Improper Payments in High-Priority Programs: In Brief (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
July 16, 2018 |
| Report Number |
R45257 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Hatch, Garrett |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA) of 2002 defines improper payments as payments
that should not have been made or that were made in an incorrect amount, including both
overpayments and underpayments. This definition includes payments made to ineligible
recipients, duplicate payments, payments for a good or service not received, and payments that do
not account for applicable discounts. Since FY2004, federal agencies have been required to report
on the amount of improper payments they issue each year and take steps to address the root
causes of the problem. The data show a significant increase in improper payments from FY2007
($42 billion) to FY2010 ($121 billion), followed by a slight decrease through FY2013 ($106
billion), another increase through FY2016 ($144 billion), and a slight decrease in FY2017 ($141
billion). The data also show that a small subset of programs has accounted for 85% to 98% of the
government’s total improper payments each year. With this in mind, President Barack Obama
signed Executive Order (E.O.) 13520 in 2009, which requires agencies to take additional
measures to reduce the amount of improper payments associated with these “high-priority”
programs. Notably, the executive order requires agencies to identify high-priority programs,
develop detailed plans for reducing related improper payments, and establish annual goals against
which progress could be measured. Agencies have identified 20 high-priority programs, all but
one of which have been reporting data for several years. The data on high-priority programs
present mixed results. Nine high-priority programs have showed improvement over time, as
indicated by decreasing error rates, while three others have reported no improvement in their
error rates. The error rates for the eight remaining high-priority programs have increased since
they were first reported. Without further progress in reducing the error rates among high-priority
programs the government’s total amount of improper payments may continue to exceed $100
billion per fiscal year, as it has since FY2009. Over the period of FY2004 through FY2017, highpriority
improper payments have totaled $1.2 trillion and total improper payments have totaled
$1.3 trillion.
