The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued a sharp rebuttal following Elon Musk’s explosive claim that “millions of dead people” are still receiving Social Security benefits. The agency has categorically dismissed it as misinformation.
In a statement to the press, the SSA clarified the reality behind its death reporting procedures. They stated that it processes over three million death records annually and maintains one of the most accurate federal databases. The agency mentioned that the error rate for misreporting deaths is minimal, less than a third of one percent. That, directly contradicts Musk’s claim.
“Of these millions of death reports received each year, less than one-third of 1 percent are erroneously reported deaths that need to be corrected,” the SSA stated.
Musk ignited controversy in February with a post on X. He wrote, “Having tens of millions of people marked in Social Security as ‘ALIVE’ when they are definitely dead is a HUGE problem.” The remark fueled a fresh round of conspiracy theories about government inefficiency.
The SSA swiftly pushed back, not only to counter Musk’s claim but to correct the narrative regarding Social Security’s processes. The agency noted that when errors do occur, they more often involve the opposite of what Musk described: living beneficiaries being mistakenly listed as deceased. This mistake, though rare, can cause serious disruption.
This is absurd, corrosive nonsense. There are not tens of millions of dead people getting Social Security checks, and the only reason Leavitt is out here making these hysterical claims is because Elon Musk misunderstood a table of numbers.(1/n) pic.twitter.com/PAKVwqeyBN
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) February 18, 2025
“Benefits are stopped in the short term, which can cause financial hardship until the issue is resolved and benefits are restored. The process to prove an erroneous death will always seem too long and challenging,” the SSA explained.
In a separate appearance alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Musk added fuel to the fire with more eyebrow-raising comments. In a bizarre February rant, he claimed, “We got people in there who are 150 years old,” as he again took the reference to alleged errors in the SSA database.
“Anyone who is 150 years old and still receiving Social Security should be in the Guinness Book of World Records, or either dead, in my opinion,” Musk said. “That’s a case I think they are probably dead,” he added, prompting laughter from Trump. “Or very famous. One of the two.”
Just because Elon Musk is the largest spreader of misinformation on X, doesn’t mean he isn’t also spreading a bunch of easily debunked bullshit in real life too.
There aren’t 20 million dead people getting Social Security checks.pic.twitter.com/SWHARhOh1K
— Melanie D’Arrigo (@DarrigoMelanie) March 31, 2025
In response, the SSA pointed to concrete data: of the 67 million Americans who are currently receiving Social Security benefits, only 0.1% are over 100 years old. The agency also noted that since 2015, it has implemented an automated system that terminates benefits for any beneficiary over the age of 115.
Musk’s comments sparked headlines and social media debates. On the other hand, the SSA insists its protocols are both stringent and continuously updated, and that claims of mass fraud are not only unfounded but misleading.
