Although the federal retirement, health, and life insurance programs “do not appear to experience high rates of waste, fraud and mismanagement,” scrutiny of those programs should be increased, the House Government Reform Committee has said. The committee was responding to orders in the budget resolution for the current fiscal year ordering each committee to find savings in areas under its jurisdiction. That included an order to the Government Reform panel to identify savings of $827 million in fiscal year 2004, $4.5 billion over five years period, and $10 billion over 10 years. In its report in response, the panel noted that the programs together will account for about $900 billion of mandatory spending over the next 10 years. It proposed doubling the budget for the Office of Personnel Management inspector general, which scrutinizes those programs, as well as reforms to the management of federal real property, increasing data sharing for the purpose of reducing improper payments in benefit programs, and increasing competition and accountability for federal grants.