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A recent claim suggesting that Americans aged 150 years or older are receiving Social Security benefits has sparked widespread speculation and misinformation. The claim originated from a review of Social Security istration (SSA) records, with some interpreting it as evidence of fraudulent payments being made to deceased individuals. However, a closer look at the data, SSA policies, and system limitations reveals a different story.
While records may indicate individuals with ages far beyond normal human lifespans, these anomalies are due to outdated data entry practices and do not reflect active benefit recipients. The reality is that there is no verifiable evidence that centenarians well beyond 150 years old are collecting Social Security checks.
Where did this claim come from?
The controversy gained traction after Elon Musk, through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, suggested that SSA records contained listings for individuals who would be approximately 150 years old.
"They should be in the Guinness Book of World Records, they're missing out," Musk joked.
His remarks fueled concerns that Social Security benefits might be going to deceased individuals, contributing to wasteful government spending.
However, experts in data management and government record-keeping quickly pointed out that these numbers do not indicate active payments but rather outdated record-keeping within the SSA system.
The SSA has been using COBOL-based systems, which have known limitations in handling missing death records. In many cases, if a date of death was never recorded, the system defaults to an incorrect reference date, making it appear as though an individual is still alive and over a century old.
The issue largely stems from the way the SSA manages old records. While most individuals in the database are long deceased, their records may still exist for reference purposes. The SSA does not always receive official death notifications for people who died many years ago, especially those who were never receiving benefits when they ed away.
Acting SSA Commissioner Lee Dudek addressed these concerns, explaining that "the reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits."