SSA: 'Records Are Highly Accurate'

BALTIMORE—Social Security announced on Monday, March 17 that more than three million deaths are reported to the Social Security Administration each year and explained that the agency’s records are highly accurate. Of these millions of death reports received each year, less than one-third of 1 percent are erroneously reported deaths that need to be corrected, officials said.

According to a press release, deaths are reported to Social Security primarily from the states, but also from other sources, including family members, funeral homes, federal agencies and financial institutions. In a 2008 audit report, the inspector general noted that “SSA receives most death reports from funeral homes or friends/relatives of the deceased. SSA considers such first party death reports to be verified and immediately posts them to the Death Master File.”