Improper Payments

" Over the past decade, GAO has issued numerous reports and testimonies highlighting improper payment issues across the federal government as well as at specific agencies. Fiscal year 2011 marked the eighth year of implementation of the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA), as well as the first year of implementation for the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA). IPIA requires executive branch agencies to annually identify programs and activities susceptible to significant improper payments, estimate the amount of improper payments for such programs and activities, and report these estimates along with actions taken to reduce them. IPERA, enacted July 22, 2010, amended IPIA and expanded requirements for recovering overpayments across a broad range of federal programs. This testimony addresses (1) federal agencies' reported progress in estimating and reducing improper payments, (2) remaining challenges in meeting current requirements to estimate and report improper payments and (3) actions that can be taken to move forward with improper payment reduction strategies. This testimony is primarily based on prior GAO reports, including GAO's fiscal year 2011 audit of the Financial Report of the United States Government. The testimony also includes improper payment information recently presented in federal entities' fiscal"