Around 6,000 people are accidentally reported dead each year due to their information being added to the US Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, causing major issues such as loss of access to bank accounts and health insurance. The file was created to prevent fraud, but mistakes can occur. The SSA receives 2.5 million death cases a year, with errors mostly occurring when a close relative or someone with the same last name dies. In 2016, 6.5 million Americans aged 112 and older still had active Social Security numbers.
What if you die but don’t know it? You would not have access to your bank account and you would not have health insurance. Your credit score would plummet. Make no mistake, being dead would have a major impact on your life. According to the US Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of the Inspector General, approximately 6,000 people are reported dead accidentally each year. The cause of death? Someone inadvertently added their information to the SSA Death Master File. In fact, audits have shown that since the file was created in 1980, more than 500,000 people have been declared prematurely dead.
Gone But Not Forgotten:
The Social Security Administration receives about 2.5 million death cases a year, from a variety of sources. They say the error rate is very low; mistakes mostly occur when a close relative dies, or when someone else with the same last name dies.
The Death Master File was created to help prevent fraud. If you discover that you died unexpectedly, contact your local Social Security office to begin the arduous process of resolving the situation.
On a related note, the SSA found in 2016 that, a shocking 6.5 million Americans ages 112 and older still had active Social Security numbers.
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