[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2374 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 639
115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2374

                          [Report No. 115-352]

To amend the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act 
  of 2012, including making changes to the Do Not Pay Initiative, for 
 improved detection, prevention, and recovery of improper payments to 
             deceased individuals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 5, 2018

 Mr. Carper (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Peters, Mr. 
 Warner, Mr. Rubio, Ms. Heitkamp, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Tester, Mr. Lee, and 
   Mr. King) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

                           November 13, 2018

               Reported by Mr. Johnson, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act 
  of 2012, including making changes to the Do Not Pay Initiative, for 
 improved detection, prevention, and recovery of improper payments to 
             deceased individuals, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Stopping Improper Payments 
to Deceased People Act''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FURNISHED TO OR 
              MAINTAINED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY 
              ADMINISTRATION.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) In general.--Section 205(r) of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) in paragraph (2)--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) by striking ``may'' and 
                        inserting ``shall''; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) by inserting ``, and to 
                        ensure the completeness, timeliness, and 
                        accuracy of,'' after 
                        ``transmitting'';</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), and 
                (5) and inserting the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(3)(A) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to the 
extent feasible, provide for the use of information regarding all 
deceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner 
under this subsection in accordance with subparagraph (B), subject to 
such safeguards as the Commissioner of Social Security determines are 
necessary or appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized 
use or disclosure, by any Federal or State agency providing federally 
funded benefits or administering a Federal program for such benefits, 
including the agency operating the Do Not Pay working system for 
ensuring proper payment of those benefits, through a cooperative 
arrangement with the agency (that includes the agency's Inspector 
General) or with an agency's Inspector General, if--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(i) under such arrangement the agency 
        (including, if applicable, the agency's Inspector General) 
        provides reimbursement to the Commissioner of Social Security 
        for the reasonable cost 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</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(ii) such arrangement does not conflict with the 
        duties of the Commissioner of Social Security under paragraph 
        (1).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(B) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to the 
extent feasible, provide for the use of information regarding all 
deceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner 
under this subsection, through a cooperative arrangement in order for a 
Federal agency to carry out any of the following purposes, if the 
requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) are 
met:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(i) Operating the Do Not Pay working system 
        established by section 5 of the Improper Payments Elimination 
        and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012. Under such arrangement, 
        the agency operating the working system may compare death 
        information disclosed by the Commissioner with personally 
        identifiable information reviewed through the working system, 
        and may redisclose such comparison of information, as 
        appropriate, to any Federal or State agency authorized to use 
        the working system.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(ii) To ensure proper payments under a Federal 
        program or the proper payment of federally funded benefits, 
        including for purposes of payment certification, payment 
        disbursement, and the prevention, identification, or recoupment 
        of improper payments.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(iii) To carry out tax administration or debt 
        collection duties of the agency.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(iv) For use by any policing agency of the 
        Federal Government with the principle function of prevention, 
        detection, or investigation of crime or the apprehension of 
        alleged offenders.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(C) With respect to the reimbursement to the 
Commissioner of Social Security for the reasonable cost of carrying out 
a cooperative arrangement described in subparagraph (A) between the 
Commissioner of Social Security and an agency, the Commissioner shall--
</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(i) establish a defined calculation method for 
        purposes of calculating the reasonable cost of carrying out the 
        arrangement that does not take into account any services, 
