WACO, Texas (KXV) — Recent statements by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have suggested that tens of millions of deceased individuals are receiving Social Security benefits.
However, according to the Associated Press, the Trump administration's claim that tens of millions of people over 100 years old are receiving payments is inaccurate.
But there is little evidence for fraud on the scale of what Musk implied.
Improper payments are a legitimate concern for the Social Security Administration (SSA). Internal audits have found that some deceased individuals were still listed as alive, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in Social Security benefits being improperly disbursed.
While improper payments, including those to deceased individuals, have occurred, the figures cited by Musk and the White House are overstated and misinterpret Social Security data.
According to the Associated Press, a July 2024 report from Social Security’s inspector general states that from 2015 through 2022, the agency paid almost $8.6 trillion in benefits, including $71.8 billion — or less than 1% — in improper payments. Most of the erroneous payments were overpayments to living people.
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