The Social Security Administration’s Death Data: In Brief

December 15, 2020 – January 11, 2021 R46640

The Social Security Administration’s Death
Data: In Brief
Updated January 11, 2021
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
R46640

The Social Security Administration’s Death Data: In Brief

Introduction
The Social Security Administration (SSA) acquires and maintains death data to administer the
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs, including preventing the
improper payment of benefits to deceased individuals and identifying individuals who are
potential y eligible for survivor benefits. SSA collects death data from sources such as state vital
statistics bureaus, funeral home directors, family members, and financial institutions and adds
about 2.9 mil ion new death reports to its records each year. These records prevent over $50
mil ion in Social Security and SSI improper payments each month.1
SSA, under authority granted and limitations imposed by the Social Security Act, shares its death
information with qualifying federal and state agencies for particular programmatic purposes and
with certain external parties for research and statistical purposes. SSA also provides a limited
extract of its death data, referred to as the Death Master File (DMF), to the Department of
Commerce’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS), which in turn distributes it to
authorized users. The DMF contains only those death records obtained from non-state sources.
Until the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), on December
27, 2020, SSA did not have legal authority to share its full file of death information (which
includes state-reported deaths) with the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay (DNP) portal, a
centralized hub that would permit access by numerous federal agencies. However, the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, includes a requirement for SSA to share its full file of
death information (including state-reported death data) with DNP for a period of three years
beginning three years after enactment and also provides for recipient agencies (including DNP) to
fully reimburse SSA for the cost of both obtaining and sharing death data.
Recently, the Treasury Department’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Bureau of the Fiscal
Service (BFS) used SSA’s death data to prevent payment of economic impact payments (EIPs,
also known as “recovery rebates” or “stimulus payments”) to deceased individuals under the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act, P.L. 116-136). IRS had
initial y determined that the payment of EIPs to deceased individuals was not prohibited, because
the CARES Act was silent on the issue. After consulting with counsel, the Treasury Department
and the IRS determined that individuals who were deceased as of the date the payment was made
were not entitled to EIPs. Subsequently, the BFS stopped issuing EIPs to deceased individuals
and cancel ed outstanding checks issued to deceased individuals, and the IRS posted instructions
for the repayment of EIPs that were issued to deceased individuals. The Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), includes a second round of payments for which
individuals who died before January 1, 2020, are ineligible. The IRS indicates that, for eligible
individuals who died in 2020, the second round payment may be claimed as the Recovery Rebate
Credit on line 30 of their 2020 tax returns.2
Debate continues around the appropriate role of SSA within the federal government in collecting
and sharing death data. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), includes
additional requirements, one of which is for SSA to procure a study of the strengths and
limitations of options for distributing state-reported death data to federal agencies.
This report describes SSA’s death data, outlines SSA’s authority to share death data and
limitations on that authority, describes the use of SSA’s death data with respect to EIPs, and
highlights recent bil s around access to and sharing of death data within the federal government,

1 SSA, Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs (OLCA), Death Information, August 2020.
2 Internal Revenue Service (IRS), “ Questions and Answers About the Second Economic Impact Payment,” accessed
January 6, 2021, https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/second-eip-faqs.
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The Social Security Administration’s Death Data: In Brief

including the provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260). The report
closes with a discussion of different approaches for enhancing the collection, maintenance, and
sharing of death data among federal government agencies and outlines benefits, chal enges, and
issues for consideration.
Overview of SSA’s Death Data
SSA acquires death data from a variety of sources, including state vital statistics bureaus, funeral
home directors, family members, financial institutions, and other federal agencies.
State-Reported Data
Working through the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems
(NAPHSIS), SSA negotiates and maintains contracts with al states to obtain death data. The
central feature of these contracts is the Electronic Death Registration (EDR) system, which has
been adopted by vital records agencies in al but four states. (Connecticut, North Carolina, Rhode
Island, and West Virginia submit death reports to SSA outside the EDR system.3) SSA’s contracts
with the states stipulate a sliding payment scale to incentivize faster reporting. In 2018, SSA paid
$3.49 for EDR death reports received within six business days of the death.4 In 2016, SSA’s total
outlay for state-reported death data was nearly $5.7 mil ion.5
Using EDR, state vital records agencies first verify the decedent’s name and Social Security
number (SSN) against SSA’s records and then submit a verified electronic death record that is
automatical y posted to SSA’s Master Files of SSN Holders and SSN Applications, also known as
the Numident. Of the approximately 2.9 mil ion death reports added to the Numident in 2019, just
over 78% came from states through EDR.6 Death reports through EDR are timely and highly
accurate and are used across SSA’s systems to automatical y stop Social Security and SSI benefit
payments to deceased individuals.7 SSA receives over 70% of EDR death reports within six days
of the individual’s death, with over 95% of such reports reaching SSA within 30 days.8 According
to NAPHSIS and a 2017 audit report by SSA’s Office of the Inspector General
Effective use of an EDR system means that death certificates can be issued more quickly
for insurance claims and other benefit or property issues. It also helps ensure the accuracy
of the death record. The system checks automatically for many types of errors and prevents
unauthorized access or alterations to the information. Electronic systems also help public
health professionals analyze data to track outbreaks and trends that affect health.9

3 OLCA, Death Information. See also NAPHSIS, “Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS),”
https://www.naphsis.org/systems. State vital records agencies may submit death reports outside the EDR system as
well.
4 Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB), Social Security and the Death Master File, June 2019, p. 10,
https://www.ssab.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-DMF-v10-2019-06-17-Accessible.pdf.
5 SSAB, Social Security and the Death Master File, p. 11.
6 Email communication between the author and Eric Skidmore, Deputy Commissioner for Legislation and
Congressional Affairs, SSA, September 30, 2020.
7 For additional information about the EDR process and findings with respect to EDR reports that were rejected by
SSA, see SSA, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), SSA’s Rejection of State Electronic Death Registration Reports,
Audit Report A-08-18-50499, September 2020, https://oig.ssa.gov/sites/default/files/audit/full/pdf/A-08-18-50499.pdf.
8 OLCA, Death Information, August 2020.
9 NAPHSIS, “Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS);” SSA, OIG, State Use of Electronic Death Registration
Reporting, Audit Report A-09-15-50023, July 2017, p. A-1, https://oig.ssa.gov/sites/default/files/audit/full/pdf/A-09-
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The Social Security Administration’s Death Data: In Brief

