WASHINGTON — The newly appointed commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) clarified on Wednesday that claims suggesting that many deceased individuals over the age of 100 are receiving benefits are inaccurate. Lee Dudek, the acting SSA chief selected by President Donald Trump, addressed the exaggerated assertions made by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk on social media and in public statements regarding payments to centenarians.
Dudek’s comments came in response to Trump’s statement during a Florida press briefing, where he asserted that “millions” of individuals over 100 years old are collecting Social Security benefits, calling such instances fraudulent or indicative of incompetence. He further claimed there’s even a record of someone being listed as 360 years old in the system. Musk, who heads a government efficiency initiative aimed at reducing waste, also brought attention to this issue on his platform, suggesting a fictional scenario involving vampires and expressing concerns about deceased individuals being incorrectly listed as alive in Social Security records.
The reality is that no tens of millions of centenarians are receiving Social Security benefits. The confusion arises partially from the SSA’s outdated software system, which utilizes the COBOL programming language. This system lacks a feature to accurately handle date types, causing some records with incomplete birthdates to default back to over 150 years ago. Previous reports pointed out that around 18.9 million Social Security numbers of individuals born in 1920 or earlier were not marked as deceased, but this does not imply that those individuals were receiving benefits. The agency opted against updating its records due to the high cost involved, estimated at over $9 million.
A report from July 2023 by the SSA’s Office of Inspector General suggests that virtually none of the individuals referenced in earlier investigations were actually receiving benefits. Moreover, as of September 2015, the agency has policies in place to cease payments for individuals who turn 115 years old.
Dudek, who stepped into this position following the resignation of Michelle King, emphasized the administration’s commitment to transparency and acknowledged the recent inaccuracies regarding benefits for those over 100. He pointed out that the existing data only reflects individuals in the system without associated death dates and does not necessarily indicate ongoing benefit payments.
The issue of fraud within the Social Security framework is a significant one, with a report from July 2024 indicating that the SSA disbursed nearly $8.6 trillion in benefits between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, which included around $71.8 billion in improper payments. Most of these errors were overpayments made to living beneficiaries. In early January, the U.S. Treasury recovered more than $31 million in various federal payments inadvertently sent to deceased individuals as part of a wider initiative aimed at combating improper payments.
On the topic of misinformation regarding Social Security payments, some analysts have expressed caution. Chuck Blahous, a research strategist, commended Musk’s efforts to identify fraud but emphasized that improper payment rates in Social Security are relatively low compared to other government programs. Sita Nataraj Slavov, a public policy professor, cautioned that misleading claims can lead the public to believe that fixing financial issues within Social Security is straightforward, when, in reality, significant changes in taxation or benefit structures may be necessary for long-term solvency.
Responses from the White House reiterated the findings of the SSA’s inspector general, highlighting ongoing efforts to identify and correct improper payments within the system, and reaffirming the government’s responsibility to safeguard taxpayer money.
