CNSNews.com - Social Security Sent More than $40 Million in Checks to Dead People, Inspector General Finds

CNSNews.com - Social Security Sent More than $40 Million in Checks to Dead People, Inspector General Finds: "(CNSNews.com) – The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued benefit checks totaling $40.3 million to an estimated 6,100 beneficiaries for months – and in some cases for decades -- after receiving notification of their deaths, according to a June audit report from the agency’s Office of Inspector General.

Approximately 1,760 of the 6,100 listed as deceased actually were dead, the government auditor estimated. The rest were alive, but had been wrongly listed as deceased.

During a sample audit in 2008, the inspector general uncovered 228 cases where beneficiaries had been receiving payments from SSA when they were already listed as dead. Of those, 88 were verified to have died. Another 140 were found to still be alive.

“SSA improperly paid these 88 deceased beneficiaries approximately $2.0 million,” the OIG report noted."