Kyle McDonald (PBI)

Leevena, It's Ironic you bring up famous people. Abe Vigoda was actually reported as deceased (DOD 01/26/2016) by the SSA for a death that occurred in New York (a State Death does not share their death information). Mr. Vigoda's death must have been reported by a "First Party Source". Below is a list of some famous people that passed away in recently that were NOT reported by the SSA but were identified through PBI's ObitPro (obituary) database: Philip Seymour Hoffman: DOD 02/02/2014 (NO SSA or New York State Death Record - ObitPro Found) Ernie Banks: DOD 01/23/2015 (NO SSA or Illinois State Death Records - ObitPro Found) Joan Rivers: DOD 09/04/2014 (NO SSA or New York State Death Record - ObitPro Found) Wes Craven: DOD 08/30/2015 (NO SSA Death Record, California Death Record Found and ObitPro Found) Leonard Nimoy: DOD 02/27/2015 (NO SSA Death Record Found, California Death Record Found and ObitPro)

An unprecedented number of deaths are going unreported by the SSA. In fact, almost 50% less deaths! This is due a re-interpretation of Section 205® of the Social Security Act that took place in November of 2011 that prohibits the SSA from reporting "State Death Records" in the Public Death Master File (DMF). The SSA is still reporting deaths from every State in the country but these deaths were reported by a "First Party Source" (Family, Friends, Funeral Homes, Hospitals, Coroners, etc.) Below are the annual totals of deaths reported by the SSA from 2010 to 2015: Annual Deaths Reported by the SSA DMF: 2010 to 2015 *2010: 2,450,902 *2011: 2,318,302 (5.4% Decrease - SSA changes took place in NOV 2011) *2012: 1,150,663 (35.5% Decrease) *2013: 1,474,973 (39.9% Decrease) *2014: 1,284,624 (47.6% Decrease) *2015: 1,259,106 (48.6% Decrease) This has led to million of pension overpayments to deceased participants (fraud) and crippled many already underfunded pension plans. This is compounded by the fact that many Defined Benefit plan sponsors use direct deposit and these accounts are shared with a spouse, relative, and/or caretaker. It's the easiest fraud to get away with! What's funny (or not funny) is that the Federal Government IS using these "State Death Records" for government agencies such as the IRS and Medicare but they won't share deaths with the Public including Local and State Government. For more information, please contact Kyle McDonald at PBI at 415-299-8249 or at kylem@pbinfo.com.

Hi everyone, My name is Kyle McDonald and I am the Sales & Marketing Director at Pension Benefit Information (www.pbinfo.com). Our company offers an entire suite of address location services from compliance-based solutions where we perform a "diligent search" as outlined by the PBGC, DOL, and IRS to online instant address searches where you can get a complete address history including phone numbers in seconds! If anyone has any questions or would like to request a quote for our services, please call 415-482-9611 or email inquiry@pbinfo.com. -Kyle Kyle McDonald Director, Sales & Marketing Pension Benefit Information Ph: (415) 482-9611 x 204 Fx: (415) 482-9300 kylem@pbinfo.com