[Senate Report 113-124]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


113th Congress 
 1st Session                     SENATE                          Report
                                                                113-124
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

                                                       Calendar No. 260


      IMPROPER PAYMENTS AGENCY COOPERATION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2013

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 1360

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




   December 12 (legislative day, December 11), 2013.--Ordered to be 
                                printed

                                ---------

                  U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
                          WASHINGTON : 2013

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        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                  THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan                 TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas              JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana          RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
JON TESTER, Montana                  RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MARK BEGICH, Alaska                  MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire
HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota

                   Richard J. Kessler, Staff Director
               John P. Kilvington, Deputy Staff Director
                    Beth M. Grossman, Chief Counsel
            Peter P. Tyler, Senior Professional Staff Member
               Keith B. Ashdown, Minority Staff Director
         Christopher J. Barkley, Minority Deputy Staff Director
               Andrew C. Dockham, Minority Chief Counsel
                  Patrick J. Bailey, Minority Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk


                                                       Calendar No. 260
113th Congress
                                 SENATE
                                                                 Report
 1st Session                                                    113-124

======================================================================



 
      IMPROPER PAYMENTS AGENCY COOPERATION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2013

                                _______
                                

   December 12 (legislative day, December 11), 2013.--Ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Carper, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1360]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1360) 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, 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon and 
recommends that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................8
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................8
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................10
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Estimate............................11
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported...........12

                         I. Purpose and Summary

    S. 1360 seeks to reduce the inadvertent and improper 
payment of federal benefits to deceased individuals. It does so 
by (1) directing the Social Security Administration (SSA) to 
share its most complete database of deceased individuals with 
other federal agencies, (2) improving the accuracy of the death 
data the federal government collects, and (3) improving the 
sharing of best practices among government agencies to better 
identify, prevent and recover improper payments to dead people. 
In addition, S. 1360 requires improvements to the data 
analytics operations of the Do Not Pay Initiative for the 
purposes of curbing improper payments, and provides federal 
agencies and their inspectors general with access to the Postal 
Service's database of mail delivery addresses, to better allow 
identification of individuals or businesses whose lack of a 
physical address prohibits them from billing for federal 
services.

              II. Background and Need for the Legislation

    This Committee has long been concerned with the federal 
government's persistent improper payment problem--that is, 
executive branch agencies' too common mistake of sending money 
to people or companies, whether for benefits or under 
contracts, either in an incorrect amount or when no money 
should be paid to the recipient at all. Improper payments 
include remittances to ineligible recipients, duplicate 
payments, payments for a good or service not received, and 
payments that do not reflect credits for applicable 
discounts.\1\ Improper payments by federal agencies impose a 
significant cost on taxpayers; the Treasury loses literally 
billions of dollars annually to overpayments, including, at 
times, fraudulent payments to government contractors, program 
beneficiaries, and others. For fiscal year 2012, for example, 
federal agencies reported an estimated total of $108 billion in 
improper payments, a decrease from the $116 billion reported 
for the prior fiscal year, but still a staggering amount.\2\
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    \1\Congressional Research Service (CRS), Improper Payments and 
Recovery Audits: Legislation, Implementation, and Analysis, R42878 
(January 2, 2013), p. 1.
    \2\Pursuant to an executive order, the Secretary of the Treasury in 
consultation with the Attorney General and the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) maintains a website on improper payments reporting at 
http://www.paymentaccuracy.gov/.
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           A. PREVIOUS LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

    For over a decade, a series of important laws and 
administrative actions have attempted to identify, prevent, and 
recover improper payments.\3\
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    \3\CRS, Improper Payments and Recovery Audits: Legislation, 
Implementation, and Analysis, R42878, (January 2, 2013), p. 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA). Agencies 
began to deal comprehensively with improper payments following 
the enactment of IPIA, which required each agency subject to 
the requirements of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990\4\ 
to annually review all programs and activities that it 
administers, identify those that may be susceptible to 
significant improper payments, develop improper payments 
estimates for those programs deemed susceptible, and report the 
estimates annually.\5\
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    \4\The list of the 24 agencies covered by this mandate is found at 
31 U.S.C.A. Sec. 901(b)(1)(2004).
    \5\Pub. L.No. 107-300, 116 Stat. 2350, (31 U.S.C.A. Sec. 3321 
note)(2002).
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    Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 
(IPERA). In July 2010, Congress passed, and the President 
signed, IPERA to enhance the reporting and reduction of 
improper payments.\6\ IPERA amended IPIA by expanding on the 
previous requirements for identifying, estimating, and 
reporting on programs and activities susceptible to significant 
improper payments and expanding requirements for recovering 
overpayments across a broad range of federal programs. IPERA:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\Pub. L. No. 111-204, 124 Stat. 2224 (2010).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Added a requirement that any program with 
estimated improper payments exceeding specific dollar amounts 
and error rate thresholds set out in the law must report on the 
actions the agency is taking to reduce improper payments.
     Imposed a new requirement for agencies to conduct 
audits to recover improper payments, where cost effective, for 
each program and activity with at least $1 million in annual 
program outlays.
     Established incentives and budgetary penalties for 
programs that fail to comply with the requirements of the law 
over a reasonable number of years.
     Required each federal agency's inspector general 
to determine annually whether his or her agency is in 
compliance with certain IPERA requirements and to report on 
that determination.
    Do Not Pay List. In June 2010, the Administration 
established a Do Not Pay List via a White House memorandum.\7\ 
The memorandum requires agencies to prevent payment errors 
before they occur by directing them to check the Do Not Pay 
List before making any payments or grants. Housed within the 
Department of the Treasury, the Do Not Pay List was established 
to allow single-stop screening against the following databases:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\See Memorandum on Enhancing Payment Accuracy Through a ``Do Not 
Pay List,'' http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-
memorandum-enhancing-payment-accuracy-through-a-do-not-pay-list. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
           The Social Security Administration's (SSA) 
        Death Master File (DMF), which lists all deaths 
        reported to the agency since 1936;
           The General Services Administration's 
        Excluded Parties List System, which lists entities 
        debarred from receiving federal contracts;
           The Department of the Treasury's Debt Check 
        Database, which contains information on individuals who 
        owe delinquent child support or non-tax debt that might 
        exclude them from certain federal loans, loan 
        insurance, or loan guarantees;
           The Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development's (HUD) Credit Alert Verification Reporting 
        System, which provides information on individuals who 
        are in default or have had claims paid on direct or 
        guaranteed federal loans, or are delinquent on other 
        debts owed to federal agencies; and
           The Department of Health and Human Services' 
        Office of Inspector General's (HHS-OIG) List of 
        Excluded Individuals/Entities, which identifies those 
        barred from federally-funded health care programs.
    The memorandum requires that agencies access these 
databases through a single federal government electronic 
portal.
    IPERA Improvement Act of 2012 (the ``Improvement Act''). 
This law went beyond IPERA's goals for curbing agencies' 
improper payments.\8\ Specifically, the Improvement Act:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\Pub. L. No. 112-248, 126 Stat. 2390 (31 U.S.C.A. Sec. 3321 
note)(2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Expanded requirements for agencies to estimate 
improper payments, forcing agencies to improve previously weak 
efforts at estimating such payments. For example, the Act 
prevents agencies from relying only on voluntary disclosure of 
improper payments by contractors and requires agencies to 
produce documentation to prove a payment was correct.
     Established in statute the government-wide Do Not 
Pay program (previously established through White House 
memorandum as described above) that requires agencies to check 
against a central, comprehensive database of entities 
ineligible to receive federal funds before making payments, 
including the SSA's DMF and the other databases specified in 
the 2010 White House memorandum. The law also addressed some of 
the challenges encountered by the Administration as it 
attempted to implement its Do Not Pay program, such as the need 
for multilateral data sharing agreements among agencies.
     Required that the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB), within 120 days of enactment, issue a plan for curbing 
improper payments to deceased individuals.

