Treasury Department recovers $31 million in Social Security payments that went to dead people

The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced that it had successfully prevented and recovered $31 million in Social Security payments that were marked for dead people, which the department believes is just a fraction of the total amount they expect to recover.

The recovery was made after Congress in 2021 gave the department access to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) “Full Death Master File” for three years as part of an appropriations bill. The department will have access to the file from Dec. 2023, through 2026.

The department projects that it will recover approximately $215 million over the three year span.

“These results are just the tip of the iceberg,” Fiscal Assistant Secretary David Lebryk said in a statement. “Congress granting permanent access to the Full Death Master File will significantly reduce fraud, improve program integrity, and better safeguard taxpayer dollars.”

The recovery was part of a five-month pilot of the department's access to the master file. The SSA maintains the largest collection of people who have died, which includes 142 million records that date back as far as 1899. 

The U.S. Treasury said the pilot program of the master file also yielded a 139% increase in the total number of death matches.

The development could be a way to further reduce wasteful federal spending as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office next week. Trump has promised to reduce "wasteful" government spending, and created a new department to oversee the crackdown.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.