Is Social Security's 'Efficiency' Killing Off the Living?
Ned Johnson didn't expect his obituary to arrive by mail, especially while he was still very much alive.
But that's precisely what happened this past February, when an official-looking letter from Bank of America arrived addressed to his wife, Pam, offering condolences for her husband's death — and informing her that Social Security had already reclaimed their payments.
What followed wasn't a crime thriller or sci-fi resurrection tale — it was worse — a months-long bureaucratic purgatory that stripped Ned of his Social Security, his Medicare, and for a while, even his sense of identity.
This wasn't just one man's nightmare. It's a warning sign blinking red.
The Curious Case of Ned Johnson
The 82-year-old Seattle resident had never missed a Social Security check — until he was declared dead. He stated to the Seattle Times, "You wake up one day and discover you're dead," as reported by Newsweek. "It's been truly surreal."
According to Ned, the ordeal began with a letter addressed to his wife from their bank. It stated that he had died in November and that the Social Security Administration (SSA) had asked for his benefits back. Just like that, over $5,000 disappeared from their joint account.
The bank wasn't scamming them — it was just following orders.
In the weeks that followed, Ned's phone became his lifeline. He called SSA daily, trying to get an appointment, only to be told the office was overwhelmed. "They think the office is about to be closed down, and they don't know where they're going to go. It feels like the agency's being gutted," according to Newsweek.
Eventually, he bypassed protocol and showed up in person. Four hours later, he convinced someone that he was not, in fact, a ghost. His checks restarted.
But not fully.
Deductions began appearing. His Medicare? Still frozen. Worse still, Ned learned he'd been added to the SSA's "Death Master File" — a permanent bureaucratic tombstone. "It means that when Social Security declared me as deceased, there's a file that's kept ... that I'm listed on and, apparently, it doesn't go away. So we're struggling with a few issues now that are starting to crop up since we started this whole thing," Ned said to ABC News.
'You're Dead. Prove Otherwise.'
Every year, the Social Security Administration handles over 3 million death reports. Less than one-third of 1% are mistakes.
It sounds like a rare situation, but even that sliver adds up — about 12,000 living Americans are erroneously declared dead annually. Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, explained to Newsweek, "That's like, a thousand people each month who suddenly have to prove they're not ghosts! These mix-ups usually happen through the most mundane clerical errors. Sometimes it's just a typo like a wrong digit in a Social Security number and boom, wrong person 'dies.' Other times, death certificates get processed with the wrong info."
And escaping the bureaucratic nightmare of being legally dead while still alive can take months or even years of calls and paperwork to correct. As Ryan said to Newsweek, "You're basically living without a financial identity in a world that needs one for practically everything from renting an apartment to getting a cellphone."
For Ned and Pam Johnson, who are financially stable, it was frustrating but survivable. For someone relying solely on Social Security? Catastrophic.
Government Efficiency or Government Error?
Ned's story arrives at a moment when the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is remaking the SSA in the name of fiscal responsibility.
Spearheaded by tech billionaire Elon Musk, DOGE has prioritized rooting out alleged fraud in Social Security. Musk claims there are "tens of millions" of deceased Americans still collecting benefits, according to the Associated Press.
The numbers, however, don't match the claims. According to the SSA and multiple audits, "improper" payments account for less than 1% of all Social Security outlays — and only a tiny fraction of that involves fraud, as USA TODAY reports.
Nonetheless, DOGE pushed to eliminate phone-based services, close dozens of field offices, and slash thousands of SSA employees from the workforce. In one instance, a federal judge had to intervene to stop DOGE staff from accessing sensitive SSA databases.
Critics say all of this has led to more confusion — not less fraud. In March, former SSA Commissioner Martin O'Malley warned that Social Security could miss payments for the first time in history due to administrative chaos. SSA field offices are reportedly swamped and phones are going unanswered.
In the meantime, Americans like Ned — who rely on these systems — are left to navigate an endless maze.
As Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor, told Newsweek, "Being 'resurrected' shouldn't be a multi-week process, but when government staffing is depleted, the wait to reinstate income can be a lengthy one."
Ned Johnson is back among the living, but his fight isn't over. And he's not alone. If the SSA can declare Ned Johnson dead by mistake, how many others are walking around as financial phantoms, unaware that their benefits have been yanked or their records altered?
Social Security may be a lifeline, but right now, for some Americans, that rope is fraying.
References: Man falsely declared dead by Social Security still dealing with fallout, he says | Man Loses Social Security, Medicare After Being Declared Dead | DOGE sees dead people, and they're getting Social Security. Are fraud claims real? | DOGE is disrupting Social Security | Tens of millions of dead people aren’t getting Social Security checks, despite Trump and Musk claims