  B. IMPEDIMENTS TO AGENCY ACCESS TO THE MOST COMPLETE VERSION OF THE 
                               DEATH DATA

    Most federal agencies do not have access to the most 
complete death records maintained by the SSA. The most complete 
version is provided to only a limited number of agencies due to 
statutory limits and a lack of interagency agreements between 
the requesting agency and SSA for sharing the death data.
    The SSA receives death reports from family members, funeral 
homes, states, other federal agencies, postal authorities, and 
financial institutions. SSA records a person's death in the DMF 
if it can match that person's name and Social Security number 
to its records. The Social Security Act requires SSA to share 
death information, including data reported by the states, with 
federal agencies to ensure proper payment of benefits to 
individuals.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 405(r)(2010)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    However, that same provision of the Social Security Act 
prohibits SSA from sharing state-reported death information for 
any other non-beneficiary purposes.\10\ As a result, SSA 
maintains a shorter public list, available for purchase from 
the Commerce Department's National Technical Information 
Service, which excludes state-reported deaths--about 25 percent 
of SSA's total records.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 405(r)(6)( 2010).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Based on congressional testimony,\11\ the Committee 
believes that barring all non-beneficiary agencies from 
accessing the most complete death data is antiquated, and that 
the law must therefore be updated. Procedures would be in place 
to ensure security and privacy of the data by non-beneficiary 
paying agencies (the same required for beneficiary paying 
agencies).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\``Curbing Federal Agency Waste and Fraud: New Steps to 
Strengthen the Integrity of Federal Payments;'' Hearing Before the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 113th Cong. 
(2013) http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/curbing-federal-agency-
waste-and-fraud-new-steps-to-strengthen-the-integrity-of-federal-
payments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Unfortunately, even many benefit-paying federal agencies do 
not have access to the more comprehensive DMF.\12\ This is 
largely because establishing a cooperative agreement with SSA--
a prerequisite under the statute--is a time-consuming process 
often taking years and can be a low priority for SSA and other 
agencies. Examples of benefit-paying federal agencies that 
currently do not have access to the complete DMF include: (1) 
Department of Homeland Security (2) Department of Agriculture 
(3) Department of Labor (4) Federal Black Lung Benefits Program 
(5) Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (6) Department 
of the Treasury and (7) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\To eliminate any confusion about the version that should be 
available to federal agencies, Section 7(b) of S. 1360 changes the name 
of the Death Master File to the National Death Registry (the 
``Registry'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Even if these benefit-paying federal agencies received 
access to the more comprehensive list, many other agencies that 
make non-benefit payments--and even programs within benefit-
paying federal agencies that do not themselves make benefit 
payments--still would not have the ability to ensure that they 
were not making payments to deceased individuals. And their 
Inspectors General, whose audit work is so critical to ensuring 
the efficient function of federal programs, also would continue 
to have access only to the less complete list. Some examples of 
non-beneficiary agencies that are denied access to the complete 
DMF include: (1) Department of Justice (2) Department of State 
(3) Drug Enforcement Administration (4) Federal Bureau of 
Investigation (5) General Services Administration and (6) 
Centers for Disease Control.
    While all payment-making agencies are allowed access to the 
Do Not Pay Initiative to screen payments, SSA has provided the 
Treasury Department with access only to its less comprehensive 
death list for use in the Do Not Pay initiative. This means 
that a critical screening mechanism established by the IPERA 
Improvement Act to screen federal payments for improper 
payments omits a significant number of individuals that SSA 
knows have died.
    Denying access of the most complete death data to many 
federal agencies is significant and consequential to the level 
of federal improper payments. Federal agencies have in recent 
years remitted a large amount of money either to dead 
beneficiaries, or for payments for services for deceased 
individuals:
     A total of $601 million in improper payments were 
made from 2006 through 2010 to federal retirees found to have 
already died.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General 
(OPM-OIG), Stopping Improper Payment to Deceased Annuitants (September 
14, 2011), p. ii. http://www.opm.gov/our-inspector-general/legal-and-
legislative-affairs/stopping-improper-payments-to-deceased-
annuitants.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     More than $1 billion in farm program payments were 
made to farmers who were dead for more than three years.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\GAO, Federal Farm Programs: USDA Needs to Strengthen Management 
Controls to Prevent Improper Payments to Estates and Deceased 
Individuals, GAO-07-1137T (July 24, 2007), p. 2. A recent report found 
that payments to dead individuals continue to be a problem at the 
Department of Agriculture. See Farm Programs: USDA Needs to Do More to 
Prevent Improper Payments to Deceased Individuals, GAO-13-503 (June 28, 
2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Medicare prescription drug plans were paid 
approximately $3.6 million for drugs provided to 1,500 dead 
beneficiaries.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-
OIG), Review of Medicare Payments to Prescription Drug Plans on Behalf 
of Deceased Enrollees, A-05-09-00027 (May 17, 2011), p. i.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Medicare did not identify or recover an estimated 
$8.2 million in overpayments for claims with dates of service 
after the beneficiaries' deaths.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\HHS-OIG, Review of Medicare Parts A and B Services Billed with 
Dates of Services After Beneficiaries' Deaths, A-01-09-00519 (September 
2010), p. i.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     New Mexico paid claims for 11 deceased Medicaid 
beneficiaries who died in other states and therefore were not 
included in the death data maintained by New Mexico Bureau of 
Vital Records, a situation not unique to New Mexico.\17\
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    \17\HHS-OIG, Review of Medicaid Payments for Deceased Recipients in 
New Mexico, A-06-10-00093 (March 31, 2011), p.i.
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     Public housing agencies paid an estimated $7 
million in federal rental assistance to deceased tenants in 
single-member households, even after receiving a 2008 memo from 
HUD to take corrective actions.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \18\Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD-
OIG), HUD Did Not Maintain Documentation to Determine if Public Housing 
Agencies Took Corrective Action on its January 7, 2008 Memorandum and 
Public Housing Agencies Paid an Estimated $7 million for Deceased 
Tenants, 2010-FW-0001 (November 10, 2009), p. 1.
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                C. IMPROVING ACCURACY OF THE DEATH DATA

