We will attempt to contact the centenarian three times.
Send the first letter and allow 2 weeks for the centenarian to respond before sending
a follow-up request.
NOTE: If the centenarian resides in a nursing home, call the nursing home before suspending
benefits to verify the centenarian is alive.
If the nursing home alleges the:
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•
centenarian is alive, begin representative payee development, if necessary; or
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•
centenarian is deceased, process the report of death. (For instructions on how to process a death report,
see GN 02602.540B.).
Include the following language in the letter when sending the final (third) request:
“We have tried to contact you twice. It is very important that you respond to this
letter. If you do not respond within two weeks we may suspend your benefits until
we speak with you.”
Add a remark to the Centenarian Project Website documenting your attempts to contact the centenarian. Include the dates of each contact
and the method of attempted contact (telephone, mail).
If the centenarian fails to respond to the third request, follow procedures in GN 02602.510B.4.
If you suspend benefits, immediately refer the case to OIG using ARIS. Provide as much information as available in ARIS. Annotate the online worksheet that you referred the case to OIG.