The Social Security Lie That Just Won’t Die

In response to a newspaper report that he was either gravely ill or dead, American author and humorist Mark Twain famously said, “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

Although Mark Twain is undeniably dead, along with every other American over the age of 115, there seems to be one story that just won’t die – that millions of centenarians and supercentenarians are collecting Social Security benefits.

Following Elon Musk’s revelation last month that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has not recorded the date of death for millions of people, politicians and political cartoonists have been telling tall tales about people so old they are obviously dead. But pandering to public cynicism about Social Security is no laughing matter, especially when the story is misleading and wrong.

As numerous experts have explained, the real story is outdated recordkeeping methods, not benefit fraud. Nevertheless, President Trump seems unable to resist the urge to keep spreading fake news.

In his televised address to Congress this week, President Trump said, “We’re also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program… Believe it or not, government databases list… [millions of] Social Security members [over the age of 100]… and money is being paid to many of them, and we’re searching right now… But we’re going to find out where that money is going,…”

In fact, we know where the money is going. The numbers are posted on SSA’s website. As of December 2023, there were 73,815 Social Security beneficiaries aged 100 or older. More recent data (aged 99 and over) are available here and here.

Thus, the claim that millions of centenarians and supercentenarians are collecting Social Security benefits is simply not true.

Admittedly, SSA occasionally fails to promptly identify deceased beneficiaries and recover overpayments. However, these cases number in the thousands, not the millions. To reduce these improper payments, SSA should continue to implement the recommendations of its Inspector General. But that may require additional resources, something the Trump Administration currently seems unwilling to consider.

Steve Robinson, Chief Economist, The Concord Coalition