In a March 2015 hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, an SSA official stated, “Universal implementation of EDR has the potential to virtual y
eliminate death reporting errors and would ensure that our death records—whether pertaining to
current beneficiaries or other persons—include the most accurate and most current
information.”10
Other Sources of Death Data
SSA also receives so-cal ed first-party and third-party death reports from non-EDR and non-state
sources. First-party reports come from close relatives and representative payees.11 Third-party
reports come from other federal agencies (e.g., Department of Veterans Affairs, Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services); state agencies other than vital records agencies (such as state
welfare offices); and other data exchanges, as wel as friends and neighbors. SSA may take action
to terminate Social Security and SSI benefits based on first-party reports without further
verification, whereas third-party reports must be verified before SSA terminates benefits.12 While
SSA records death information for nonbeneficiaries, it does not verify death information for
nonbeneficiaries, and it notes that SSA’s records are not a comprehensive record of al deaths in
the United States.13
Sharing Death Data by SSA
SSA shares its full file of death information with qualifying federal and state agencies for
particular programmatic purposes as permitted under Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act.
SSA also produces an extract of its death data, the DMF, which is distributed to qualifying,
authorized users through the Department of Commerce’s NTIS.
Full File of Death Information
Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act requires SSA to compensate states for furnishing death
records and provides limited legal authority for SSA to share state-reported death data.14 With the
enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), on December 27, 2020,
SSA is required to pay states a fee for the use of state death data plus a share of the costs to the
state for collecting, maintaining and transmitting death data and ensuring its completeness,

15-50023.pdf.
10 Statement of Sean Brune, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Commissioner, Office of Budget, Finance, Quality, and
Management, SSA, before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, March 16, 2015,
https://www.ssa.gov/legislation/testimony_031615.html. See also OLCA, Death Inform ation, August 2020.
11 SSA appoints a representative payee to receive benefits on behalf of a beneficiary who has been determined to be
unable to manage his or her own finances. For additional information about representative payees, see SSA, “ When
People Need Help Managing T heir Money—Representative Payee,” https://www.ssa.gov/payee/index.htm.
12 SSA, “Program Operations Manual System, GN 02602.050 Reports of Death ,” https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/
0202602050.
13 OLCA, Death Information, August 2020. See also U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Social Security
Death Data: Additional Action Needed to Address Data Errors and Federal Agency Access, GAO-14-46, November
2013, pp. 10-11 and Figure 2, https://www.gao.gov/assets/660/659289.pdf. In November 2020, over 69.8 million
individuals received benefits from Social Security, SSI, or both. SSA, “ Monthly Statistical Snapshot, November 2020,”
December 2020, T able 1, https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/index.html?qs.
14 42 U.S.C. §405(r).
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The Social Security Administration’s Death Data: In Brief

timeliness, and accuracy.15 To implement the new payment requirements, it appears that SSA wil
need to renegotiate the EDR contracts with the states.
Section 205(r) authorizes SSA to share state-reported death data (received from state vital records
agencies via EDR or outside the EDR system) for program administration purposes only with
federal-benefits-paying agencies and certain state agencies administering specified federal y
funded benefit programs, including state-funded state supplementary payment programs under the
SSI program. SSA may also share state-reported death data with federal and state agencies for
research and statistical purposes. Notably, until the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), Section 205(r) did not authorize SSA to share its state-reported death
data with the Treasury Department’s DNP portal. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,
includes a requirement for SSA to do so for a period of three years beginning three years after
enactment. SSA is authorized to use state-reported death data for certain verification purposes for
outside entities, including verification systems for employers and state driver’s license agencies.
Section 205(r) protects SSA’s state-reported death data from disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA).
SSA developed a formal request process for agencies wishing to gain access to death data.16
Agencies obtaining death data from SSA must reimburse SSA for the reasonable cost of providing
such information, which has been interpreted by SSA to cover only the cost of sharing the data,
not the cost of purchasing the data from the states. The enactment of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), requires recipient agencies (including DNP) to fully
reimburse SSA for the cost of both obtaining and sharing death data. The act requires
reimbursements to SSA to include the recipient agency’s share of SSA’s payments to the states to
obtain the data, the cost to SSA of establishing death data contracts with the states, and the cost to
SSA of carrying out a new study on options for obtaining and distributing death data (described
below). The act also requires the recipient agency to reimburse SSA for the full cost to SSA of
transmitting death data to the recipient agency.17
SSA has data sharing agreements to provide its full file of death information (including state-
reported deaths) to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the following federal-
benefit-paying agencies:
 Railroad Retirement Board,
 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,
 Department of Defense,
 Department of Veterans Affairs,
 Department of Agriculture,
 Department of Housing and Urban Development,
 Office of Personnel Management,
 Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board,
 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and

15 See also OLCA, “President Signs the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” Social Security Legislative Bulletin
No. 116-27, December 28, 2020, https://www.ssa.gov/legislation/legis_bulletin_122720.html.
16 SSA, “Requesting SSA’s Death Information,” https://www.ssa.gov/dataexchange/request_dmf.html.
17 See also OLCA, “President Signs the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.”
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The Social Security Administration’s Death Data: In Brief

 Internal Revenue Service.18
In addition, SSA announced that, beginning in FY2020, it would share its full file of death
information with the National Institutes of Health for research and statistical purposes as
authorized under Section 205(r)(5) of the Social Security Act.19 Given the new reimbursement
requirements in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), it appears that SSA
wil need to renegotiate the reimbursement structure of these data sharing agreements.
In its data exchange agreements, SSA informs recipients that the death data file is not a
comprehensive record of every death in the country, that SSA cannot confirm the veracity of the
death records in the file, and that recipients wil verify the death information before they use it for
business purposes (such as suspending or terminating benefits).20
Death Master File (DMF)
SSA created a version of its death data, the DMF, which contains only those death records
obtained from non-state sources (i.e., obtained from close relatives, representative payees, other
federal agencies, other state agencies such as state welfare offices, friends, and neighbors). This
information is not covered by the provisions of Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act and is
disclosable under FOIA, as deceased individuals general y do not have privacy rights.21
SSA contracts with NTIS to make the DMF available to the public. NTIS sel s a public version of
the DMF, which, in addition to excluding death data from state vital statistics bureaus, also
excludes records for individuals who died within the last three years.22 NTIS developed a
certification program to sel a limited-access version of the DMF. The limited-access DMF
includes the records of those who died within the last three years and is available only to entities
that have demonstrated a legitimate business need for the information.23 The limited-access DMF
is thus somewhat larger than the public DMF but stil considerably smal er than SSA’s full file of
death information. The limited-access DMF was created in response to concerns about fraud and
identity theft, which prompted Congress to exempt from FOIA information about individuals who
died in the last three calendar years.24
In June 2019, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) noted that SSA’s full file of death
information (including state-reported deaths and aggregated over time) contained more than 124
mil ion death records and that the limited-access DMF (excluding state-reported deaths and

