Fact check: Https://apnews.com/article/social-security-payments-deceased-false-claims-doge-ed2885f5769f368853ac3615b4852cf7

1. Summary of the results

The claims about widespread Social Security payments to deceased centenarians are demonstrably misleading. A July 2024 inspector general report shows that out of nearly $8.6 trillion in total benefits, only $71.8 billion (less than 1%) were improper payments, with most going to living recipients, not deceased individuals ^{[1] [2]}. The Social Security Administration has implemented safeguards, including automatically stopping payments to anyone over 115 years old since September 2015 ^[3].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several crucial pieces of context are missing from the original claims:

• The appearance of extremely old "recipients" in the system stems from an outdated COBOL programming system that defaults missing birthdates to a reference point over 150 years ago ^[2]
• People listed without death dates in the system are "not necessarily receiving benefits," according to Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek ^[2]
• The Treasury has been actively addressing improper payments, recovering over $31 million and projecting to recover $215 million over three years ^[4]
• Social Security actually maintains relatively low error rates compared to other government programs, according to expert Chuck Blahous ^[4]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The claims appear to serve specific political and personal agendas:

• Trump administration and Elon Musk are the primary sources pushing these misleading narratives ^{[2] [1]}
• These claims may be designed to mislead the public about potential solutions to Social Security's financial challenges, as warned by expert Sita Nataraj Slavov ^[4]
• The dramatic overstatement of the problem ("tens of millions of dead people") appears intended to create a false narrative about widespread fraud, when actual improper payments are both relatively rare and actively being addressed ^{[1] [4]}
• The focus on supposedly deceased recipients diverts attention from the real issues facing Social Security's financial sustainability, as actual improper payments are predominantly to living individuals ^[3]