Improper payments

  • Federal News Radio evaluated a total of five initiatives meant to rally federal managers' enthusiasm, expertise and duty as part of the special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years. We determined more progress was needed on the administration's performance management and regulation reduction efforts. We called the President's plan to reorganize the Commerce Department a bust but find effective efforts surrounding energy sustainability and cutting waste, fraud, abuse and improper payments.

    September 17, 2012
  • A chart of the six agencies with the most improper payments in 2011.

    September 14, 2012
  • The President's Management Advisory Board wants agencies to focus on reducing improper payments and making strategic sourcing mandatory.

    September 10, 2012
  • Over the last three years, agencies understood the problem better, improved how they tracked the information and used advanced data analysis tools to lower the governmentwide rate to 4.69 percent from 5.42 percent in 2009. While the amount of money improperly paid out hit a high of $125 billion in 2010, Danny Werfel, the Office of Management and Budget's controller, expects it to drop for a second consecutive year, below the $115 billion mark in 2011.

    September 04, 2012
  • The inspector general for the Social Security Administration estimated the agency is sitting on about $134 million for benefit checks that sit uncashed by recipients for more than a year - money subsequently returned to the agency. But the IG report found most of the recipients who didn't cash their checks are still eligible for the assistance and the SSA could take additional steps to ensure they receive them.

    July 24, 2012
  • Information regarding a person's death is not always correctly transferred between the Social Security Administration's databases, according to a new report from the agency's inspector general. As a result, various agencies may be sending money to dead people or fraudsters.

    July 13, 2012
  • The White House launched a new "Do Not Pay" tool on Thursday to prevent improper payments to individuals and companies. Agency heads must submit plans to adopt the tool by June 30.

    April 12, 2012
  • Jane Oates, the assistant secretary of employment and training administration at DoL, joined In Depth with Francis Rose to discuss details of the department\'s new program.

    March 16, 2012
  • The Association of Government Accountants recently released recommendations on how federal agencies can cut improper payments as a way to cut costs.

    November 28, 2011
  • The White House says federal agencies stopped nearly $18 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2011. Danny Werfel, controller at OMB, explained how agencies did it.

    November 16, 2011
  • Most of the fiscal 2011 reductions came from the departments of Education, Agriculture and Health and Human Services. The administration also announced new steps aimed at improving how agencies use suspension and debarment to deal with unreliable contractors and grant recipients.

    November 15, 2011
  • The bill builds on a series proposals on improper payments, said Linda Springer, former OMB comptroller.

    October 26, 2011
  • FEMA has recovered just $3 million of $643 million in potentially improper disaster relief aid since Hurricane Katrina. But its attempts to recoup the money are setting off one senator and threatening to erupt into a public relations snafu.

    October 21, 2011
  • Dan Chenok, a senior fellow with the IBM Center for the Business of Government, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Amy Morris to discuss the The Partnership Fund for Program Integrity Innovation fund and the innovative pilot programs have come out of it.

    September 21, 2011