ShareThisWASHINGTON - Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin has become the latest lawmaker to criticize the Social Security Administration's broken death reporting system, asking the agency to explain why it mistakenly reports each month that nearly 1,200 living Americans have died.
Citing a Scripps Howard News Service investigation published in July, Durbin on Tuesday asked SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue to explain the blunder.
"What steps have been taken to ensure that these reporting errors will be corrected, and what plans are in place to avoid these problems in the future?" wrote Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. Senate, in a letter to Astrue.
Individuals erroneously placed on the federal agency's ominously titled "Death Master File" are at risk for identity theft and face a raft of other hardships, including getting turned down by banks and prospective employers, the Scripps investigation found.
"If a person is mistakenly placed on this list, it can result in problems with credit agencies, applying for a loan, or even getting a job," Durbin wrote. "In addition, individuals who have been in this situation report that the problem can be difficult to resolve."
Durbin isn't the first elected official who wants answers about the Death Master File. In July, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., responded to the Scripps investigation by asking the agency why the death file does not contain a surge in entries dated Sept. 11, 2001 -- which presumably should be there to reflect the nearly 3,000 victims of the terrorist attacks.
In response to Maloney's question, the federal government said it was fully informed about the 9/11 deaths but couldn't publicly disclose the names because of a quagmire of reporting laws and restrictions.
The Scripps investigation identified nearly 32,000 Americans across the country who were wrongly listed as deceased by the federal agency.
Based on this information, Scripps determined the error rate per capita for each state. It was more common for residents of Washington D.C. to be mistakenly reported dead than Americans in any state, the investigation found. Louisiana had the second highest rate of error, and Illinois came in third.
Using data provided by Scripps, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Sunday that the number of Illinois residents incorrectly declared dead nearly quadrupled from 2007 to 2008, from 461 to 1,675.
"What changed between 2007 and 2008 to explain the dramatic increase?" Durbin asked in his letter to the federal agency.
Durbin will decide whether to take further action after seeing how the federal agency responds to his questions, said Durbin spokeswoman Christina Mulka. She said an agency response would take "a little while."
SSA spokesman Mark Hinkle acknowledged the probe, saying Astrue would respond to Durbin. Hinkle provided no timeframe or other details.
(E-mail reporter Isaac Wolf at wolfi(at)shns.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
