WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has falsely argued that tens of millions of dead people over 100 years have received Social Security payments.
What you need to know
The Trump administration has falsely argued that tens of millions of deaths over 100 years have received inappropriate Social Security payments
Over the past few days, President Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk have said on social media and press conferences that people aged 100, 200 and 300 are inappropriately profiting.
Musk called it a “giant problem.”
It is true that inappropriate payments have been made, including those who died, but the number thrown out by the Musk and the White House has been exaggerated and misrepresents Social Security data
Over the past few days, President Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk said on social media and press conferences that people age 100, 200 and even 300 are inappropriately profiting. It’s there. His government’s efficiency department is digging into federal agencies to eradicate waste, fraud and abuse.
It is true that inappropriate payments have been made. However, the number thrown out by Musk and the White House is exaggerated, misrepresenting Social Security data.
This is the truth:
What did the Trump administration say about payments for the first century?
On Tuesday, Trump said at a press conference in Florida that he had “millions of people from over 100 years ago.” “They are obviously fraudulent or incompetent,” Trump said.
“If you take these millions of people out of Social Security, you have 80, 70 and 90 people and very strong social security, but not 200,” he said. . He also said there was one person listed in the system as 360 years old.
Late Monday, Musk posted numerous posts on social media platform X. “Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires gathering social security,” and “Ten millions of people are marked “living” in Social Security. “It’s a big problem when they’re definitely dead. Clearly, some of these people would have lived before America existed as a nation.
How big is Social Security fraud?
A July 2024 report from Social Security Inspectors stated that between 2015 and 2022, the agency paid about $8.6 trillion in benefits, including $71.8 billion or less than 1%, inappropriate payments. It’s there. Most of the incorrect payments were overpayments to the living people.
Furthermore, in early January, the US Treasury recognised more than $31 million in various federal payments, as well as Social Security payments. The iceberg. ”
Funds will be collected as part of a five-month pilot program after Congress provided temporary access to the Social Security Agency’s “complete deathmaster file” for three years as part of the 2021 Omnibus Budget Bill. It was done. SSA is maintained by SSA. According to the Treasury, the file contains more than 142 million records, including more than 142 million records dating back to 1899.
In January, the Treasury estimated that it would recover more than $215 million during the three-year access period from December 2023 to 2026.
So, have tens of millions of people received benefits for over 100 years?
no.
Part of the confusion comes from Social Security software systems based on the COBOL programming language. This means that entries with missing or incomplete birth dates default to 150 or more years old reference points. The news organization first reported on the use of COBOL programming languages at the Social Security Agency.
Additionally, a series of reports from Social Security Bureau inspectors in March 2023 and July 2024 stated that agents have not established a new system to properly annotate death information in their databases. Masu. Prior to 1920, he was not marked as deceased. However, this does not mean that these individuals were receiving benefits.
The agency has decided not to update the database due to the cost.
The July 2023 Social Security OIG report stated, “Most of the figure holders currently being discussed in reports receiving SSA payments.” Additionally, as of September 2015, agents have automatically stopped paying for people over the age of 115.
What are your concerns about misinformation regarding Social Security payments?
“If Elon Musk can take root and stop inappropriate payments, we’ll raise two cheers for Elon Musk,” said Chuck Brafuz, a senior research strategist at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. I stated.
But to choose a federal location with a high error rate, “Social Security is close to the bottom of the list, not near the top,” Blahous said. “The inappropriate payment rate for Medicaid is a huge one, and it spiked after the ACA’s Medicaid expansion.”
“Anyway – go after an inappropriate payment discovered, but don’t pretend that it’s the biggest financial problem in the system,” he said.
Sita Nataraj Slabov, professor of public policy at George Mason University and government, said Musk and Trump’s claims are simpler to people than they appear to solve the government’s financial problems. He said he would try to think about it.
“The real concern is that this claim may mislead people and think that there is a simple fix to the social security financial issues. We will make the sacrifice through higher taxes and lower benefits. That means that you can somehow recover solvency without doing so,” Slabov said. “This is simply not true.”
What does the White House say about criticism?
White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt introduced the Social Security Inspector General Report.
“A previous investigation revealed that SSA paid at least $71.8 billion in inappropriate payments,” she said. “The Social Security Administration is currently working to find even more waste, fraud and abuse in the administration’s entire government’s efforts to protect American taxpayers.”