18 OLCA, Death Information, August 2020. See also SSAB, Social Security and the Death Master File, June 2019, p.
12; and GAO, Social Security Death Data.
19 OLCA, Death Information, August 2020; 42 U.S.C. §405(r)(5).
20 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Examining Federal Improper
Paym ents and Errors in the Death Master File, 114th Cong., 1st sess., March 16, 2015 (Washington, DC: GPO, 2015),
p. 30; SSA, “Requesting SSA’s Death Information,” https://www.ssa.gov/dataexchange/request_dmf.html.
21 SSA, “Program Operations Manual System, GN 03315.010 Disclosing a Deceased Individual’s Information,”
January 6, 2017, https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0203315010. See also 20 C.F.R. §401.190 and statement
of Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner, SSA, before the House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Social
Security, February 2, 2012, https://www.ssa.gov/legislation/testimony_020212.html.
22 42 U.S.C. §1306c. NT IS, “Limited Access Death Master File Download,” https://dmf.ntis.gov/.
23 42 U.S.C. §1306c. NT IS, “Limited Access Death Master File,” https://classic.ntis.gov/products/ssa-dmf/#. See also
NT IS, Lim ited Access Death Master File Certification Program (Publication 100) , June 2016, https://classic.ntis.gov/
assets/pdf/NT IS-DMFsecurityGuidelinesv14.pdf.
24 OLCA, Death Information, August 2020; and Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014 (P.L. 113-67).
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aggregated over time) contained about 101 mil ion death records.25 Over time, the utility of the
DMF wil decline as growing use of EDR wil increase the gap in the number of records between
SSA’s full file of death information and the DMF.26
Recent Recommendations
In 2016, GAO recommended amending the Social Security Act to permit SSA to share its full file
of death information with the DNP portal.27 In 2019, the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB)
explicitly recommended that Congress shift responsibility for the collection of death data within
the federal government from SSA to the Treasury Department’s DNP portal.28 The SSAB further
recommended that during the transition from SSA to the Treasury Department, Congress
expressly authorize SSA to share its full file of death information (including state-reported death
data) with DNP and be appropriately reimbursed for its data collection costs. A FY2021 Trump
Administration legislative proposal would require SSA to share its full file of death information
(including state-reported deaths) with DNP for use in preventing improper payments.29 The
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), includes a requirement for SSA to do so
for a period of three years beginning three years after enactment and also provides for recipient
agencies (including DNP) to fully reimburse SSA for the cost of both obtaining and sharing death
data.
An Alternative Source of Death Information
NAPHSIS created the Electronic Verification of Vital Events (EVVE) Fact of Death (FOD)
system as an alternative to SSA death data.30 For a fee, organizations (including federal, state, and
local government agencies) can submit records to EVVE FOD to match directly against state vital
records databases to determine, in seconds, whether an individual is deceased and when and
where he or she died. Currently, 44 states and jurisdictions fully participate in EVVE FOD.31

25 T he public version of the DMF had fewer than 101 million death records because it also excludes records for
individuals who died within the last three years. CBO, S. 1333, Stopping Im proper Paym ents to Deceased People Act:
As ordered reported by the Senate Com m ittee on Ho m eland Security and Governm ental Affairs on May 15, 2019 , June
10, 2019, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/55355.
26 As the use of EDR grows over time, the share of new death reports that SSA records from state sources will increase.
Because the DMF is compiled from non-state sources, the growth in EDR use will result in fewer new death records
being posted to the DMF each year relative to the full file of death information, which includes death records from both
state and non-state sources. For more information, see GAO, Social Security Death Data, pp. 12 (footnote 25) and 22.
27 GAO, Improper Payments: Strategy and Additional Actions Needed to Help Ensure Agencies Use the Do Not Pay
Working System as Intended, GAO-17-15, October 2016, p. 26, https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/680464.pdf.
28 SSAB, Social Security and the Death Master File, June 2019, p. 15, https://www.ssab.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/
06/2019-DMF-v10-2019-06-17-Accessible.pdf.
29 SSA, FY 2021 Congressional Justification, p. 23, https://www.ssa.gov/budget/FY21Files/FY21-JEAC.pdf. As
outlined in SSA’s FY 2021 Congressional Justification, the proposal is silent as to whether the T reasury Department’s
BFS, as the agency responsible for the DNP portal, would be required to reimburse SSA for the cost of sharing its full
file of death information. T raditionally, SSA must be reimbursed for nonprogrammatic work such as sharing death
information.
30 NAPHSIS, “EVVE Fact of Death (FOD),” https://www.naphsis.org/evve.
31 NAPHSIS, “EVVE Fact of Death (FOD).”
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COVID-19 Direct Payments and Deceased
Individuals
Four major legislative packages that include payments to individuals to help al eviate the
economic effects of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been proposed or
enacted. Depending on the specific provisions of the legislation, SSA’s death information may be
needed to prevent sending payments to deceased individuals.
CARES Act (P.L. 116-136)
The CARES Act provides direct payments (referred to in the law as “2020 recovery rebates”) for
most individuals, structured as automatical y advanced tax credits disbursed by the Treasury
Department.32 The IRS refers to these payments issued in 2020 as economic impact payments, or
EIPs. Eligible individuals can receive EIPs of $1,200 per person ($2,400 for married joint filers),
reduced by $5 for every $100 of adjusted gross income (AGI) above $75,000 for individuals,
$112,500 for heads of households, and $150,000 for married joint filers. Eligible individuals can
also receive an additional $500 for each dependent child under 17 years old. Most individuals
received these payments via direct deposit, while others received them as checks by mail or
prepaid debit cards.
The CARES Act is silent as to whether EIPs can be issued to deceased individuals.33 The IRS
initial y determined that it did not have legal authority to deny an EIP to an individual who had
died at any time before the payment was issued.34 In addition, the IRS was mandated to deliver
the payments as rapidly as possible and administered them in a similar fashion to the 2008 direct
payments (when decedents received payments).35 Hence, although the IRS receives SSA’s full
file of death information (including state-reported deaths data) under a data exchange agreement
with SSA, the IRS and BFS initial y did not use SSA’s death data to prevent the payment of EIPs
to deceased individuals.36
Subsequently, the Treasury Department and the IRS, in consultation with counsel, determined that
individuals who are deceased as of the date the payments are to be made are not entitled to EIPs.37
The IRS and BFS then stopped issuing EIPs to deceased individuals, and the IRS updated its