    In addition to SSA offering incomplete access to benefit-
paying federal agencies, the DMF, as currently administered, 
faces additional shortcomings. Indications of these 
shortcomings include:
           In 2013, the Government Accountability 
        Office (GAO) reported its analysis showing 130 records 
        where the date of death was recorded to occur before 
        the date of birth, and 1,295 records where the recorded 
        age at death was between 111 and 129;\19\ and
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \19\GAO, Social Security Administration: Preliminary Observations 
on the Death Master File, GAO-13-574T (May 8, 2013), p. 5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
           In July 2012, the Social Security 
        Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG) 
        reported that approximately 1.2 million deceased 
        beneficiaries were not captured on the DMF because SSA 
        was unable to match the beneficiaries' personally 
        identifiable information in its records.\20\
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    \20\SSA-OIG, Title II Deceased Beneficiaries Who Do Not Have Death 
Information in the Numident, A-09-11-21171 (July 2012), p. 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The SSA Inspector General and GAO made recommendations to 
improve the accuracy of the DMF, both the complete database 
available to some agencies, and the less complete public DMF. 
These steps include more frequent analysis of the existing data 
and improved procedures for correction.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \21\GAO, Social Security Administration: Preliminary Observations 
on the Death Master File, GAO-13-574T (May 8, 2013); GAO, Social 
Security Death Data: Additional Action Needed to Address Data Errors 
and Federal Agency Access, GAO-14-46 (November 2013); and SSA Inspector 
General, Hearing Statement for the Record before the Senate Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Curbing Federal Agency 
Waste and: New Steps to Strengthen the Integrity of Federal Payments 
(May 8, 2013).
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     D. ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO CURB FEDERAL IMPROPER PAYMENTS

    Agencies can take actions to curb improper payments beyond 
those involving deceased individuals.
    Since passage of the IPERA Improvement Act, the Department 
of Treasury established operations of the Do Not Pay 
Initiative. This Initiative includes the creation of a center 
within the Treasury Department that will analyze payment data 
in order to identify payments that are improper or potentially 
fraudulent. This analysis would involve payments across a wide-
range of federal agencies and programs. However, the roles and 
responsibilities of this analysis center have not yet been 
determined. For example, the center's interaction with similar 
efforts by federal agency inspectors general is not yet 
defined, and there is no timetable for the continuing 
development of the center.
    A common challenge for improving the detection of improper 
payments is access to databases helpful for identifying the 
validity of payment recipients under program rules. A common 
need is to verify business or home addresses. The U.S. Postal 
Service maintains a list of mail delivery addresses, including 
the lists of known locations of commercial mailboxes and 
unoccupied buildings. This database is helpful for purposes of 
curbing improper payments when a valid address is necessary, 
and the lack of a valid address is an indicator of potential 
fraud. However, most agencies and inspectors general do not yet 
have access to this database.

