Thousands of living Americans are improperly reported by the Social Security Administration as deceased every year, a bureaucratic error that can turn their lives upside down, or worse.
“I could never have imagined I would reach the point of hopelessness, homelessness, financial destitution, loss of reputation and credibility, unable to find a job, an apartment, a student loan or even buy a cellphone,” Judy Rivers told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee late Monday.
She was describing the second time she was listed as dead by the Social Security Administration.
“The first incident was painless and occurred in 2001,” Rivers said. “I had no idea that it even happened.”
The second time, however, brought her both joblessness and homelessness. Employers, landlords and bankers alike wouldn’t accept her applications without a working Social Security number, which was deactivated after she was marked as dead, forcing her to live in her car.
“Suspected as an identity thief by nearly every apartment manager or human resource director I encountered became a way of life,” Rivers said.
On a few occasions, her friends gave her places to stay, but was kicked out by their landlords for reasons such as not being on the lease.
“It was back to the car, again,” she said.
Social Security Administration Senior Adviser Sean Brune said Rivers represents one of “fewer than 9,000 a year.”
The committee also heard testimony concerning an inspector general report from last week that disclosed that 6.5 million people who were most likely dead have active Social Security numbers, though they would be at least 112 years old, leaving their identities open to fraud.
The Social Security Administration doesn’t have immediate plans to correct the error.
“What should be extremely concerning to us is that inaccurate death data may lead to improper payments by many other agencies across the government, and also creates greater vulnerabilities for fraud and identity theft,” said Ranking Member Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del. “Improving the collection, verification and use by federal agencies of data on individuals who have died will help curb hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in improper payments.”
Brune told the committee that most people improperly added to the death list were wrongfully reported as dead. The deceased excluded from the list were most likely the result of clerical errors.
Brune recommended that states create electronic systems that automatically send the Social Security Administration death information. He told the committee that the 13 states without such a process may lack funding and that legislation for assistance might be required.
“I’m usually for states’ rights, but something might have to be done about this,” Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said.