32 CRS Insight IN11282, COVID-19 and Direct Payments to Individuals: Summary of the 2020 Recovery
Rebates/Econom ic Im pact Payments in the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136), by Margot L. Crandall-Hollick.
33 T estimony of Charles P. Rettig, Commissioner, IRS, in U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Finance, 2020 Filing
Season and IRS COVID-19 Recovery, 116th Cong., 2nd sess., June 30, 2020, https://www.finance.senate.gov/hearings/
2020-filing-season-and-irs-covid-19-recovery. See also IRS, “ Economic Impact Payment Information Center,” April
16, 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20200417074223/https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact -payment-
informat ion-center.
34 GAO, COVID-19: Opportunities to Improve Federal Response and Recovery Efforts, GAO-20-625, June 2020, p.
26, https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/707839.pdf.
35 T estimony of Charles P. Rettig, Commissioner, IRS, in U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Finance, 2020 Filing
Season and IRS COVID-19 Recovery, 116th Cong., 2nd sess., June 30, 2020, https://www.finance.senate.gov/hearings/
2020-filing-season-and-irs-covid-19-recovery. See also GAO, COVID-19: Opportunities to Im prove Federal Response
and Recovery Efforts, p. 26. For more information on the 2008 stimulus payments, see CRS Insight IN11255, COVID-
19 and Direct Paym ents to Individuals: How Did the 2008 Recovery Rebates Work? , by Margot L. Crandall-Hollick.
36 In its 2013 report, GAO explained that SSA’s stated reason for providing the f ull file of death information to the IRS
is “for purposes that include allowing IRS to confirm or deny taxpayers’ requests for exemptions and standard
deductions.” GAO, Social Security Death Data, p. 20.
37 GAO, COVID-19: Opportunities to Improve Federal Response and Recovery Efforts, p. 27.
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guidance to specify that deceased individuals are ineligible.38 As of May 21, 2020, the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration reported that $1.6 bil ion in EIPs were issued to over
1.1 mil ion deceased individuals.39 Information on the IRS’s website now states that EIPs issued
to deceased individuals should be returned to the IRS, and the BFS has cancel ed checks issued to
deceased individuals.40 A Treasury Department official reported that “the IRS has already
recovered about 70% of the $1.6 bil ion in improper payments to the deceased, and expects more
returned checks to turn up as the agency returns to full staffing at its processing facilities.”41
Some reports have indicated that the denial of payments to deceased individuals has resulted in
burdens for some living taxpayers. For example, certain married individuals with deceased
spouses have reported that their portions of the payment have been erroneously withheld.42 GAO
reported an IRS estimate that nearly 700,000 individuals may have had their EIPs stopped
because their spouses had died.43 By November 2020, the IRS had issued corrected EIPs to
approximately 649,000 such individuals.44
Heroes Act (H.R. 6800 and H.R. 925)
The House of Representative passed the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800) on May 15, 2020. The Heroes
Act would provide a second round of payments equal to $1,200 per person ($2,400 for married
joint filers), gradual y phased out with AGI above $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for heads of
households, and $150,000 for married joint filers, plus $1,200 for each dependent (up to three
dependents, including older children, students, and adult dependents).45 It would also modify
certain aspects of the EIPs provided under the CARES Act.46 Similar to the CARES Act, the

38 IRS, “Economic Impact Payment Information Center—Topic A: EIP Eligibility,” December 8, 2020,
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic-impact -payment-information-center-topic-a-eip-eligibility. T he T reasury
Department’s Agency Financial Report, Fiscal Year 2020 indicates that the DNP program “received temporary access
to SSA’s Full Death Master File (DMF) to support EIP payment screening for deceased individuals. T his allowed DNP
to assist IRS in stopping over $600 million in improper EIPs from being issued. Fiscal Service has requested legislative
authority to receive access to the full Death Master File for improper payment purposes along with other proposals to
further strengthen the Do Not Pay program.” U.S Department of the T reasury, Agency Financial Report, Fiscal Year
2020, December 2020, p. 234, https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/266/Treasury-FY-2020-AFR.pdf.
39 U.S. Department of the T reasury, T reasury Inspector General for T ax Administration, Interim Results of the 2020
Filing Season: Effect of COVID-19 Shutdown on Tax Processing and Custom er Service Operations and Assessm ent of
Efforts to Im plem ent Legislative Provisions, Report Number 2020-46-041, June 2020, p. 6 and Figure 3,
https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2020reports/202046041fr.pdf.
40 IRS, “Economic Impact Payment Information Center—Topic A: EIP Eligibility,” Q A5, updated November 10,
2020, https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic-impact -payment-information-center-topic-a-eip-eligibility.
41 Jory Heckman, “ IRS Recovers More T han $1B in Coronavirus Stimulus Payments to Deceased,” Federal News
Network, July 22, 2020, quoting T reasury’s Fiscal Assistant Secretary David A. Lebryk,
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/agency-oversight/2020/07/irs-recovers-more-than-1b-in-coronavirus-stimulus-
payments-to-deceased/.
42 Letter from Reps. DelBene, Heck, Walorski, and McMorris Rodgers to Charles Rettig, Commissioner, IRS, July 16,
2020, https://delbene.house.gov/uploadedfiles/final_eip_letter.pdf.
43 GAO, COVID-19: Federal Efforts Could Be Strengthened by Timely and Concerted Actions, GAO-20-701,
September 2020, p. 50, https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/709492.pdf. As of the date of this report, no further
information was publicly available as to whether IRS had achieved this objective.
44 GAO, COVID-19: Urgent Actions Needed to Better Ensure and Effective Federal Response, GAO-21-191,
November 2020, p. 232, https://www.gao.gov/assets/720/710891.pdf.
45 CRS Insight IN11397, COVID-19: Summary of the Direct Payments Proposed in the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800) , by
Margot L. Crandall-Hollick.
46 CRS Insight IN11398, How Would the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800) Modify the Direct Payments Enacted in the CARES
Act (P.L. 116-136)?, by Margot L. Crandall-Hollick.
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Heroes Act does not contain language that would preclude payments to deceased individuals,
leaving interpretation and implementation to the Treasury Department and the IRS.
On September 29, 2020, the House of Representatives introduced a revised version of the Heroes
Act (H.R. 8406). It was adopted on October 1, 2020, as a House amendment to the Senate
amendment to H.R. 925.47 As compared with H.R. 6800, the revised version of the Heroes Act in
H.R. 925 would reduce the dependent payments to $500, drop the limitation on the number of
dependent payments, and drop the previously proposed modifications to the EIPs provided under
the CARES Act. H.R. 925 does not contain language that would preclude payments to deceased
individuals.48
American Workers, Families, and Employers Assistance Act
(S. 4318)
On July 27, 2020, the American Workers, Families, and Employers Assistance Act (S. 4318) was
introduced in the Senate as one component of a COVID-19 relief package that is broadly referred
to as the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools Act (HEALS Act).49 S.
4318 would provide a second round of payments equal to $1,200 per person ($2,400 for married
joint filers), gradual y phased out with AGI above $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for heads of
households, and $150,000 for married joint filers, plus $500 for each dependent (including older
children, students, and adult dependents).50 Individuals who died before January 1, 2020, would
be statutorily ineligible for the payment.51 In addition, the CARES Act would be modified to
make individuals who died before January 1, 2020, ineligible for the CARES Act EIPs. Those
who died at any time in 2020 would be made eligible for the CARES Act EIPs as wel as the new
payments proposed under this bil , consistent with the tax treatment of the recently deceased.52
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260)
Division N, Title II, Subtitle B, Section 272, of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (also
known as the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020), includes a second round of payments equal
to $600 per person ($1,200 for married joint filers), gradual y phased out for those with AGI
above $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for heads of households, and $150,000 for married joint
filers. It also includes a payment of $600 for each qualifying child, as defined in the CARES Act.
Any individual who was deceased before January 1, 2020, is ineligible for a payment. The IRS
indicates that a payment wil not be issued to any individual who died before January 1, 2020.

