A recent story from a CBS affiliate detailed the story of Julie Hutson, a great grandmother who the Social Security Administration declared deceased, but she was still and is very much alive.
Apparently there was some mistake made when Julie, and correctly when this situation occurs, contacted Social Security to report the death of her brother. This should be done by family members so Social Security does not continue to pay benefits to a deceased person. The problem is it was Julie who Social Security considered to be deceased. Below is a portion of the story as reported.
In June, Hutson’s brother passed away.
When she reported his death to the Social Security Administration, she says she somehow also ended up “deceased” according to records.
“I couldn’t believe someone would think I could report my brother’s death if I were also dead. Nobody every explained that to me,” says Hudson.
NOT THE ONLY ONE
In Coppell, Paul Tuckett says he, too was declared dead for more than a month.
He contacted the I-Team the week after Mary Hutson reached out.
“On July 21 in Salt Lake City, somebody passed away. When they did up his death certificate, they put my Social Security number on it and it instantly went to Social Security and I was declared dead,” explained Tuckett.
Tuckett is a liver transplant patient, so when he went to the doctor, they refused to see him.
“They come back and say we tried to run it to the insurance and Medicare says you’re deceased,” he said.
“DEATH MASTER FILE”
The Social Security Administration tells the I-Team death reports come from funeral directors, families, Social Security offices and states.
And, the federal “Death Master File” goes to insurance companies, financial institutions and government offices.
These are places which shut down your life immediately.
“I had no insurance coverage for almost two months,” Tuckett said everything was taken away so quickly. He lost his insurance. He couldn’t go to the doctor. He did not have access to his bank account. “Nothing was in my name.”
He and his wife wanted to buy a new home, but they couldn’t do that because he no longer had a credit score.
“I’m perfectly healthy thank the good Lord for that,” says Hutson. “But you don’t know when you’re 86 if something could happen tomorrow.”
The I-team found mistakes to the Death Master File happening all over the country.
Headlines across the nation highlight people of all ages, who are very much alive, declared dead.
This, as you can see, unfortunately happens too often and creates very difficult times for a living person when they have been declared dead by the Social Security Administration. First of all Social Security will stop your benefits, and it’s not like you can get everything cleared-up with a quick phone call. The process of proving that you are still alive and to have Social Security to reinstate benefits can take weeks or even months, which is a long time to go without benefits.
