The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that Federal agencies reported an estimated $235.8 billion in improper payments across 71 programs for fiscal year (FY) 2023.
A June 27 report found that overpayments accounted for $175.1 billion, followed by unknown payments at $44.6 billion, underpayments at $11.5 billion, and technically improper payments at $4.6 billion.
“Reliable improper payment estimates are helpful for understanding and addressing financial vulnerabilities, as well as assessing the effectiveness of corrective actions. Agencies generally estimate a program’s improper payments by analyzing a sample of payments to determine whether they were proper,” the report says.
“Agencies typically then use the results of this analysis to statistically project, or estimate, the improper payment rate for the program,” it adds.
Other hallmark findings of the report include an “estimated improper payment rates of 10 percent or higher for 16 of the 71 programs with reported estimates for fiscal year 2023. The reported rates for 10 of these programs have exceeded 10 percent for at least 2 consecutive years.”
Additionally, the report found that “agencies did not develop and report fiscal year 2023 improper payment estimates as required for nine risk-susceptible programs. These agencies cited various reasons for this, including statutory limitations, suspension of certain reviews during the COVID-19 pandemic, and lack of supporting documentation.”
Some examples of agencies that did not develop and report improper payment estimates as required include the Food and Nutrition Service – Summer Food Service Program at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foster Care at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The report concludes by making a series of 10 recommendations to deter improper payments, which remain from previous reports.
“In March 2022, GAO recommended 10 matters for congressional consideration to enhance transparency and accountability of federal spending,” the GAO explains. “These matters included designating all new federal programs making more than $100 million in payments in any one fiscal year as susceptible to improper payments and establishing a permanent data analytics center of excellence to aid the oversight community in identifying improper payments and fraud.”
“In April 2022, GAO recommended that Congress consider providing the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to require states to report the data the agency needs to estimate and report on improper payments for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. As of June 2024, these matters remain open,” concludes GAO.