47 See also H.Res. 1161, which amended the text of H.R. 925 with the text of Rules Committee Print 116-66. U.S.
Congress, House Rules Committee, Text of the House Am endm ent to the Senate Am endment to H.R. 925 , committee
print, 116th Cong., 2nd sess., September 29, 2020, H. Prt. 116-66 (Washington, DC: GPO, 2020).
48 CRS Insight IN11513, COVID-19 and Direct Payments to Individuals: Comparison of Recent Proposals for a
Second Round of Paym ents, by Margot L. Crandall-Hollick.
49 Sen. Mitch McConnell, “McConnell Outlines Historic Relief Proposal for ‘An Important Crossroads in this Battle,’”
press release, July 27, 2020, https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/7/mcconnell-outlines-historic-
relief-proposal-for-an-important-crossroads-in-this-battle.
50 CRS Report R46470, The American Workers, Families, and Employers Assistance Act (S. 4318): Title II —Revenue
Provisions and Other “HEALS Act” Tax Provisions, coordinated by Molly F. Sherlock.
51 CRS Insight IN11473, COVID-19: Summary of Direct Payments in the American Workers, Families, and Employers
Assistance Act (S. 4318), by Margot L. Crandall-Hollick.
52 IRS, “Deceased Persons—Filing the Final Return(s) of a Deceased Person,” March 27, 2020, https://www.irs.gov/
businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/decease d-taxpayers-filing-the-final-returns-of-a-deceased-taxpayer.
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Eligible individuals who died in 2020 may claim the payment in the form of the Recovery Rebate
Credit on line 30 of their 2020 tax returns.53 The qualifying children of a taxpayer who was
deceased before January 1, 2020 (or in the case of a joint return, if both taxpayers were deceased
before January 1, 2020), are also ineligible for payments. The Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2021, includes a requirement for SSA to provide information and assistance to the Treasury
Department as may be required for making payments. It does not amend the CARES Act to make
ineligible for EIPs those taxpayers who were deceased before January 1, 2020.
Recent Bills Pertaining to Death Data
After some Members of Congress raised concerns about the issuance of EIPs to deceased
individuals under the CARES Act,54 several bil s were introduced that would require the use of
SSA’s full file of death information (including state-reported death data) to prevent such
payments. Some of the bills addressed more broadly the sharing of death data and the role of
SSA. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260, enacted on December 27, 2020),
requires SSA to provide its full file of death information (including state-reported death data) to
DNP. The provision takes effect on December 27, 2024 (three years after enactment) and applies
for a temporary period of three years. The paragraphs below summarize recent approaches
considered by Congress.
Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act (S. 4104)
On June 30, 2020, the Stopping Improper Payment to Deceased People Act (S. 4104) was passed
in the Senate without amendment by unanimous consent.55 Just prior to its passage in the Senate,
Senator Rand Paul’s bil (S. 4104) was joined by unanimous consent with S. 1333, which had
been introduced by Senator Tom Carper on May 6, 2019, and reported favorably by the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on June 25, 2019.56 H.R. 2543, a
companion bil to S. 1333, was introduced by Representative Cheri Bustos on May 7, 2019.
In the context of payments to help al eviate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, S.
4104 would require SSA to provide the Treasury Department with access to its complete file of
death information for administering such payments. (A summary released by SSA notes that SSA
already has such authority and provides its complete file of death information to the IRS.57) The
Treasury Department would be required to “suspend, cancel, and recover payments issued to
individuals shown on SSA records disclosed to Treasury as being deceased before January 1,

