Improper Payments and Recovery Audits of Federal Agencies Legislation and Analyses

As Congress searches for ways to generate savings, reduce the deficit, and fund federal programs, it has held hearings and passed legislation to prevent and recover improper payments. Improper payments are payments made in an incorrect amount, payments that should not have been made at all, or payments made to an ineligible recipient or for an ineligible purpose. The total amount of improper payments may be even higher than reported because several agencies have yet to determine improper payment amounts for many programs, including some with billions of dollars in annual expenditures. This book discusses the legislation, implementation and analysis of improper payments and recovery audits. The authors of this book also provide a testimony on the remaining challenges and strategies for government wide reduction efforts of improper payments, and a testimony on new steps to strengthen the integrity of federal payments.