Recently, there have been false claims made about Social Security benefits being wrongly paid to people who are dead. President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk exaggerated the issue, causing confusion. While there are indeed some problems with the Social Security database, the claims that millions of deceased people are receiving benefits are far from accurate. Let’s break down what’s really going on.
The Claims by Trump and Musk
On February 18, 2025, President Trump claimed that “millions and millions of people over 100 years old” were receiving improper Social Security benefits. This claim was based on data shared by Elon Musk, who had earlier spoken about problems with the Social Security database. Musk had pointed out that a “cursory examination” of the data showed that some people were listed as alive when they were actually dead.
Musk further made a remark about people being “150 years old” in the database, which, of course, is unrealistic. Musk even shared a screenshot from his social media platform showing that 21 million people over the age of 99 were listed as alive in the database, though this didn’t mean they were receiving benefits.
What the Numbers Really Say
While it’s true that there are some outdated and incorrect records in the Social Security Administration (SSA) database, the numbers are much smaller than what Trump and Musk suggested. The Office of Audit, which checks the accuracy of the SSA database, found that, of the 18.9 million people over the age of 99 listed as alive, only about 44,000 were still receiving Social Security benefits.
This is a tiny fraction of the total number of people receiving Social Security payments. In fact, only 0.2% of the people listed as alive but dead were still receiving benefits.
How Social Security Handles Improper Payments
Improper Social Security payments, including those made to deceased individuals, are a known issue, but it’s not as huge as some may think. According to reports, the majority of the 18.9 million people listed as alive were not receiving any payments at all. Many of them had not received payments for over 50 years. This shows that most of the people listed as alive in the database are not a cause for concern.
A smaller number of deceased individuals did receive benefits, but this is a small part of the overall Social Security system. In fact, the total improper payments to dead people amounted to about $298 million in 2021, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the $71.8 billion in improper payments made from 2015 to 2022. However, the majority of these improper payments went to living people, not deceased ones.
The Issues with the Social Security Database
The main issue with the SSA database is outdated records. The system still has many people listed as alive who passed away decades ago. The Office of Audit believes this problem is because death reports from family members or funeral homes were not properly recorded in the past. Many of these records go back to the 1920s, long before electronic death reporting became common.
Despite the problems, the SSA has put measures in place to improve its system. For instance, the Social Security database automatically marks individuals who are over 115 years old as deceased. Also, the Treasury Department started a program in 2023 that has already recovered $31 million in improper payments, with plans to recover even more by 2026.
How Does This Affect the Public?
While it’s clear that there are problems with how the SSA maintains its records, it’s important to note that the situation is not as widespread as some have suggested. The reports show that only a very small number of people who are listed as dead are still receiving Social Security benefits.
Experts believe that the large number of records and the challenges of keeping track of millions of people mean that mistakes are inevitable. However, the mistakes are not as large or as costly as some have made them out to be.
Conclusion
The claims made by Trump and Musk about millions of dead people receiving Social Security benefits are exaggerated. While there are issues with outdated records in the system, only a small number of dead individuals are still receiving payments. The Social Security Administration has systems in place to deal with these issues, and improvements are ongoing. Overall, the problem is not as big as some have made it out to be.