Philadelphia Woman Wrongly Declared Dead

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A Philadelphia woman was wrongly declared dead by the Social Security Administration.

Renee Williams, 66, was shocked during a recent medical checkup when employees at the medical center told her they could not obtain her insurance information because she was declared dead.

Williams shared, “They couldn’t get my insurance information. She said she tried several places, and they said it was inactive. They said that I was deceased.”

The reason behind Williams’ bizarre circumstance is due to her identity being accidentally placed in the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File.

Here’s what WGAL reported:

A Pennsylvania woman just discovered she had been mistakenly declared dead.

Renee Williams, 66, of Philadelphia, got the unwelcome news during a recent medical appointment.

“They couldn’t get my insurance information. She said she tried several places, and they said it was inactive. They said that I was deceased,” she said.

Her name seems to have ended up on the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File. She suspects the error happened after her husband died in August.

The blunder has not only stopped her Social Security benefits but has caused her to lose access to her bank accounts and health insurance.

Williams is not the first person to be incorrectly declared dead by the government.

According to the most recent available data, as many as 7,000 Americans wrongly end up on the Death Master File every year.

An Office of Inspector General memorandum says that’s an improvement. Erroneous death reports have decreased by 45% since 2011 as all states have moved to electronic reporting.

If a person suspects they have been incorrectly listed as deceased on their record, they should contact their local Social Security office as soon as possible.

Per CBS:

A clerical error has turned Renee Williams into the living dead.

The 66-year-old West Philadelphia woman lost access to her bank accounts, health insurance and retirement benefits after being mistakenly placed on the Social Security Administration’s “Death Master File.” Williams turned to CBS News Philadelphia for help.

“I want people to know that Social Security is,” Williams said as she paused and laughed, considering how to finish her sentence, “a pain in the behind.”

The grandmother of 10 made the discovery during a recent medical appointment.

“I went to the emergency ward on Friday, and they couldn’t get my insurance information,” Williams said. “She said she tried several places and they said it was inactive. They said that I was deceased.”



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