Berwyn Announces Major Advancement to Industry-Leading CertiDeath® and CertiCensus® Process
[Independence, Ohio, January, 27, 2026] — — The Berwyn Group (Berwyn), the industry leader in population intelligence, including death audit and locate services, today announced a significant enhancement to its flagship solutions, CertiDeath® and CertiCensus®. This advancement introduces a new data enrichment phase designed to enhance the accuracy and completeness of death audit results for clients across all sectors. Developed through decades of experience supporting thousands […]
Off the Record: How One Participant Record Led to an International Search
At first, the participant record didn’t add up. We found an obituary that matched perfectly on name and age, but the locations didn’t align. The participant’s pension record tied him to Louisiana, where he held a teacher’s account. The client’s data had his address in Illinois. And the obituary? It was published in New York. For most automated processes, that’s where the trail ends—a fragmented record, easily overlooked, […]
The Cost of What We Think We Know
In insurance, sometimes it’s not what we don’t know that creates risk, but what we’ve believed for so long, we’ve stopped questioning it. Take this one: “Sure, in some situations we pay interest on delayed life claims, but we also earn investment income in the meantime, so it balances out.” Sounds reasonable. Until you do […]
Medicaid Integrity in Focus: What Recent Law Changes Mean for DMF Compliance – Webinar Recap and Transcript
In an era of increasing oversight on government spending, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) is ushering in a major shift in how state Medicaid agencies manage program integrity. A central component of this new legislation? Regular audits using the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File (DMF). Starting in 2027 for beneficiaries and 2028 […]
Beyond the DMF: How CertiDeath® Helps Pension Plans and Insurers Strengthen Death Audits – Webinar Recap and Transcript
In recent months, unexplained shifts in the SSA Death Master File (DMF) have raised new concerns about accuracy and reliability. For administrators safeguarding participant benefits, and for insurers ensuring claims integrity, staying ahead of these changes is essential. In a 30-minute webinar we shared exclusive insights into what we’ve been tracking in the DMF, and […]
Is Your Plan Proactively Auditing its Medicare Stars Data for Deaths?
The Medicare Advantage (MA) market is one of the most competitive landscapes in healthcare. Success and profitability often hinge on performance in the Medicare Stars Rating system, established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This five-star quality scale ranges from five stars (excellent) to one star (poor) and is based on multiple […]
Another Wave of Changes Hits the SSA Death Master File
We recently uncovered another shift in the Social Security Administration’s Limited Access Death Master File (LADMF). With 35 years of specialized experience in utilizing and analyzing the Death Master File (DMF), Berwyn has developed unmatched expertise in quickly identifying even the subtlest patterns and anomalies. The most recent change is the latest in a series […]
Case Study: Obituaries Don’t Always Play by the Rules
The First Name That Wasn’t On paper, everything lined up: a Social Security number, a date of birth, even a location that matched one of our client’s participants. The only issue? The name in the obituary didn’t match the one in the client file. The obituary referred to the deceased as “Sifu” which, at a […]
Changes Coming to Medicaid: Death Checks and the Reform Bill
In an era when government spending is under intense scrutiny, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (or “OBBBA”) is reshaping how Medicaid approaches program integrity. One of the least talked about tools maintained by the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Death Master File (DMF), will play a large role. Under the new law, Medicaid agencies […]
Case Study: When the Records End, Experience Begins
It Started with Almost Nothing Sometimes, the smallest clue is all we need to uncover the full story. In this case, our team located an obituary with just a name and general location – no age, no date of birth, no definitive identifiers. At first glance, it wasn’t enough to confirm the match. But our […]