Introduction
Every year, billions of taxpayer dollars are lost to improper federal payments, including checks and deposits to individuals who have already died. In FY2024, government-wide improper payments exceeded $162 billion. While payments to deceased individuals represent only a fraction of that figure, they are among the most preventable—eligibility can be verified using existing death records before funds are ever disbursed.
On February 10, 2026, President Trump signed the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act into law, a bipartisan reform to stop these payments and to strengthen verification across federal programs. Introduced in the Senate by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), this reform closes a long-standing gap in federal payment systems and marks a clear step toward stronger fiscal accountability.
Background: Death Records and Payment Verification
Government payments to deceased individuals have been an enduring, widespread, and costly problem. Sen. Kennedy noted that federal agencies issued $1.3 billion to deceased individuals in 2023 due to gaps in data sharing and verification.
To identify and prevent these payments, federal agencies rely in part on the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay (DNP) system, a centralized payment-screening tool that allows agencies to check recipients against several databases before issuing funds. One of the most important data sources is the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Death Master File, which records reported deaths.
However, agencies historically did not have consistent access to the full set of death records contained in the Death Master File. In addition, updates across federal systems were not always synchronized, meaning that some agencies would issue payments even when death information existed elsewhere in the federal government.
In alignment with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service partnered with the SSA to integrate the Full Death Master File into the DNP system beginning in December 2023. In April 2025, Treasury reported that, during the pilot’s first full year (calendar year 2024), the program identified, prevented, or recovered approximately $113.5 million in improper payments. After accounting for $4.6 million in implementation costs, the pilot produced a return on investment of roughly $23 for every $1 spent. Treasury estimates the initiative will generate more than $337 million in net benefits over its three-year duration.
Each improper payment to a deceased individual is avoidable waste and an unnecessary administrative burden. Strengthened data coordination reduces preventable losses and reinforces confidence that federal funds are directed to eligible recipients and subject to consistent oversight.
What the New Law Does
Sen. Kennedy’s Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act builds on these lessons by strengthening payment verification and closing gaps in existing systems.
First, it permanently authorizes the SSA to share its death records with the Treasury’s Do Not Pay system. This ensures agencies can verify whether a recipient is deceased before funds are disbursed rather than attempting to recover improper payments afterward.
Second, the law raises the evidentiary standard required before the SSA can designate someone as deceased. Under the new requirements, a death designation must be supported by “clear and convincing evidence,” reducing the risk that living individuals will be mistakenly declared dead and forced to navigate lengthy bureaucratic corrections.
Third, the legislation requires that, when a mistaken death designation is corrected, that update must be shared across all relevant agencies. Previously, fixing an error in one system did not guarantee it would be corrected elsewhere. Coordinated updates reduce the risk that errors will persist across programs and generate additional improper payments or benefit disruptions.
Conclusion
Sen. Kennedy’s Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act passed the Senate unanimously and cleared the House with broad support, showing that preventing waste is not a partisan issue. This reform builds on earlier efforts to strengthen payment verification and close gaps in oversight. Making sure payments stop when eligibility ends is simply responsible governance.
No single reform will eliminate improper payments entirely, and agencies will need to implement the law carefully. But permanently improving death-record verification addresses a clear and preventable weakness in federal payment systems. For taxpayers, it is a common sense win that shows practical accountability reforms are still possible.