53 IRS, “Questions and Answers About the Second Economic Impact Payment.”
54 See, for example, Sen. T om Carper, “Sens. Carper, Kennedy and Reps. Bustos, Gianforte Lead Bipartisan Inquiry:
Why Are the Deceased Receiving Coronavirus Stimulus Checks?,” press release, May 8, 2020,
https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/5/sens-carper-kennedy-and-reps-bustos-gianforte-lead-
bipartisan-inquiry-why-are-the-deceased-receiving-coronavirus-stimulus-checks; and U.S. Senate Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, “ Peters Releases New Report Condemning $1 Billion in Wrongful
CARES Act Payments to Deceased Individuals,” press release, June 29, 2020, https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/media/
minority-media/peters-releases-new-report-condemning-1-billion-in-wrongful-cares-act-payments-to-deceased-
individuals.
55 Senate debate, Congressional Record, vol. 166, no. 120 (June 30, 2020), pp. S3998-S3999,
https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2020/06/30/CREC-2020-06-30-pt1-PgS3998.pdf.
56 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Stopping Improper Payments to
Deceased People Act, report to accompany S. 1333, 116th Cong., 1st sess., S.Rept. 116-49 (Washington, DC: GPO,
2019).
57 SSA, “Senate Passes S. 4104, the ‘Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act,’” Social Security
Legislative Bulletin 116-18, July 2020, https://www.ssa.gov/legislation/legis_bulletin_071420.html.
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2020” (S. 4104, §6). Also relevant to the administration of such payments, Section 2 of S. 4104
would require SSA to enter into a cooperative agreement to share its complete file of death
information with the DNP portal.
More general y, S. 4104 would expand SSA’s authority under Section 205(r) or the Social
Security Act to share death information (including state-reported death data) and to seek
compensation for the reasonable cost of both sharing death information and collecting and
maintaining death information. The provisions of S. 4104 would sunset five years after
enactment. Subsequent to a review of potential nonfederal sources of death data to be conducted
by SSA and the Treasury Department, the Office of Management and Budget would be required
to submit a recommendation to Congress within four years after enactment as to whether the
provisions of S. 4104 should be extended beyond the sunset date. SSA would also be required to
submit to Congress a plan and cost estimate for improving the accuracy and completeness of its
death data, including death data for individuals who are not receiving Social Security or SSI
benefits, as wel as improved policies and procedures for identifying and correcting erroneous
death records. Final y, the bil includes several provisions to improve the use of death data by
federal, state, and local government agencies and tribal organizations.
In its cost estimate for S. 1333, which contains the same provisions as S. 4104 except for those
specific to payments to help al eviate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, CBO
estimated that the bil would have a negligible effect on federal spending because agencies that
make the largest benefit payments already have access to SSA’s full file of death information.58
Stopping Payments to the Deceased Act (H.R. 7696)
On July 21, 2020, Representative John Curtis introduced the Stopping Payments to the Deceased
Act (H.R. 7696). The bil specifies that, notwithstanding any other provision of law—including
Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act—SSA would be required to disclose to the Treasury
Department al death records collected and maintained by SSA, including state-reported death
data. The Treasury Department would be required to integrate the SSA death records into relevant
databases for verifying eligibility for payments under programs administered by the Treasury
Department, including tax refunds.
S. 4330
On July 27, 2020, Senator John Kennedy introduced S. 4330, a bil to provide for the collection
of death information from states for use in the DNP portal. The bil would require BFS, as the
agency operating the DNP portal, to establish voluntary contracts with states to obtain state death
information that would be accessed and used by federal agencies through the DNP portal to detect
and prevent improper payments. Unlike other bil s that would authorize or require SSA to provide
its ful file of death information to DNP, this bil cal s for the establishment of a direct data feed
from the states to BFS, in some sense replicating the EDR system developed by SSA, NAPHSIS,
and the states.

58 CBO, S. 1333, Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act.
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FY2021 Financial Services and General Government
Funding Measure
On November 10, 2020, the Senate Committee on Appropriations released the bil text and
explanatory statements for the FY2021 funding measures.59 The bil text for financial services
and general government for FY2021 includes in Section 126 language that would amend Section
205(r) of the Social Security Act.60 The bil would require SSA to share al death information
furnished to or maintained by SSA (including state-reported death data) with any federal or state
agency providing federal y funded benefits or administering a federal program for such benefits,
including the BFS as the agency operating the DNP portal. The bil would authorize recipient
agencies to use SSA’s death data to ensure proper payments under a federal program or the
proper payment of federal y funded benefits, including the prevention, identification, or
recoupment of improper payments. Authorized uses would also include the tax administration or
debt collection duties of the recipient agency, as wel as use by policing agencies of the federal
government. SSA would be authorized to enter into similar agreements with states for use in
programs wholly funded by states. Agencies receiving SSA’s death information would be
required to reimburse SSA for the reasonable cost of both sharing death information and
collecting and maintaining death information. The explanatory statement accompanying the bil
text directs BFS to report to the Senate Committee on Appropriations within 120 days of
enactment on the feasibility of shifting responsibility for collection and dissemination of death
data from SSA to DNP.61 The report would address projected implementation costs, recurring
annual costs, and costs that would need to be funded by direct appropriations.
You Must Be Alive to Vote Act of 2020 (H.R. 8830)
On December 2, 2020, Representative Brian Babin introduced H.R. 8830, a bil to require states
to obtain death information from SSA for voter registration list maintenance. Section 8(a)(4)(A)
of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 would be amended to require states to remove
from the list of voters registered for elections for federal office deceased individuals as
determined based on state records and information obtained from SSA.62 The bil would also
amend Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act to require SSA to enter into agreements with
states to share death information for this purpose. The bil is silent as to whether states would be
required to independently verify the death information from SSA before acting on it, and it is not
clear whether SSA could impose such a requirement in the data exchange agreements required by
this bil as it does in its other data exchange agreements related to death data. Final y, the bil
would require each state to certify annual y to the Secretaries of Education and Transportation
that it has the required data sharing agreement in place with SSA. In calendar years in which a
state does not comply, the Secretaries of Education and Transportation would be prohibited from

59 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, “Committee Releases FY21 Bills in Effort to Advance Process,
Produce Bipartisan Results,” press release, November 10, 2020, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/
committee-releases-fy21-bills-in-effort -to-advance-process-produce-bipartisan-results.
60 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, “A bill making appropriations for financ ial services and
general government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for other purposes,”
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FSGGFY2021.pdf.
61 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, “Explanatory Statement for Financial Services and General
Government Appropriations Bill, 2021,” p. 15, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FSGGRept.pdf.
62 52 U.S.C. §20507(a)(4)(A).
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providing federal funds to the state. The provisions of the bil would take effect one year after
enactment.
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260)
Division FF, Title VIII, Section 801, of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“Access to
Death Information Furnished to or Maintained by the Social Security Administration”), amends
Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act.63 The amendments require SSA to establish a new fee
structure for SSA to pay states for death data and require agencies that receive death data from
SSA to reimburse SSA for their proportional share of the cost of obtaining the data and the full
cost of sharing the data. Under this act, payments from SSA to states shal include additional fees
to pay for the use of state death data and wil reimburse a share of the costs to the state for the
following activities: (1) collecting and maintaining death data; (2) ensuring the completeness,
timeliness, and accuracy of death data; and (3) maintaining, enhancing, and operating the systems
for transmitting death data to SSA. The act prohibits SSA from using funds from its Limitations
on Administrative Expenses (LAE) appropriation for payments to the states, except as determined
by the Commissioner of Social Security on a temporary basis and subject to reimbursement from
agencies that receive death data from SSA.64
Under this act, reimbursements to SSA from agencies that receive death data from SSA are
required to consist of the recipient agency’s share of the following costs, as determined by the
Commissioner of Social Security in consultation with the head of the recipient agency: (1) SSA’s
payments to the states to obtain the data, (2) the cost to SSA of establishing death data contracts
with the states, and (3) the cost to SSA of carrying out a new study on options for obtaining and
distributing death data (described below). The act also requires the recipient agency to reimburse
SSA for the full cost to SSA of transmitting death data to the recipient agency. The same
reimbursement requirement applies to agencies that receive death data from SSA for statistical
and research purposes.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, authorizes SSA to notify states and affected
individuals of corrections to erroneous deaths and requires SSA to share its full file of death
information (including state-reported death data) with DNP to prevent improper payments to
deceased individuals. The act specifies that data sharing with DNP wil take place for a three-year
period beginning three years after enactment. Death data sharing arrangements between SSA and
DNP after the three-year period ends are not specified in the act.
In addition, Division FF, Title VIII, Section 802, of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,
requires SSA to commission a study, within 180 days of enactment, to be conducted by the
National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) of the current and potential sources for, and
provisions of access to, state death data for use by federal agencies for program administration
and program integrity purposes. The study required by the act shal assess the strengths and
limitations of options for distributing state-reported death data to federal agencies, including
distribution via SSA as wel as federal agencies contracting directly with states, and shal also
address options for reimbursement structures. Although the act does not specify a due date, it
requires SSA to transmit the completed study to the House Committees on Ways and Means and
Oversight and Reform and the Senate Committees on Finance and Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs.

