Improper Payments in High Priority Programs: In Brief (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Aug. 18, 2014 |
| Report Number |
R43694 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Garrett Hatch, Specialist in American National Government |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA) of 2002 defines improper payments as payments\r that should not have been made or that were made in an incorrect amount, including both\r overpayments and underpayments. This definition includes payments made to ineligible\r recipients, duplicate payments, payments for a good or service not received, and payments that do\r not account for credit for applicable discounts. Since FY2004, federal agencies have been\r required to report on the amount of improper payments they issue each year and take steps to\r address the root causes of the problem. The data show a significant increase in improper\r payments from FY2007 ($42 billion) to FY2010 ($121 billion), followed by a slight decrease\r through FY2013 ($106 billion). The increase in improper payment amounts may be partially\r attributed to an increase in the number of programs reporting between FY2007 and FY2010, as\r well as increased federal expenditures for many programs during that same timeframe. The data\r also show that a small subset of programs has accounted for 85% to 96% of the government\'s\r total improper payments each year. With that in mind, President Obama signed E.O. 13520 in\r 2009, which requires agencies to take additional measures with regard to these "high priority"\r programs. Notably, the executive order requires agencies to identify high priority programs,\r develop detailed plans for reducing related improper payments, and establish annual goals against\r which progress could be measured. Agencies have identified 13 high priority programs and all but\r one of them have been reporting data for several years. The data on high priority programs\r present mixed results. Four high priority programs showed sustained improvement over time, as\r indicated by steadily decreasing error rates, while four others reported little or no improvement in\r their error rates. Of the four remaining high priority programs that have reported data, error rates\r increased for two and slightly decreased for two others. Without further progress in reducing the\r error rates among high priority programs the government\'s total amount of improper payments\r may continue to exceed $100 billion per fiscal year, as it has since FY2009.
