Overview

"Improper payments" occur when funds go to the wrong recipient, the recipient receives the incorrect amount of funds (including overpayments and underpayments), documentation is not available to support a payment, or the recipient uses funds in an improper manner. In fiscal year 2009, federal government outlays totaled $3.5 trillion - $500 billion more than the prior year. Improper payments totaled $110 billion - an increase of over $38 billion from 2008, driven by improved detection efforts by agencies and the significant increase in outlays associated with the economic downturn. For example, in 2009, HHS implemented a number of changes in measurement methodology which impacted the Medicare Fee-For-Service error rate. The Unemployment Insurance program spike in estimated improper payments dollars was driven by increased number of claims paid rather than a change in the program's ability to detect and address errors.

What is the Administration doing to reduce improper payments?

The Administration is eager to attack the estimated $110 billion improper payments and is working with Federal and State partners, Congress, and other stakeholders, to reduce the government-wide amount of errors without negatively impacting citizen access to needed programs. To accomplish that goal, the President has announced several initiatives to prevent, reduce, and recapture improper payments. Learn more about these initiatives.

What can the American public do to help?

Taxpayers are able to report suspected incidents of fraud, waste, and abuse that can lead to finding and recovering improper payments, and implementing corrective actions to prevent future improper payments. Partner4Solutions.gov also provides an opportunity for the public to submit ideas about innovative approaches to reduce improper payments, to improve administrative efficiency and service delivery, while also reducing access barriers and protecting beneficiaries of important government programs.

Federal agencies are committed to providing high-quality improper payments data to the public. With your help we can do better. Use the Contact Us link at the top of this page to notify us of potential issues with the website - including data, website and document links, or other information. Also visit our Data Quality page for more information.

Agency Success Stories

The Department of Defense (DoD) has prevented more than $700 million in improper payments to vendors over the past 2 years through the deployment of their Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) tool. BAM is an analytical tool that assists DoD in flagging potential improper payment transactions before they are completed and the money is spent. Read more success stories from other agencies.

Learn More

• Learn More About High-Error Programs
• Learn More About Improper Payments
• What Causes Improper Payments?
• What Are Agencies Doing?
• Download the 2008 Government-wide report on Improving the Accuracy and Integrity of Federal Payments .