        information, or unrelated payments provided by the agency to 
        the Commissioner; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(ii) reimbursement payments shall be accounted 
        for and recorded separately from other transactions.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(4) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter into 
similar arrangements with States to provide information regarding all 
deceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner 
under this subsection, for any of the purposes specified in paragraph 
(3)(B), for use by States in programs wholly funded by the States, or 
for use in the administration of a benefit pension plan or retirement 
system for employees of a State or a political subdivision thereof, if 
the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (3)(A) are met. 
For purposes of this paragraph, the terms `retirement system' and 
`political subdivision' have the meanings given such terms in section 
218(b).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(5) The Commissioner of Social Security may use or 
provide for the use of information regarding all deceased individuals 
furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner under this subsection, 
subject to such safeguards as the Commissioner of Social Security 
determines are necessary or appropriate to protect the information from 
unauthorized use or disclosure, for statistical purposes and research 
activities by Federal and State agencies if the requirements of clauses 
(i) and (ii) of paragraph (3)(A) are met. For purposes of this 
paragraph, the term `statistical purposes' has the meaning given that 
term in section 502 of the Confidential Information Protection and 
Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002.''; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking 
                ``subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3)'' and 
                inserting ``clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph 
                (3)(A)''.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Repeal.--Effective on the date that is 5 years 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, the amendments made by 
        this subsection to paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (8) of section 
        205(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) are 
        repealed, and the provisions of section 205(r) of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 605(r)) so amended are restored and 
        revived as if such amendments had not been enacted.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Amendment to Internal Revenue Code.--Section 
6103(d)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by striking 
        ``Secretary of Health and Human Services'' each place it 
        appears and inserting ``Commissioner of Social Security''; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``such 
        Secretary'' and all that follows through ``deceased 
        individuals.'' and inserting ``such Commissioner pursuant to 
        such contract, except that such contract may provide that such 
        information is only to be used by the Social Security 
        Administration (or any other Federal agency) for purposes 
        authorized in the Social Security Act or this 
        title.''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Report to Congress on Alternative Sources of Death 
Data.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Requirements.--The Director of the Office of 
        Management and Budget shall conduct a review of potential 
        alternative sources of death data maintained by the non-Federal 
        sources, including sources maintained by State agencies or 
        associations of State agencies, for use by Federal agencies and 
        programs. The review shall include analyses of--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) the accuracy and completeness of such 
                data;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) interoperability of such 
                data;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) the extent to which there is efficient 
                accessibility of such data by Federal 
                agencies;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) the cost to Federal agencies of 
                accessing and maintaining such data;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (E) the security of such data;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (F) the reliability of such data; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (G) a comparison of the potential 
                alternate sources of death data to the death data 
                distributed by the Commissioner of Social 
                Security.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 
        Management and Budget shall submit a report to Congress on the 
        results of the review and analyses required under paragraph 
        (1). The report shall include a recommendation by the Director 
        of the Office of Management and Budget regarding whether to 
        extend the agency access to death data distributed by the 
        Commissioner of Social Security provided under the amendments 
        made by subsection (a)(1) beyond the date on which such 
        amendments are to be repealed under subsection 
        (a)(2).</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE USE OF DATA BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO 
              CURB IMPROPER PAYMENTS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement 
Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:</DELETED>