   E. HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT 
                                HEARING

    On May 8, 2013, the Committee held a hearing to examine the 
implementation of IPERA and the IPERA Improvement Act, and to 
explore potential next steps for similar initiatives, such as 
improving the sharing and accuracy of data to prevent improper 
payments to dead people. At the hearing, The Honorable Daniel 
I. Werfel, Controller, OMB's Office of Federal Financial 
Management, highlighted federal efforts to prevent improper 
payments. Both his testimony and that of Richard L. Gregg, 
Fiscal Assistant Secretary at the Department of the Treasury, 
also provided an update on the progress made in implementing 
the Do Not Pay initiative, acknowledging that there was much to 
be done to ensure that the initiative provided a comprehensive 
solution to payment integrity. The Honorable Patrick P. 
O'Carroll, Jr., SSA Inspector General and Daniel Bertoni, a GAO 
Director for Education, Welfare, and Income Security 
highlighted continuing weaknesses in the DMF. Finally, Marianna 
LaCanfora, the SSA Acting Deputy Commissioner for Retirement 
and Disability Policy, discussed administration proposals to 
make the DMF more widely available to federal agencies for 
purposes of combatting fraud and curbing improper payments. The 
proposals would require legislative action.
    S. 1360 reflects lessons learned through the June 2013 
hearing, as well as the Committee's other ongoing oversight of 
federal agency improper payments.

                  F. SUMMARY OF NEEDS FOR IMPROVEMENTS

    S. 1360, the Improper Payments Agency Cooperation 
Enhancement Act, provides federal agencies, and states that 
manage federal programs, with much greater access to the 
complete DMF in order to curb improper payments to deceased 
individuals, as well as for other needs such as public safety 
and health. The Act also improves the accuracy of the DMF by 
establishing requirements for correcting any errors detected 
and by establishing procedures for sharing the instances of 
death among federal agencies. The Act convenes a short-term 
task force to ensure that federal agencies managing retirement 
programs share best practices for identifying deceased 
recipients. Also, the Act requires the Treasury Department to 
submit a report to Congress describing how the Do Not Pay data 
analysis center will operate. Finally, the Act requires the 
Postal Service to provide federal agencies and inspectors 
general with access to its database of mail delivery addresses, 
which can help to curb payments to fraudulent business that use 
invalid addresses.

                        III. Legislative History

    Senators Carper, Coburn, Ayotte, Johnson, McCaskill, and 
Tester introduced S. 1360 on July 24, 2013, and the bill was 
referred to the Committee.
    The Committee considered S. 1360 at a business meeting on 
July 31, 2013. The Committee adopted the bill by voice vote. 
Members present for the vote on the bill were Senators Carper, 
Levin, McCaskill, Tester, Begich, Baldwin, Coburn, Johnson, 
Ayotte, and Chiesa.

                    IV. Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1--Short title

    This section establishes the Act's title as the ``Improper 
Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013.''

Section 2--Improving the sharing and use of death data by government 
        agencies to curb improper payments

    This section amends the IPERA Improvement Act by adding to 
it a new Section 7, which establishes new requirements 
regarding improper payments.
    Subsection (a) defines key terms used in the Act.
    Subsection (b) requires the SSA Commissioner to establish 
and maintain a National Deaths Registry (the National Deaths 
Registry is the new name the bill gives to the existing Death 
Master File currently maintained by SSA).
    Subsection (c) requires the Commissioner to enter into 
cooperative agreements with federal agencies, under which the 
agencies and their inspectors general may receive information 
in the Registry (in full and without limitation). The 
agreements will require agencies to reimburse SSA for the 
reasonable cost of providing such information. The agencies may 
receive the Registry information for the following purposes: 
(i) making authorized payments or to prevent, identify, or 
recover improper payments; (ii) curbing improper payments of 
federal retirement annuities to deceased individuals; (iii) 
verifying information obtained as part of the decennial census; 
and (iv) facilitating other agency functions, including public 
health or safety, law enforcement, tax administration, health 
administration, and debt collection. Subsection (c) also 
requires the SSA Commissioner, to the extent feasible, to enter 
into cooperative agreements with states and local and tribal 
governments to provide, on a reimbursable basis, information in 
the Registry for purposes of making federally funded payments, 
avoiding federally funded improper payments, and for making 
payments wholly funded by state or local or tribal governments. 
The Commissioner may withhold information in the Registry if he 
determines that there are exceptional circumstances, such as 
safety of the individual or interference with an investigation. 
Information provided from the Registry shall be considered 
strictly confidential and only used for purposes described 
therein.
    Subsection (d) establishes Registry requirements. It 
requires the SSA Commissioner to implement procedures for 
identifying and correcting errors in the Registry identified by 
federal agencies, states and local and tribal governments, and 
members of the public. These procedures shall include a process 
for determining the accuracy of death records in the Registry 
through the use of a statistical sample. The Commissioner shall 
ensure that the Registry is operated and maintained in 
accordance with protocols that ensure the secure transfer and 
storage of information. The Commissioner shall also make 
information in the Registry available to a contractor of any 
agency, state, or local or tribal government for purposes 
described in the Act if the agency, state or local or tribal 
government certifies that the contractor is in compliance with 
the Act's privacy and security requirements.
    Subsection (e) requires the Director of OMB to identify 
each agency that maintains a beneficiary database that would 
benefit from improved data matching with the Registry. The head 
of each such agency shall establish a data matching procedure 
and, within one year of the enactment of this Act, a process to 
promptly inform the Commissioner of the death of a federal 
beneficiary or annuitant. Establishing such a data matching 
procedure shall not diminish the requirement for the OMB 
Director to convene a task force to improve the sharing of 
information related to the death of an individual receiving a 
federal retirement annuity.
    Subsection (f) requires the OMB Director to (1) issue 
implementation guidance within six months of the date of 
enactment, after consulting with the Council of Inspectors 
General on Integrity and Efficiency, the SSA Commissioner, and 
the heads of other relevant agencies; (2) provide guidance to 
states and local and tribal governments on accessing and using 
the Registry; (3) develop a plan to assist states and local and 
tribal governments in order to enable them to electronically 
submit death records to the SSA Commissioner no later than 
January 1, 2015, including recommendations for statutory 
changes or financial assistance necessary to facilitate such 
electronic submissions.
    Subsection (g) requires the OMB Director to (1) consult 
with relevant parties and to submit a plan within 270 days of 
enactment describing how states and local governments that 
provide benefits under a federally funded program will improve 
data matching with the Registry and (2) report annually on the 
implementation of this Act within one year of enactment and for 
three additional years.
    Subsection (h) requires the SSA Commissioner to include in 
the Registry information regarding death information received 
from a state, or any other source, and to provide such 
information as authorized by the Act to any agency and 
inspector general, thereby overriding current statutory 
restrictions on such sharing. The Commissioner may use any 
information in the Registry for any purpose authorized under 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 401 et seq.) regardless 
of whether the information was provided to the Commissioner 
under the authority of this Act or the Social Security Act.
    Section 2 of the Act also makes a technical correction to 
Section 2(g)(3) of IPIA of 2002 (31 U.S.C. Sec. 3321 note) to 
ensure that the definition of improper payments does not 
inadvertently omit any group of potential recipients. 
Specifically, this provision clarifies that improper payments 
encompasses improper payments not only to any non-federal 
person or entity and to federal employees but also to ``any 
other individual in federal service,'' which includes elected 
officials and uniformed personnel as well.

Section 3. Enhancement of prepayment and pre-award procedures

    This section amends Section 5(a)(2) of the IPERA 
Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. Sec. 3321 note) by adding 
subparagraph (F), which states ``The registry of people who are 
deceased established by the Commissioner of Social Security 
under section 7.''; and by adding paragraph (3), requiring each 
agency operating or maintaining a database described in 
paragraph (2) to provide each other agency access to such 
database, subject to reasonable conditions. These amendments 
have the intent of requiring that relevant federal agencies, as 
determined, share information on identified deceased 
individuals.

Section 4. Data analytics

    This section amends section 5 of the IPERA Improvement Act 
of 2012 (31 U.S.C. Sec. 3321 note) by adding subparagraph (h), 
requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to submit a report to 
Congress describing how the Do Not Pay Initiative data 
analytics center incorporate (1) comparisons of payment and 
beneficiary enrollment lists for state programs that use 
federal funds to identify improper payments, (2) reviews of 
payments across federal programs to identify payment 
duplication, and (3) reviews of other information determined to 
be effective. The report, due within 180 days after enactment, 
must also describe the metrics used to determine if the 
analytic and investigatory efforts have helped reduce improper 
payments.

Section 5. Curbing improper payment of federal retirement annuities to 
        deceased individuals

    This section requires the OMB Director to convene a task 
force within 60 days of enactment charged with identifying ways 
to improve information sharing and best practices with respect 
to the deaths of retired annuitants. Task force membership 
shall include the Department of Defense, SSA, the Department of 
Veterans Affairs, the Office of Personnel Management, and any 
other agency that provides annuity payments. The task force's 
plan is due within 270 days of enactment, and a report to the 
Congress on that plan is due no later than one year after 
enactment. The task force shall also report to Congress on the 
plan's implementation no later than two years after enactment, 
at which time the task force will be dissolved.

Section 6. Agency access to postal database

    This section amends 39 U.S.C. Sec. 412 to require the 
Postal Service to provide agencies and inspectors general with 
access to its database of mail delivery addresses, including 
the lists of known locations of commercial mailbox offices, for 
purposes of curbing improper payments. Such access shall be 
made under mutually agreeable terms and be reimbursable. This 
section also specifies the definitions of certain terms.

                   V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill. The Committee 
concurs with the Congressional Budget Office, which states that 
the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act and 
would not affect state, local, and tribal governments. The 
enactment of this legislation will not have significant 
regulatory impact.

                VI. Congressional Budget Office Estimate

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, November 19, 2013.
Hon. Tom Carper,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1360, the Improper 
Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Sheila Dacey.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

S. 1360--Improper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013

    S. 1360 would require federal agencies to expand their use 
of information on deceased individuals to improve accuracy of 
payments and for other purposes. To that end, the bill would 
require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to share 
information on deaths with more agencies and for a broader 
range of purposes. In addition, it would require the Office of 
Management and Budget to provide guidance, convene a task force 
on sharing information on the deaths of federal retirees, and 
submit reports to the Congress. Finally, the bill would require 
the Secretary of the Treasury to report efforts to reduce 
improper payments and require the Postal Service to share 
information on delivery addresses for the purposes of reducing 
improper payments.
    Enacting S. 1360 could reduce direct spending; therefore, 
pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that 
such effects would probably be insignificant for each year over 
the next 10 years. The bill also would not have a significant 
effect on revenues. CBO estimates that implementing S. 1360 
would have no significant net impact on discretionary spending.
    Under current law, the Social Security Administration 
collects information on deaths and maintains a record--the 
Death Master File (DMF)--of all deaths reported to the agency 
dating to 1936. The DMF includes the deceased person's name, 
social security number, date of birth, and date of death. SSA 
uses the DMF to administer its own program and shares the 
information with other programs that pay federal benefits. For 
some federal agencies like the Internal Revenue Service, SSA 
provides the entire file. SSA also establishes cooperative 
agreements with other agencies, such as state agencies 
administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to 
periodically verify identifying information on program 
applicants and recipients against the DMF. SSA also makes a 
less-complete file of information on deaths available to the 
general public. That public file has information on about 87 
million deceased individuals compared to 98 million in the 
complete file. (A provision of law restricts SSA from sharing 
information about deaths that were reported to SSA by states 
with anyone other than agencies that pay federal benefits.)
    S. 1360 would require SSA to share the complete DMF with 
more agencies and for a broader range of purposes. It also 
would make the complete DMF part of the Do Not Pay program--a 
program administered by the Department of the Treasury that 
allows agencies to check various databases before making 
payments in order to identify ineligible recipients. Hence, 
there would likely be more frequent checks against the DMF than 
occur under current law.
    The expanded availability of information on deaths would 
probably reduce the amount of mistaken payments to dead people, 
but CBO expects that any budgetary savings would be small. 
Because large, benefit-paying agencies generally already use 
the complete DMF, CBO expects that enacting the bill would not 
reduce the number of payments to deceased people by a 
significant amount. In addition, the Department of Treasury has 
mechanisms it uses to recover such payments if they are 
identified at a later time, so many such improper payments are 
recovered anyway. For these reasons, CBO estimates that any 
reduction in unrecovered payments to deceased individuals as a 
result of enacting S. 1360 would be small.
    S. 1360 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Sheila Dacey 
and Matt Pickford. The estimate was approved by Peter H. 
Fontaine, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

       VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
S. 1360 as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed 
to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in 
italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is 
shown in roman):

   IMPROPER PAYMENTS ELIMINATION AND RECOVERY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2012


                              P.L. 112-248


                       (31 U.S.C. Sec. 3321 note)

    Section 1. Short title.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 5. DO NOT PAY INITIATIVE.

    *  *  *
    (a) Prepayment and preaward procedures.--
          (1) In general.--Each agency shall review prepayment 
        and preaward procedures and ensure that a thorough 
        review of available databases with relevant information 
        on eligibility occurs to determine program or award 
        eligibility and prevent improper payments before the 
        release of any Federal funds.
          (2) Databases.--At a minimum and before issuing any 
        payment and award, each agency shall review as 
        appropriate the following databases to verify 
        eligibility of the payment and award:
                  (A) The Death Master File of the Social 
                Security Administration.
                  (B) The General Services Administration's 
                Excluded Parties List System.
                  (C) The Debt Check Database of the Department 
                of the Treasury.
                  (D) The Credit Alert System or Credit Alert 
                Interactive Voice Response System of the 
                Department of Housing and Urban Development.
                  (E) The List of Excluded Individuals/Entities 
                of the Office of Inspector General of the 
                Department of Health and Human Services.
                  (F) The registry of people who are deceased 
                established by the Commissioner of Social 
                Security under section 7.
          (3) Agencies to provide access.--Each agency that 
        operates or maintains a database described in paragraph 
        (2) shall provide each other agency with access to the 
        information contained in that database for purposes of 
        complying with paragraphs (1) and (2), subject to such 
        reasonable and permissible conditions as the agency 
        operating or maintaining the database establishes.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (h) Report on Improper Payments Data Analysis.--Not later 
than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Improper 
Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013, the 
Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to Congress a report, 
which may be included as part of another report submitted to 
Congress, which shall include a description of--
          (1) data analytics performed as part of the Do Not 
        Pay Initiative for the purpose of detecting, 
        preventing, and recovering improper payments through 
        pre-award, post-award per-payment, and post-payment 
        analysis which shall include a description of any 
        analysis or investigations incorporating--
                  (A) review and data matching of payments and 
                beneficiary enrollment lists of State programs 
                carried out using Federal funds for the 
                purposes of identifying eligibility 
                duplication, residency ineligibility, duplicate 
                payments, or other potential improper payment 
                issues;
                  (B) review of multiple Federal agencies and 
                program for which comparison of data could show 
                payment duplication; and
                  (C) review of other information the Secretary 
                of the Treasury determines are effective, which 
                may include investigation or review of 
                information from multiple Federal agencies or 
                programs; and
          (2) the metrics used in determining whether the 
        analytic and investigatory efforts have reduced, or 
        contributed to the reduction of, improper payments or 
        improper awards.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 7. IMPROVING THE SHARING AND USE OF DEATH DATA BY GOVERNMENT 
                    AGENCIES TO CURB IMPROPER PAYMENTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
          (1) the term ``Commissioner'' means the Commissioner 
        of Social Security;
          (2) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the 
        Office of Management and Budget;
          (3) the term ``Inspector General'' has the meaning 
        defined by section 5(e)(1);
          (4) the term ``local government'' means the 
        government of a political subdivision of a State;
          (5) the term ``payment'' has the meaning given that 
        term under section 2(g) of the Improper Payment 
        Information Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. Sec. 3321 note);
          (6) the term ``Registry'' means the National Deaths 
        Registry established under subsection (b)(1); and
          (7) the term ``tribal government'' means the 
        government of an Indian tribe, as that term is defined 
        in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 
        Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. Sec. 450b).
    (b) Establishment of Registry.--
          (1) In general.--The Commissioner shall establish and 
        maintain a registry of information relating to the 
        deaths of individuals, to be known as the National 
        Deaths Registry.
          (2) Inclusion of information.--As provided under this 
        section and in accordance with the guidance issued 
        under subsection (f), the Commissioner shall include 
        information relating to the deaths of individuals in 
        the Registry for the purpose of supporting the Do Not 
        Pay Initiative under section 5 and otherwise 
        preventing, identifying, or recovering improper 
        payments.
    (c) Use of the Registry.--
        (1) Availability to federal agencies.--The Commissioner 
        shall enter into cooperative agreements with agencies, 
        including Inspectors General--
                  (A) under which the Commissioner shall 
                provide the information in the Registry (in 
                full and without limitation, as provided in 
                subsection (h)(1)) to the agency or Inspector 
                General for purposes of facilitating--
                          (i) the making of authorized payments 
                        or the prevention, identification, or 
                        recovery of improper payments;
                          (ii) carrying out section 5;
                          (iii) in the case of the Bureau of 
                        the Census, verifying information 
                        obtained as part of a decennial census 
                        conducted under section 141(a) of title 
                        13, United States Code; or (iv) other 
                        agency functions, including public 
                        health or safety, law enforcement, tax 
                        administration, health administration 
                        oversight, and debt collection, as 
                        determined appropriate by the 
                        Commissioner and in accordance with 
                        guidance issued under subsection (f); 
                        and
                  (B) which shall require the agency or 
                Inspector General to provide reimbursement to 
                the Commissioner for the reasonable cost of 
                carrying out the agreement.
          (2) Availability to states and local and tribal 
        government.--
                  (A) For making federally funded payments or 
                avoiding federally funded payments or avoiding 
                federally funded improper payments.--The 
                Commissioner shall, to the extent feasible, 
                enter into cooperative agreements with States 
                and local and tribal governments--
                          (i) to provide the information in the 
                        Registry to the State or local or 
                        tribal government for purposes of 
                        facilitating the making of authorized 
                        payments and the prevention, 
                        identification, or recovery of improper 
                        payments under federally funded 
                        programs; and
                          (ii) which shall require the State or 
                        local or tribal government to provide 
                        reimbursement to the Commissioner for 
                        the reasonable cost of carrying out the 
                        agreement.
                  (B) For programs wholly funded by states and 
                local and tribal governments.--The Commissioner 
                may enter into cooperative agreements with 
                States and local and tribal governments--
                          (i) to provide the information in the 
                        Registry for purposes relating to 
                        programs wholly funded by the State or 
                        local or tribal governments; and
                          (ii) which shall require the State or 
                        local or tribal government to provide 
                        reimbursement to the Commissioner for 
                        the reasonable cost of carrying out the 
                        agreement.