63 See also OLCA, “President Signs the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.”
64 For more information on the LAE appropriation, see SSA, FY 2021 Congressional Justification, “Limitation on
Administrative Expenses,” https://www.ssa.gov/budget/FY21Files/2021LAE.pdf.
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Considerations for Congress
Drawing upon the proposals in recent bil s, recognizing the provisions of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260, including the study of data sources and data sharing
options to be conducted by NAPA), and considering the EVVE FOD system being developed by
NAPHSIS, three basic approaches emerge as candidates for enhancing the collection,
maintenance, and sharing of death data among federal government agencies: (1) expand SSA’s
sharing of death data with federal and state agencies and other authorized users; (2) authorize or
require an agency other than SSA to collect, maintain, and share death data on behalf of the
federal government; and (3) develop and utilize a third-party, nongovernmental clearinghouse for
death data. Each approach has benefits and chal enges along with issues for further consideration.
Expand SSA’s Sharing of Death Data
One approach to enhance death data sharing within the federal government would be to amend
Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act to expand SSA’s authority to share al death data
furnished to or maintained by SSA (including state-reported death data). This approach is
advanced by the provisions of the recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L.
116-260).
Benefits
This approach capitalizes on the systems and infrastructure that SSA has developed over many
years, including contracts with NAPHSIS and the states, data exchange agreements with other
federal (and state) agencies, and expertise receiving and processing death reports from states and
other sources. Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), SSA is required
to recoup the costs of obtaining (purchasing) death data from the states, rather than charging
recipient agencies only for the cost of transmitting death data, which wil lessen the financial
burden on SSA (and the Social Security trust funds).65 The federal government as a whole would
likely benefit from SSA serving as a single clearinghouse for death information.
Challenges
The primary chal enge associated with this approach is that it may add a potential y substantial
amount of non-mission work to an agency that is already facing large and growing programmatic
chal enges. One may anticipate a large increase in the demand for death data for both
programmatic and research purposes, which may require SSA to develop new policy around death
data and death data exchange, provide legal review of numerous additional data exchange
requests, negotiate and implement new data exchange agreements, and expand its systems
capacity. With the new reimbursement requirements in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
(P.L. 116-260), SSA wil be able to recoup the costs associated with the death data workload. To
do so, it appears that SSA wil need to renegotiate the reimbursement structure of its existing data
sharing agreements with federal agencies that receive the full file of death information. Requiring
SSA to serve as the clearinghouse of death data for federal (and potential y state) agencies could
create increased pressure for SSA to verify death data for individuals other than the Social
Security and SSI beneficiaries who are directly served by SSA. If SSA would also be required to
verify the accuracy and completeness of its death data for individuals who are not receiving

65 In 2016, SSA spent nearly $5.7 million on state-reported death data. SSAB, Social Security and the Death Master
File, p. 11.
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Social Security or SSI benefits and/or develop improved policies and procedures for identifying
and correcting erroneous death records, the additional strain on the agency could be
considerable.66 Unless additional resources were to be provided to SSA, the death data exchange
workload may compete with mission critical workloads for scarce agency resources.
Issues for Consideration
 Would the states push back against an expansion of death data sharing by SSA?
Historical y, the state-reported death data has been considered to be owned by the
state. The Social Security Act imposes meaningful restrictions on SSA’s
authority to share state-reported death data, in part to protect the interests of the
states.
 To what extent would states demand higher prices for the death records they sel
to SSA? If SSA were to become the clearinghouse for death data for federal
government agencies, states may argue that they would lose potential revenue
from other federal agencies and thus increase the prices they charge SSA for
death records. In recent years, EDR contract negotiations between NAPHSIS
(representing the states) and SSA have been contentious. Speaking directly to this
consideration, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260),
requires payments from SSA to states to include additional fees to pay for the use
of state death data and to reimburse a share of certain costs to the states with
respect to death data collection, maintenance, and sharing. To implement these
requirements, it appears that SSA wil need to renegotiate its existing EDR
contracts with the states.
 As noted earlier, four states (Connecticut, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and
West Virginia) currently do not participate in the EDR process with SSA. To
further improve the efficiency and accuracy of state death data reporting to the
federal government, would Congress be wil ing to require (and perhaps provide
resources to support) full EDR participation and implementation by al states?
Designate Another Agency (e.g., Treasury’s BFS/DNP) as the
Repository of Federal Death Data
Another approach to death data sharing would be to designate another federal agency, such as the
Treasury Department’s BFS, to serve as the federal repository of death data. This agency would
need to develop a death data infrastructure similar to SSA’s, including, for example, policies and
regulations, systems functionality, contracts with states, reporting and verification processes, and
data exchange policies and agreements.
Benefits
One benefit of this approach would be that it would establish a single set of authorities,
requirements, processes, and systems for federal death data collection and sharing. This would
include, for example, policies and processes for collecting, verifying, maintaining, correcting, and
sharing death data for al federal agencies (and authorized state agencies and nongovernment
users). In addition, this approach would remove a large, non-mission workload from SSA. SSA
has never claimed to be, nor wanted to be, the federal clearinghouse for death data. SSA’s only

