Medicare, Medicaid, tax credits, food stamps and pandemic-era aid programs accounted for much of the federal government’s improper payment total, according to a GAO analysis.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Federal agencies issued about $186 billion in improper payments during fiscal year 2025, with health care, welfare-related programs and pandemic-era aid accounting for a large share of the total, according to a Government Accountability Office analysis.
gao-26-108694 by yourNEWS Media
The figure represented a $24 billion increase from the previous year, the New York Post reported. The GAO said 15 federal agencies reported improper payments across 64 programs, with overpayments making up about 82% of the total.
Medicare recorded the largest amount, with $57 billion in improper payments. Medicaid followed with $37 billion, while the Earned Income Tax Credit accounted for $21 billion in payments made to recipients who were not eligible.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, reported approximately $10 billion in improper payments. The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program, created during the COVID-19 pandemic to support live entertainment venues, museums and theaters, also recorded about $10 billion in excess payments.
All other programs combined accounted for an additional $51 billion.
The GAO said improper payments remain a persistent federal management problem. Since 2003, agencies have issued an estimated $3 trillion in improper payments, according to the watchdog agency.
The total may understate the scale of the issue because some programs considered vulnerable to improper payments were not included in the latest estimate, the GAO said.
The report comes as a federal fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance is pressing states to strengthen oversight of federal aid programs or risk losing funding.
Kristen Kociolek, managing director of GAO’s Financial Management and Assurance team, told The Washington Times that improper payments saw their largest increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, when emergency programs expanded rapidly between 2020 and 2023.
The GAO said it has repeatedly called on Congress and federal agencies to adopt stronger oversight, accountability and fraud-prevention measures to reduce improper payments across government programs.