          (3) Exceptional circumstances.--The Commissioner may 
        withhold information that would otherwise be required 
        to be disclosed under a cooperative agreement under 
        this subsection if the Commissioner determines there 
        are exceptional circumstances warranting an exception 
        (such as safety of the individual or interference with 
        an investigation).
          (4) Confidentiality.--Information provided by the 
        Commission under an agreement under this subsection or 
        by an individual to any agency that has entered into a 
        cooperative agreement under this subsection shall be--
                  (A) considered as strictly confidential; and
                  (B) used only for the purposes described in 
                this subsection and for carrying out an 
                agreement under this subsection.
    (d) Registry Requirements.--The Commissioner shall--
          (1) implement procedures for identifying and 
        correcting errors, including those identified--
                  (A) by agencies;
                  (B) by States and local and tribal 
                governments; and
                  (C) by members of the public;
          (2) include a process for determining the accuracy of 
        death records in the Registry, including estimates of 
        accuracy through the use of statistical sampling of 
        errors on a systematic basis;
          (3) ensure the Registry is operated and maintained in 
        accordance with protocols that ensure the secure 
        transfer and storage of any information provided to 
        another entity consistent with applicable laws and best 
        practices of the Federal Government relating to 
        information, privacy, security, and disclosure, 
        including protecting social security numbers and other 
        identifiers determined appropriate by the Commissioner; 
        and
          (4) make the information in the Registry available to 
        a contractor of an agency, State, or local or tribal 
        government for carrying out a purpose described in 
        subsection (c)(1) or (c)(2) and in accordance with the 
        cooperative agreement with the agency, State, or local 
        or tribal government if the agency, State, or local or 
        tribal government submits to the Commissioner a 
        certification that the contractor is in compliance with 
        the requirements of the agency relating to privacy and 
        security described in paragraph (3).
    (e) Reporting by Federal Agencies of Additional Death Data 
to the Registry.--
          (1) Improved death data matching by federal 
        agencies.--
                  (A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after 
                the date of enactment of the Improper Payments 
                Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013, the 
                Director shall identify each agency or 
                component of an agency that operates or 
                maintains a database of information relating to 
                beneficiaries, annuity recipients, or other 
                matters such that improved data matching with 
                the Registry would be desirable, as determined 
                by the Director.
                  (B) Matching requirement.--
                          (i) In general.--The head of each 
                        agency identified by the Director under 
                        subparagraph (A) shall establish a data 
                        matching procedure under which the 
                        agency shall compare information in the 
                        database of the agency with information 
                        in the Registry in order to improve the 
                        accuracy and completeness of the 
                        information in both the database of the 
                        agency and in the Registry relating to 
                        the death of individuals and to 
                        facilitate the prevention, 
                        identification, and recovery of 
                        improper payments.
                          (ii) Do not pay program.--The 
                        requirement to establish a data 
                        matching procedure under this 
                        subparagraph shall not be construed to 
                        diminish in any way the requirements 
                        for an agency under section 5, relating 
                        to preventing identifying, and 
                        recovering improper payments, including 
                        to deceased individuals.
          (2) Prompt reporting.--Not later than 1 year after 
        the date of enactment of the Improper Payments Agency 
        Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013, each agency 
        identified by the Director under paragraph (1)(A) shall 
        establish a procedure (consistent with guidance issued 
        under subsection (f)) under which the agency shall, 
        promptly and on a regular basis, submit to the 
        Commissioner information relating to the death of a 
        Federal beneficiary, Federal annuitant recipient, or 
        other individual relevant for the purposes of this 
        section.
    (f) Guidance by the Office of Management and Budget.--
          (1) Guidance to agencies.--Not later than 6 months 
        after the date of enactment of the Improper Payments 
        Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013, and in 
        consultation with the Council of Inspectors General on 
        Integrity and Efficiency, the Commissioner, and the 
        heads of other relevant agencies, the Director shall 
        issue guidance for agencies regarding implementation of 
        this section.
          (2) Guidance for states and local and tribal 
        governments.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
        enactment of the Improper Payments Agency Cooperation 
        Enhancement Act of 2013, the Director shall provide 
        guidance to States and local and tribal governments 
        relating to accessing and using information in the 
        Registry.
          (3) Plan to assist states and local and tribal 
        governments.--The Director shall develop a plan to 
        assist States and local and tribal governments in 
        providing electronically to the Commissioner, for use 
        or inclusion in the Registry, records relating to the 
        death of individuals, which shall include 
        recommendations to Congress for any statutory changes 
        or financial assistance to States and local and tribal 
        governments that are necessary to ensure States and 
        local and tribal governments can provide such records 
        electronically not later than January 1, 2015.
    (g) Reporting.--
          (1) Report to congress on improving data matching 
        regarding payments to individuals who are deceased.--
        Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of 
        Improper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 
        2013, the Director, after consultation with the 
        Commissioner, the heads of other relevant agencies, and 
        States and local and tribal governments, shall submit 
        to Congress a plan regarding how States and local and 
        tribal governments that provide benefits under a 
        federally funded program will improve data matching 
        with the Registry.
          (2) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of the Improper Payments Agency 
        Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2013, and every year 
        thereafter until the date that is 4 years after such 
        date of enactment, the Director shall submit to 
        Congress a report, which may be included as part of 
        another report submitted to Congress by the Director, 
        regarding the implementation of this section and the 
        Improper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act of 
        2013. The first report under this paragraph shall 
        include the recommendations of the Director described 
        in subsection (f)(3).
    (h) Consistency With the Social Security Act.--
          (1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 205(r) of 
        the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 405(r)) or any 
        other provision of that Act, the Commissioner may 
        include in the Registry any information provided to the 
        Commissioner pursuant to that Act (including any 
        information received from a State or any other source) 
        and may use or provide all such information (including 
        information received from States or any other source) 
        as authorized under this section to any agency, 
        including any Inspector General.
          (2) Functions.--To the extent any function of the 
        Commissioner under the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        Sec. 401 et seq.) is the same as a required function of 
        the Commissioner under this section, performance of the 
        function under that Act shall also satisfy the 
        requirement to perform the function under this section.
          (3) Use regardless of source of information.--The 
        Commissioner may use any information in the Registry 
        for any purpose authorized under the Social Security 
        Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 401 et seq.), regardless of whether 
        the information was provided to the Commissioner under 
        authority of this section or any provision of the 
        Social Security Act.
                              ----------                              


