Limitation on distribution of death information furnished to or maintained by the Social Security Administration

(a)

In general

Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended— (1)in paragraph (2), by inserting , and to ensure completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of, after transmitting; (2)by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:

(3)The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to the extent feasible, provide for the use of information regarding deceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner, subject to such safeguards as the Commissioner of Social Security determines are necessary or appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized use or disclosure, to any Federal or State agency providing or administering Federally funded benefits to individuals, other than benefits under this Act, through a cooperative arrangement with such agency designed to ensure proper payment of those benefits with respect to such individuals if— (A)under such arrangement the agency provides reimbursement to the Commissioner of Social Security for the reasonable costs of carrying out such arrangement, including the reasonable costs associated with the collection and maintenance of information regarding deceased individuals furnished to the Commissioner pursuant to paragraph (1); and (B)such arrangement does not conflict with the duties of the Commissioner of Social Security under paragraph (1).

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(3)in paragraph (4), by inserting or in benefit and pension plans for employees of the States or local governments after by the States; (4)by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the following:

(5)(A)The Commissioner of Social Security may use or provide for the use of information regarding deceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner, subject to such safeguards as the Commissioner of Social Security determines are necessary or appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized use or disclosure, provided the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3) are met and such information is provided— (i)to any Federal agency through a cooperative agreement with such agency for the purpose of law enforcement or tax administration; or (ii)for statistical and research activities conducted by Federal and State agencies. (B)A Federal or State agency may disclose death information obtained from the Commissioner to a contractor for the purposes of assisting with such law enforcement, tax administration, or statistical and research activities, provided that the agency ensures, at a minimum, that the contractor fulfills the requirements of clauses (ii) and (iv) of paragraph (7)(E).

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(5)by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the following:

(7)(A)For purposes of this paragraph, death information shall consist of information regarding deceased individuals maintained by the Commissioner of Social Security, except for information furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner pursuant to paragraphs (1) or (2), and the death information to be provided shall consist only of the name, social security number, date of birth, and date of death of a deceased individual.” (B)The Commissioner may disclose death information under this paragraph to the Secretary of Defense provided that— (i)the Secretary uses the information provided solely for the purpose of assisting in the identification of unidentified remains, and (ii)the Secretary enforces requirements similar to those in clauses (i), (ii), (iv), (v), (vi), and (vii) with respect to any contractor the Secretary hires to assist in such identifications. (C)The Commissioner of Social Security may disclose death information, except for information furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to paragraphs (1) or (2), provided the requirements of this paragraph and the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3) are met. (D)The Commissioner may disclose— (i)to any entity, information maintained by the Commissioner concerning individuals whose date of death occurred at least 3 calendar years prior to the year that the entity requests such information pursuant to a written agreement; and (ii)to any entity certified by the Commissioner under subparagraph (E), information maintained by the Commissioner concerning individuals whose date of death does not satisfy the requirements of clause (i), pursuant to a written agreement between the Commissioner and the entity. (E)For purposes of this paragraph an entity is certified only if the Commissioner— (i)establishes procedures to certify and decertify entities eligible to obtain such information; (ii)includes in the agreement with such an entity provisions to require such entity to safeguard the information provided, assure that the information is used only for the purpose which was the basis for the certification, assure that the information is not disclosed by the entity to any other entity, and include contractual penalties, including monetary penalties and loss of certification, for the violation of any requirements imposed by the Commissioner as a condition of receiving the information; (iii)requires that the entity demonstrate that— (I)it has a legitimate business need for the information, which shall include a requirement that the information regarding a deceased individual will aid in preventing financial harm to the entity or to a customer or client of the entity or will aid in permitting the entity to fulfill an obligation to a beneficiary of an individual that is contingent upon the death of such individual; or (II)it has a legitimate interest in preventing fraud or unauthorized financial transactions; (iv)requires that the entity demonstrate that it has infrastructure and procedures in place to prevent wrongful access to or the disclosure of information provided by the Commissioner; (v)determines that the entity has adequate experience and expertise in maintaining the confidentiality and security of information; (vi)includes such other requirements and restrictions as the Commissioner deems appropriate to assure the confidentiality of the information; and (vii)requires that the entity permit periodic and unscheduled audits of the entity to assure compliance with the requirements established by the Commissioner. (F)The Commissioner shall establish application and other fees to be paid by entities seeking to be certified or to maintain certification under this paragraph so that the Commissioner is fully reimbursed for all costs associated with development of the certification process, evaluating applications, auditing compliance with the requirements established by the Commissioner, inspecting records and assuring compliance with contract requirements, and any other costs associated with assuring continuing eligibility for certification under this paragraph. (G)For purposes of this paragraph, the terms entity or entities includes individual and individuals respectively. (H)The Commissioner may delegate any of the activities under this paragraph to another agency and may perform any activity through a contractor, provided that the delegation or contract requires such agency or contractor to comply with all requirements of this section and of the implementing policies developed by the Commissioner.

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(6)by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

(10)Information related to a deceased individual received by the Commissioner of Social Security other than as described in paragraph (1) shall be treated for purposes of paragraph (6) in the same manner as information received as described in paragraph (1).

(b)

Report

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act and each year thereafter through 2019, the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a report describing the entities certified by the Commissioner under section 205(r)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(7)) during the preceding year and their compliance with the requirements of subparagraph (E) of such section. (c)

Effective dates

(1)

In general

Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendments made by this section take effect on the date that is 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (2)

Exception

The amendment made by subsection (a)(6) shall take effect on January 1, 2014. (d)

Sunset

Subparagraphs (C) through (H) of section 205(r)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(7)) (as amended by subsection (a)) shall cease to be effective on January 1, 2019, except that— (1)clauses (ii) and (iv) of subparagraph (E) of such section shall continue to apply for purposes of section 205(r)(5)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(5)(B)) (as amended by subsection (a)).