Signed into law
Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
This act permanently allows the Department of the Treasury to access certain death records maintained by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to help prevent and recover improper payments (e.g., payments to deceased individuals). The act also establishes evidentiary requirements the SSA must meet before identifying an individual as deceased.
- Measure
- S. 269 · 119th Congress
- Latest action
- February 10, 2026
- Policy changes
- 2
- Source
- CRS summary (Public Law) · Congress.gov
Became Public Law No: 119-77.
Who wrote it
Sponsor
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA)Joined by 5 cosponsors, 1 of them from the day it was introduced. Introduced January 28, 2025.
All 5 cosponsors
- Sen. Gary C. Peters (D-MI) · original
- Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA)
- Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)
- Sen. Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH)
- Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL)
How Congress voted
No recorded vote: this bill moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, so there is no record of how individual members voted.
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In their own words
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What it changes — and your vote
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Provision 1
Current law requires the SSA to share its Death Master File with the Do Not Pay system maintained by Treasury for three years.
The act makes this requirement permanent. Treasury must enter into an agreement with the SSA related to Treasury's share of the cost of state death data.
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Provision 2
Prohibits the SSA from recording a death in the master file unless the SSA has clear and convincing evidence that the individual should be presumed deceased.
If an individual is incorrectly identified as deceased and provides the SSA with supporting documentation, the SSA may notify certain agencies that have access to the master file, including Treasury and federal or state agencies that provide or disburse federally funded benefits.
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