Agencies Show Progress in Curbing Improper Payments

Agency efforts to comply with congressional mandates for reducing improper payments—which hit an estimated $105 billion in fiscal 2013—show forward progress but some lapses in reporting and some failures to meet targets, a watchdog found.

Thirteen of 24 major agencies demonstrated to their inspectors general that they had met criteria for reducing bad payments in such programs as Medicare, food stamps, unemployment insurance and Social Security disability benefits, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Tuesday.

But 10 agencies failed to satisfy all criteria, and one -- the National Science Foundation -- declared that it was not required to issue a report in fiscal 2013. “Many agencies did not meet their planned improper payment reduction targets or achieve and report gross improper payment error rates below 10 percent for each agency program or activity,” GAO said. 

Under laws addressing improper payments enacted in 2003 and 2010, inspectors general are tasked with verifying whether agencies are preparing required reports, conducting risk assessments and setting and meeting targets for reducing waste, said the report addressed to Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., John Mica, R-Fla., and Gerry Connolly, D-Va., of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

GAO produced charts showing each agency’s progress on meeting reporting criteria, along with estimates of total improper payments and error rates for each.

According to inspectors general, some agencies are hindered in their compliance efforts by “the programs’ structure and continued challenges with supporting documentation,” GAO stated.

The Office of Management and Budget, whose controller reviewed a draft of the report, has made curbing improper payments a top priority.

 “Today’s GAO report is a reminder that Congress has more work ahead to ensure that taxpayer funds are spent wisely, and waste and fraud is eliminated," Carper said in a statement. “The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 requires agency officials to sharpen their pencils and do a better job keeping track of the taxpayer dollars that we entrust to them. I am pleased that a majority of federal agencies have successfully implemented key aspects of the law. However, this report shows that there is more room for improvement.  Cleary, federal agencies have a number of tools at their disposal to identify, reduce and recover improper payments, but they need to use those tools properly in order to achieve results.”

Carper in the new Congress plans to continue pushing for new legislation that focuses on curbing payments for claims made by people later found to be deceased.