The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has approved HR-4053, the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act, which among other things would establish a Do Not Pay Initiative based on information from databases maintained by the federal government, including the database of the Social Security Administration reporting deaths of recipients.
The bill requires the Director of the OMB to: identify, on an annual basis, a list of high-priority federal programs for greater levels of oversight and review of improper payments; coordinate with agencies responsible for administering the programs to establish actions for reducing improper payments; and provide guidance to agencies for improving estimates of improper payments.
Individual agencies would have to report annually on any high-dollar improper payments they identified, and review prepayment and pre-award procedures and available databases to determine program or award eligibility and prevent improper payments before releasing any federal funds.
OMB also would have to set new plans for identifying and recovering overpayments in 10 agencies.
