February’s Supplemental Security Income payment, worth up to $967, will go out to millions of beneficiaries in 15 days. The next SSI payments are scheduled to be distributed on Jan. 31. SSI payments are given to people living with debilitating disabilities that affect their income,

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government clawed back more than $31 million in Social Security payments that improperly went to dead people, a recovery that one official said Wednesday was “just the tip of the iceberg.”

Rumors of Social Security payments being issued to dead people have circulate for years, and it turns out that there was in fact an issue.

The Treasury Department recovered more than $31 million in Social Security payments made to dead people due to a five-month pilot program approved by Congress. The pilot program has given the Treasury temporary access to the Social Security Administration’s “Full Death Master File” for three years as part of a 2021 appropriations bill.

The U.S. government clawed back more than $31 million in federal payments that improperly went to dead people, a recovery that one official said Wednesday was “just the tip of the iceberg.” The money was reclaimed as part of a five-month pilot program after Congress gave the Department of Treasury temporary access to the Social Security Administration ’s “Full Death Master File” for three years as part of the omnibus appropriations bill in 2021.

In a groundbreaking initiative, the U.S. Treasury Department has successfully recovered over $31 million in Social Security overpayments made to deceased individuals.