<DELETED>``SEC. 8. IMPROVING THE USE OF DEATH DATA BY GOVERNMENT 
              AGENCIES.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    ``(a) Guidance by the Office of Management and Budget.--
</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) Guidance to agencies.--Not later than 6 
        months after the date of enactment of this section, and in 
        consultation with the Council of Inspectors General on 
        Integrity and Efficiency and the heads of other relevant 
        Federal, State, and local agencies, and Indian tribes and 
        tribal organizations, the Director of the Office of Management 
        and Budget shall issue guidance for each agency or component of 
        an agency that operates or maintains a database of information 
        relating to beneficiaries, annuity recipients, or any purpose 
        described in section 205(r)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(3)(B)) for which improved data matching with 
        databases relating to the death of an individual (in this 
        section referred to as `death databases') would be relevant and 
        necessary regarding implementation of this section to provide 
        such agencies or components access to the death databases no 
        later than 6 months after such date of enactment.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Plan to assist states and local agencies and 
        indian tribes and tribal organizations.--Not later than 1 year 
        after the date of enactment of this section, the Director of 
        the Office of Management and Budget shall develop a plan to 
        assist States and local agencies, and Indian tribes and tribal 
        organizations, in providing electronically to the Federal 
        Government records relating to the death of individuals, which 
        may include recommendations to Congress for any statutory 
        changes or financial assistance to States and local agencies 
        and Indian tribes and tribal organizations that are necessary 
        to ensure States and local agencies and Indian tribes and 
        tribal organizations can provide such records electronically. 
        The plan may include recommendations for the authorization of 
        appropriations or other funding to carry out the 
        plan.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(b) Reports.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) Report to congress on improving data 
        matching regarding payments to deceased individuals.--Not later 
        than 270 days after the date of enactment of this section, the 
        Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in 
        consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, 
        and in consultation with States and local agencies, Indian 
        tribes and tribal organizations, shall submit to Congress a 
        plan to improve how States and local agencies and Indian tribes 
        and tribal organizations that provide benefits under a 
        federally funded program will improve data matching with the 
        Federal Government with respect to the death of individuals who 
        are recipients of such benefits.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after 
        the date of enactment of this section, and for each of the 4 
        succeeding years, the Director of the Office of Management and 
        Budget shall submit to Congress a report regarding the 
        implementation of this section. The first report submitted 
        under this paragraph shall include the recommendations of the 
        Director required under subsection (a)(2).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section, the terms `Indian 
tribe' and `tribal organization' have the meanings given those terms in 
section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 
(25 U.S.C. 450b).''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. PLAN FOR ENSURING THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF 
              DEATH DATA MAINTAINED AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE SOCIAL 
              SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit 
to Congress a plan, which shall include an estimate of the cost of 
implementing the policies and procedures described in such plan, to 
improve the accuracy and completeness of the death data (including, 
where feasible and cost-effective, data regarding individuals who are 
not eligible for or receiving benefits under titles II or XVI of the 
Social Security Act) maintained and distributed by the Social Security 
Administration.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Content of Plan.--In developing the plan required 
under subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social Security shall 
consider whether to include the following elements:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Procedures for--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) identifying individuals who are 
                extremely elderly, as determined by the Commissioner, 
                but for whom no record of death exists in the records 
                of the Social Security Administration;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) verifying the information contained in 
                the records of the Social Security Administration with 
                respect to individuals described in subparagraph (A) 
                and correcting any inaccuracies; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) where appropriate, disclosing 
                corrections made to the records of the Social Security 
                Administration.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Improved policies and procedures for 
        identifying and correcting erroneous death records, including 
        policies and procedures for--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) identifying individuals listed as dead 
                who are actually alive;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) identifying individuals listed as 
                alive who are actually dead; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) allowing individuals or survivors of 
                deceased individuals to notify the Social Security 
                Administration of potential errors.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Improved policies and procedures to identify 
        and correct discrepancies in the records of the Social Security 
        Administration, including social security number 
        records.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) A process for employing statistical analysis 
        of the death data maintained and distributed by the Social 
        Security Administration to determine an estimate of the number 
        of erroneous records.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) Recommendations for legislation, as 
        necessary.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 5. REPORT ON INFORMATION SECURITY.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit a report to 
the Committees on Ways and Means, Oversight and Government Reform, and 
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the Committees 
on Finance and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) identifies all information systems of the 
        Social Security Administration containing sensitive 
        information; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) describes the measures the Commissioner is 
        taking to secure and protect such information 
        systems.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stopping Improper Payments to 
Deceased People Act''.

SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FURNISHED TO OR MAINTAINED BY 
              THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) In general.--Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``may'' and inserting 
                        ``shall''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``, and to ensure the 
                        completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of,'' 
                        after ``transmitting'';
                    (B) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) and 
                inserting the following:
    ``(3)(A) In the case of individuals with respect to whom federally 
funded benefits are provided by (or through) a Federal or State agency, 
the Commissioner of Social Security shall to the extent feasible 
provide such information through a cooperative arrangement with such 
agency for ensuring proper payment of those benefits with respect to 
such individuals if--
            ``(i) under such arrangement the agency agrees to such 
        safeguards as the Commissioner determines are necessary or 
        appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized use or 
        disclosure;
            ``(ii) under such arrangement the agency provides 
        reimbursement to the Commissioner of Social Security for the 
        reasonable cost 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
            ``(iii) such arrangement does not conflict with the duties 
        of the Commissioner of Social Security under paragraph (1).
    ``(B) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to the extent 
feasible, provide for the use of information regarding all deceased 
individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner under this 
subsection, through a cooperative arrangement in order for a Federal 
agency to carry out any of the following purposes, if the requirements 
of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (A) are met:
            ``(i) Operating the Do Not Pay working system established 
        by section 5 of the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery 
        Improvement Act of 2012. Under such arrangement, the agency 
        operating the working system may compare death information 
        disclosed by the Commissioner with personally identifiable 
        information reviewed through the working system, and may 
        redisclose such comparison of information, as appropriate, to 
        any Federal or State agency authorized to use the working 
        system.
            ``(ii) The tax administration duties of the agency.
            ``(iii) Oversight activities of the Inspector General of an 
        agency that is provided information regarding all deceased 
        individuals pursuant to this subsection.
            ``(iv) Civil or criminal enforcement activities that are 
        authorized by law.
    ``(C) With respect to the reimbursement to the Commissioner of 
Social Security for the reasonable cost of carrying out a cooperative 
arrangement described in subparagraph (A) between the Commissioner of 
Social Security and an agency, the Commissioner shall--
            ``(i) establish a defined calculation method for purposes 
        of calculating the reasonable cost of carrying out the 
        arrangement that does not take into account any services, 
        information, or unrelated payments provided by the agency to 
        the Commissioner; and
            ``(ii) reimbursement payments shall be accounted for and 
        recorded separately from other transactions.
    ``(4) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter into similar 
arrangements with States to provide information regarding all deceased 
individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner under this 
subsection for use by States in programs wholly funded by the States, 
or for use in the administration of a benefit pension plan or 
retirement system for employees of a State or a political subdivision 
thereof, if the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of 
paragraph (3)(A) are met. For purposes of this paragraph, the terms 
`retirement system' and `political subdivision' have the meanings given 
such terms in section 218(b).
    ``(5) The Commissioner of Social Security may use or provide for 
the use of information regarding all deceased individuals furnished to 
or maintained by the Commissioner under this subsection for statistical 
purposes and research activities by Federal and State agencies 
(including research activities conducted under a contract or a 
cooperative arrangement (as such terms are defined for purposes of 
sections 6303 and 6305, respectively, of title 31, United States Code) 
with such an agency) if the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of 
paragraph (3)(A) are met.''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking 
                ``subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3)'' and 
                inserting ``clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of paragraph 
                (3)(A)''.
            (2) Repeal.--Effective on the date that is 5 years after 
        the date of enactment of this Act, the amendments made by this 
        subsection to paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (8) of section 
        205(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) are 
        repealed, and the provisions of section 205(r) of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) so amended are restored and 
        revived as if such amendments had not been enacted.
    (b) Amendments to Internal Revenue Code.--
            (1) In general.--Section 6103(d)(4) of the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986 is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by striking 
                ``Secretary of Health and Human Services'' each place 
                it appears and inserting ``Commissioner of Social 
                Security''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``such 
                Secretary'' and all that follows through ``deceased 
                individuals.'' and inserting ``such Commissioner 
                pursuant to such contract, except that such contract 
                may provide that such information is only to be used by 
                the Social Security Administration (or any other 
                Federal agency) for purposes authorized in the Social 
                Security Act or this title.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Report to Congress on Alternative Sources of Death Data.--
            (1) Requirements.--The Commissioner of Social Security, in 
        coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall conduct 
        a review of potential alternative sources of death data 
        maintained by the non-Federal sources, including sources 
        maintained by State agencies or associations of State agencies, 
        for use by Federal agencies and programs. The review shall 
        include analyses of--
                    (A) the accuracy and completeness of such data;
                    (B) interoperability of such data;
                    (C) the extent to which there is efficient 
                accessibility of such data by Federal agencies;
                    (D) the cost to Federal agencies of accessing and 
                maintaining such data;
                    (E) the security of such data;
                    (F) the reliability of such data; and
                    (G) a comparison of the potential alternate sources 
                of death data to the death data distributed by the 
                Commissioner of Social Security.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management 
        and Budget shall submit a report to Congress on the results of 
        the review and analyses required under paragraph (1). The 
        report shall include a recommendation by the Director of the 
        Office of Management and Budget regarding whether to extend the 
        agency access to death data distributed by the Commissioner of 
        Social Security provided under the amendments made by 
        subsection (a)(1) beyond the date on which such amendments are 
        to be repealed under subsection (a)(2).

SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE USE OF DATA BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO CURB 
              IMPROPER PAYMENTS.

    The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 
2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 8. IMPROVING THE USE OF DEATH DATA BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.

    ``(a) Guidance by the Office of Management and Budget.--
            ``(1) Guidance to agencies.--Not later than 1 year after 
        the date of enactment of this section, and in consultation with 
        the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency 
        and the heads of other relevant Federal, State, and local 
        agencies, and Indian tribes and tribal organizations, the 
        Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue 
        guidance for each agency or component of an agency that 
        operates or maintains a database of information relating to 
        beneficiaries, annuity recipients, or any purpose described in 
        section 205(r)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        405(r)(3)(B)) for which improved data matching with databases 
        relating to the death of an individual (in this section 
        referred to as `death databases') would be relevant and 
        necessary regarding implementation of this section to provide 
        such agencies or components access to the death databases no 
        later than 1 year after such date of enactment.
            ``(2) Plan to assist states and local agencies and indian 
        tribes and tribal organizations.--Not later than 1 year after 
        the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        jointly develop a plan to assist States and local agencies, and 
        Indian tribes and tribal organizations, in providing 
        electronically to the Federal Government records relating to 
        the death of individuals, which may include recommendations to 
        Congress for any statutory changes or financial assistance to 
        States and local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal 
        organizations that are necessary to ensure States and local 
        agencies and Indian tribes and tribal organizations can provide 
        such records electronically. The plan may include 
        recommendations for the authorization of appropriations or 
        other funding to carry out the plan.
    ``(b) Reports.--
            ``(1) Report to congress on improving data matching 
        regarding payments to deceased individuals.--Not later than 1 
        year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 
        of the Treasury, in consultation with the heads of other 
        relevant Federal agencies, and in consultation with States and 
        local agencies, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, shall 
        submit to Congress a plan to improve how States and local 
        agencies and Indian tribes and tribal organizations that 
        provide benefits under a federally funded program will improve 
        data matching with the Federal Government with respect to the 
        death of individuals who are recipients of such benefits.
            ``(2) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
        of enactment of this section, and for each of the 4 succeeding 
        years, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to Congress a 
        report regarding the implementation of this section. The first 
        report submitted under this paragraph shall include the 
        recommendations of the Secretary required under subsection 
        (a)(2).
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section, the terms `Indian tribe' and 
`tribal organization' have the meanings given those terms in section 4 
of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
U.S.C. 450b).''.

SEC. 4. PLAN FOR ENSURING THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF DEATH DATA 
              MAINTAINED AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY 
              ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit to 
Congress a plan, which shall include an estimate of the cost of 
implementing the policies and procedures described in such plan, to 
improve the accuracy and completeness of the death data (including, 
where feasible and cost-effective, data regarding individuals who are 
not eligible for or receiving benefits under titles II or XVI of the 
Social Security Act) maintained and distributed by the Social Security 
Administration.
    (b) Content of Plan.--In developing the plan required under 
subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social Security shall consider 
whether to include the following elements:
            (1) Procedures for--
                    (A) identifying individuals who are extremely 
                elderly, as determined by the Commissioner, but for 
                whom no record of death exists in the records of the 
                Social Security Administration;
                    (B) verifying the information contained in the 
                records of the Social Security Administration with 
                respect to individuals described in subparagraph (A) 
                and correcting any inaccuracies; and
                    (C) where appropriate, disclosing corrections made 
                to the records of the Social Security Administration.
            (2) Improved policies and procedures for identifying and 
        correcting erroneous death records, including policies and 
        procedures for--
                    (A) identifying individuals listed as dead who are 
                actually alive;
                    (B) identifying individuals listed as alive who are 
                actually dead; and
                    (C) allowing individuals or survivors of deceased 
                individuals to notify the Social Security 
                Administration of potential errors.
            (3) Improved policies and procedures to identify and 
        correct discrepancies in the records of the Social Security 
        Administration, including social security number records.
            (4) A process for employing statistical analysis of the 
        death data maintained and distributed by the Social Security 
        Administration to determine an estimate of the number of 
        erroneous records.
            (5) Recommendations for legislation, as necessary.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON INFORMATION SECURITY.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit a report to the 
Committees on Ways and Means, Oversight and Government Reform, and 
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the Committees 
on Finance and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
that--
            (1) identifies all information systems of the Social 
        Security Administration containing sensitive information; and
            (2) describes the measures the Commissioner is taking to 
        secure and protect such information systems.
                                                       Calendar No. 639

115th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2374

                          [Report No. 115-352]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act 
  of 2012, including making changes to the Do Not Pay Initiative, for 
 improved detection, prevention, and recovery of improper payments to 
             deceased individuals, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           November 13, 2018

                       Reported with an amendment