Government records are so messed up that it’s likely dead people are collecting Social Security benefits, the Government Accountability Office found in a study.
GAO inspectors found about 1,300 records of people in the government database who had received benefits at the times of their recorded deaths — between the ages of 111 and 129, Newsmax reported. The GAO also found records for about 1,800 people who had received Social Security numbers before the government had even activated them, Newsmax said.
The mistakes came to light at a Wednesday congressional hearing.
Officials in the Office of Management and Budget estimate the mistakes cost taxpayers nearly $108 million in 2012 alone, Newsmax said.
“Making payments to people who are dead, it drives me crazy,” said Sen. Thomas R. Carper, a Delaware Democrat who is chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, in a report from The Hill.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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