U.S. Govt reports 2.8 Trillion Missing Since Oct 2003 – Missing, Lost or Stolen?

Since FY 2003, federal agencies have made $2.8 trillion in improper payments—i.e., payments that shouldn’t have been made or were made in incorrect amounts

2.8 Trillion is only what has been reported missing, what about all the improper payments including what hasn’t been reported?

Improper Payments: Agency Reporting of Payment Integrity Information

Since FY 2003, federal agencies have made $2.8 trillion in improper payments-i.e., payments that shouldn’t have been made or were made in incorrect…

Fast Facts

Since FY 2003, federal agencies have made $2.8 trillion in improper payments—i.e., payments that shouldn’t have been made or were made in incorrect amounts. The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 requires agencies to manage and report their improper payments.

This Q&A looks at how Inspectors General and the Office of Management and Budget meet their responsibilities under the act.

When an IG finds an agency noncompliant, the agency must report its compliance plans to Congress.

OMB directed agencies to publish these plans on PaymentAccuracy.gov but some congressional staff don’t know about the website. We recommended that OMB address this.

Why this Matters

Improper payments are a long-standing and significant problem in the federal
government. Since fiscal year 2003, executive branch agencies (agencies) have
reported cumulative improper payment estimates of about $2.8 trillion, including
$161.5 billion for fiscal year 2024. The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019
(PIIA) requires agencies to manage improper payments by identifying risks,
taking corrective actions, and estimating and reporting on improper payments in
programs they administer. PIIA also requires each agency’s inspector general
(IG) to issue an annual report on compliance with applicable PIIA criteria.
Agencies’ understanding of the requirements and related key concepts of and
proper oversight of compliance with PIIA criteria is important to more effective
detection and prevention of improper payments. To provide relevant information
on improper payments to Congress and the public, agencies’ reported payment
integrity information must be timely, complete, accurate, and accessible.

PIIA defines an improper payment as one that should not have been made or
was made in an incorrect amount under statutory, contractual, administrative, or
other legally applicable requirements. Improper payments include duplicate
payments as well as any payment made to an ineligible recipient; for an ineligible
good or service; and for a good or service not received, except for those
payments where authorized by law.3

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Recommendations

GAO is recommending that OMB clarify that noncompliant agencies should state explicitly in annual financial statements that agency plans to come into compliance are available on PaymentAccuracy.gov, or otherwise directly communicate such plans to the appropriate congressional committees. OMB agreed with the recommendation.

Below is the PDF of the Full Report:

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| From the Rabbit Hole @ Twitter

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The Rabbit Hole reposted

Payment errors by program. From the article: About $186 billion (79%) of such errors were concentrated in five program areas: – Medicare – Medicaid – Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – The Earned Income Tax Credit – Paycheck Protection Program Loan forgiveness.

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The Rabbit Hole on X (formerly Twitter): “”If a private organization does things badly, it will lose money and have to go out of business. If a public organization does things badly it will be expanded.”- Milton Friedman pic.twitter.com/Tafbhjwi6l / X”

“If a private organization does things badly, it will lose money and have to go out of business. If a public organization does things badly it will be expanded.”- Milton Friedman pic.twitter.com/Tafbhjwi6l

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