               IMPROPER PAYMENTS INFORMATION ACT OF 2002


                              P.L. 107-300


                       (31 U.S.C. Sec. 3321 note)

    Section 2. Estimates of Improper Payments and Reports on 
Actions to Reduce Them.
    (g) Definitions.--In this section:
          (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means an executive 
        agency, as that term is defined in section 102 of title 
        31, United States Code.
          (2) Improper payment.--The term ``improper 
        payment''--
                  (A) means any payment that should not have 
                been made or that was made in an incorrect 
                amount (including overpayments and 
                underpayments) under statutory, contractual, 
                administrative, or other legally applicable 
                requirements; and
                  (B) includes any payment to an ineligible 
                recipient, any payment for an ineligible good 
                or service, any duplicate payment, any payment 
                for a good or service not received (except for 
                such payments where authorized by law), and any 
                payment that does not account for credit for 
                applicable discounts.
          (3) Payment.--The term ``payment'' means any transfer 
        or commitment for future transfer of Federal funds such 
        as cash, securities, loans, loan guarantees, and 
        insurance subsidies to any non-Federal person or entity 
        or a Federal employee or any other individual in 
        Federal service, that is made by a Federal agency, a 
        Federal contractor, a Federal grantee, or a 
        governmental or other organization administering a 
        Federal program or activity.
                              ----------                              


                        TITLE 39--POSTAL SERVICE

PART I. GENERAL

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



                      CHAPTER 4. GENERAL AUTHORITY


SEC. 412. NONDISCLOSURE OF LISTS OF NAMES AND ADDRESSES.

    (a) Except as specifically provided by subsection [(b)] 
subsection (b) or (c) or other law, no officer or employee of 
the Postal Service shall make available to the public by any 
means or for any purpose any mailing or other list of names or 
addresses (past or present) of postal patrons or other persons.
    (b) The Postal Service shall provide to the Secretary of 
Commerce for use by the Bureau of the Census such address 
information, address-related information, and point of postal 
delivery information, including postal delivery codes, as may 
be determined by the Secretary to be appropriate for any census 
or survey being conducted by the Bureau of the Census. The 
provision of such information under this subsection shall be in 
accordance with such mutually agreeable terms and conditions, 
including reimbursability, as the Postal Service and the 
Secretary of Commerce shall deem appropriate.
    (c)(1) For purposes of this subsection._
          (A) the term ``agency'' means an executive agency as 
        that term is defined under section 102 of title 31;
          (B) the term ``improper payment'' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 2(g) of the Improper 
        Payments Information Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. Sec. 3321 
        note); and
          (C) the term ``Inspector General'' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 5(e)(1) of the Improper 
        Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 
        2012 (31 U.S.C. Sec. 3321 note);
    (2) The Postal Service shall provide to agencies (including 
to Inspectors General) access to information concerning 
delivery addresses, including the Commercial Mail Receiving 
Agency lists of known locations of commercial mailbox offices, 
for purposes of improved detection, prevention, and recovery of 
improper payments.
    (3) The provision of information under this subsection 
shall be in accordance with such mutually agreeable terms and 
conditions, including reimbursability, as the Postal Service 
and the agency or Inspector General determine appropriate.

                                  
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