TN 86 (12-21)
Follow these instructions when you receive a report of the beneficiary’s death. These instructions apply regardless of whether the death is prior to or after the field office (FO) initiated contact.
Obtain proof of death following regular policy guidelines. For preferred evidence of death, see GN 00304.005, see GN 02602.050 for reports of death, and see GN 02602.070 for procedures for resolving death alerts and exceptions.
Post the proof of death to the Evidence Screen (EVID) in the Shared Processes menu. (For more information, see MS 01701.003.)
REMINDER: Proof of death posted on the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) or Supplemental Security Income Record (SSR) (for concurrent beneficiaries) without proper documentation on the EVID screen is not proof of the beneficiary’s death. However, you can use death data on the Numident as proof of death. For use of Numident death data, see GN 00304.100B.3.
Terminate benefits based on the verified date of death as outlined in GN 02602.051 and, for concurrent beneficiaries, terminate Supplemental Security Income benefits per SM 01301.375 through SM 01301.380.
If the report of death is not timely and we paid at least 2 months of benefits after the date of death, submit a referral to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) via the Allegation Referral Intake System (ARIS). Provide as much information as possible in ARIS.
NOTE: When completing ARIS for MNUP, select program option “Medicare Non-utilization” then select "Death."
Post the following special message on the MBR and in the remarks field on the SSR (for concurrent beneficiaries):
“Medicare Non-Utilization Project-(Month and Year)-Beneficiary is deceased- (Field Office Number) and your initials or unit.”
Document the beneficiary’s death on the MNUP website and appropriate worksheet. For information on completing the worksheet, see GN 02602.660. Update the ledger account file codes in the “Medicare Non-Utilization Project (MNUP) Information” section to show we terminated the beneficiary’s benefits.
Update the MNUP website erroneous payment field to reflect any payment made after the date of death that has not been returned within the three-month period after the date of death.