Saturday, April 11, 2015

Paying for nothing

Okay, it's chicken feed when you compare it to the full federal budget of almost $4 trillion. But the GAO estimated that in 2004 the feds made $124.7 billion in improper payments. This was an increase of just about $19 billion from the prior year's estimate of $105.8 billion. 

It gets worse. The improper payments for fiscal year 2014, which were attributable to 124 programs spread among 22 agencies, represented 4.5% of program outlays in fiscal year 2014 compared to 4.0% reported in fiscal year 2013. 

About 65% of the improper payments were made by just three major programs: the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicaid programs, and the Department of the Treasury's Earned Income Tax Credit program.

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