prevent improper payments to deceased people and support recovery of overpayments.
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- Families and beneficiaries: Living people wrongly flagged as deceased get stronger protection because the SSA may not record a death for shared records unless there is clear and convincing evidence.
- Federal payments and recovery: The Do Not Pay system may use Social Security death data for authorized checks to stop improper benefit payments and help recover overpayments.
- States: State death-data providers will share costs proportionally under a formal agreement that sets the data methodology and can be reviewed periodically.
- Agencies and timing: Agencies with cooperative arrangements must be notified of errors about individuals identified as deceased and the changes take effect on December 27, 2026.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Changes to Social Security death records
This bill would require the Social Security Administration to share death records it receives with the federal Do Not Pay system to help stop wrong payments and recover overpayments. The SSA and the Do Not Pay agency would sign an agreement about how data are shared and how states split data costs. The SSA would not mark someone as dead in these records unless there is clear and convincing evidence. The SSA would also notify agencies with data-sharing agreements when it finds a death-record error. These rules would take effect on December 27, 2026.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3]
LA • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Meuser, Daniel [R-PA-9]
PA • R
Sponsored 12/9/2025
Rep. Miller-Meeks, Mariannette [R-IA-1]
IA • R
Sponsored 12/16/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov