Federal agencies still have much more to do to comply with the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010, GAO said, saying that in the most recent reviews by IGs of agencies falling under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act, 10 reported that their agencies did not satisfy at least one of the specified criteria.
Further, even among the agencies in compliance, the IGs reported that many did not meet their planned improper payment reduction targets or achieve and report gross improper payment error rates below 10 percent for each agency program or activity.
Factors affecting the former challenge include the programs’ structure and continued challenges with supporting documentation, while factors affecting the latter include \complexities in the structure of the program and a lack of documentation, which prevented accurate authentication and verification of eligible recipients.
GAO did not make recommendations, although OMB provided “comments that highlighted initiatives to reduce improper payments, which it considers a key priority.” GAO noted that agencies estimate nearly $106 billion was paid in 2013 in improper payments such as duplicate or erroneous payments, payments to ineligible recipients, or payments for ineligible services.
The report is here: http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/667332.pdf