66 Note that the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), does not impose additional death data
verification requirements on SSA.
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focus in this area has been the collection and utilization of death data for the administration of the
Social Security and SSI programs. It is conceivable that designating the BFS as the federal
repository for death data could lead to improvements in the accuracy of death data because of the
broad range of interactions between BFS (and other Treasury Department agencies such as the
IRS) and the American public.
Challenges
One chal enge of this approach would be that it would be duplicative and costly if another
agency, such as BFS, were to replicate rather than replace the SSA death data infrastructure. If, on
the other hand, another agency were to replace the SSA death data infrastructure (i.e., remove
death data collection from SSA), SSA would face chal enges as it would need to develop and
implement new policies, processes, and systems requirements to obtain death data from another
agency to meet SSA program needs. SSA requires on-demand access to death records to prevent
improper payments as wel as to ensure proper and timely payment of survivor benefits.
Moreover, if another agency were to be charged with coordinating federal death data collection
and sharing, al current SSA data exchanges involving death data would have to be transitioned to
the new clearinghouse agency. In many cases, death data is only one component of an SSA data
exchange agreement, meaning that an undetermined number of SSA data exchange agreements
would need to be renegotiated.
Issues for Consideration
 What obstacles would a federal clearinghouse agency such as BFS face in
negotiating EDR-like contracts with NAPHSIS and the states and establishing an
EDR-like death data reporting and collection system? Would the lack of a
working relationship between the federal clearinghouse agency and NAPHSIS
and the states lead to price increases for the federal government or create
implementation delays?
 What would be the implications for SSA’s ability to cease payments based on
death reports obtained from a federal clearinghouse agency? Would SSA be able
to treat the death reports as first-party reports and immediately cease payments?
Or would SSA have to take additional steps to verify the data as a third-party
report before ceasing payments? If the latter, what would be the impacts for SSA
in terms of timeliness, cost, workload, and improper payments?
 SSA currently operates verification services for other federal and state
government agencies and external entities. For example, SSA verifies SSNs for
state driver’s license agencies under Section 303 of the Help America Vote Act of
2002 (P.L. 107-252)67 and is implementing an electronic consent-based SSN
verification service as required under Section 215 of the Economic Growth,
Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 115-174).68 These
verification routines general y include a death indicator. The You Must Be Alive
to Vote Act of 2020 (H.R. 8830), described above, would create a new
requirement for SSA share death data with states to al ow states to remove
deceased individuals from the list of voters registered for elections for federal

67 SSA, “User Agreement for the Voter Registration Information Verification System Services,” https://www.ssa.gov/
dataexchange/documents/66005—HAVA%20MOU%20MVA.pdf.
68 SSA, “Electronic Consent Based Social Security Number Verification (eCBSV) Service,” https://www.ssa.gov/
dataexchange/eCBSV/.
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office. Would the creation of a death data clearinghouse outside SSA compromise
these existing verification services or the proposed new exchange for registered
voters?
 To further improve the efficiency and accuracy of state death data reporting to the
federal government, would Congress be wil ing to require (and perhaps provide
resources to support) full EDR participation and implementation by al states?
Use a Third-Party Death Data Clearinghouse
(e.g., NAPHSIS/EVVE FOD)
A third approach to death data sharing would be to utilize a third-party, nongovernmental death
data clearinghouse. One example would be the EVVE FOD system under development by
NAPHSIS and the states. EVVE FOD is a fee-based system under which organizations can
submit records to match directly against state vital records databases to determine whether an
individual is deceased and when and where he or she died. As noted previously, 44 states and
jurisdictions currently participate in EVVE FOD.
Benefits
This approach would have the benefit of avoiding duplicate development of death data collection
and sharing operations across multiple federal agencies. It would also remove the non-mission
death data exchange workload from SSA. It could potential y lead to the establishment of a single
set of authorities, requirements, and processes for collecting, verifying, maintaining, correcting,
and sharing death data for al federal agencies. This approach would also eliminate potential
conflicts with states over state ownership of death records and lost revenue from expanded
sharing of state-reported death data.
Challenges
One chal enge of this approach is that it would place a great deal of responsibility on a
nongovernmental organization as the centerpiece for collection and provision of death data on
behalf of the federal government. As stated above, SSA alone relies on death data to prevent over
$50 mil ion in Social Security and SSI improper payments each month. This approach would also
have the potential to lessen federal protection of death data, ceding control to state laws and
policies and the nongovernmental entity operating the clearinghouse. In terms of cost and pricing,
this approach may cause the death data clearinghouse and the state agencies that provide records
to the clearinghouse to demand higher prices, capitalizing on monopoly incentives as the sole
provider of death records to the entire federal government. SSA in particular would need to
develop and implement new policies, processes, and systems requirements to obtain death data
from the third-party provider to meet SSA program needs. SSA requires on-demand access to
death records to prevent improper payments as wel as to ensure proper and timely payment of
survivor benefits. Moreover, if a third-party provider were to be charged with coordinating death
data collection and sharing on behalf of the federal government, al current SSA data exchanges
involving death data would have to be transitioned to the new clearinghouse provider. In many
cases, death data is only one component of an SSA data exchange agreement, meaning that an
undetermined number of SSA data exchange agreements would need to be renegotiated. To the
extent that multiple agencies may be independently verifying death reports from the third-party
provider before acting on them, this approach may create duplication of effort.
Congressional Research Service

17

The Social Security Administration’s Death Data: In Brief

Issues for Consideration
 To create an efficient and accurate system of death records, and to achieve
desired operating capacity and response times, would Congress be wil ing to
require (and perhaps provide resources to support) full participation and
implementation by al states?
 If the third-party clearinghouse were to depend on general revenue funding
through annual appropriations, would the system be at risk of shutting down or
operating at partial capacity in years in which Congress does not timely pass a
budget or imposes funding reductions?
 Could SSA and other federal agencies achieve the on-demand access they need to
prevent improper payments and properly pay survivor benefits? Would federal
agencies be able to develop and enforce service level agreements with the death
data clearinghouse?
 What would be the implications for SSA’s ability to cease payments based on
death reports obtained from a third-party, nongovernmental clearinghouse?
Would SSA be able to treat the death reports as first-party reports and
immediately cease payments? Or would SSA have to take additional steps to
verify the data as a third-party report before ceasing payments? If the latter, what
would be the impacts for SSA in terms of timeliness, cost, workload, and
improper payments?
 If agencies using death reports from the third-party clearinghouse discover and
correct errors in the data, how would those errors be corrected by the
clearinghouse, and how would the corrected records be shared with other users?
 Would a third-party, nongovernmental clearinghouse be able to develop,
implement, and enforce policies with respect to verification, correction, accuracy,
and timeliness of death data that meet the requirements of al federal data users?
 How would data protection be established and enforced? Would the Privacy Act
apply? Would the records be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests?

Author Information

Paul S. Davies

Specialist in Income Security

Congressional Research Service

18

The Social Security Administration’s Death Data: In Brief

Disclaimer
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under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should n ot be relied upon for purposes other
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Congressional Research Service
R46640 · VERSION 6 · UPDATED
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