Article by Nick Hart & Suzette Kent: “Over the past five years, the federal government lost $200-to-$500 billion per year in fraud to improper payments — that’s up to $3,000 taken from every working American’s pocket annually. Since 2003, these preventable losses have totaled an astounding $2.7 trillion. But here’s the good news: We already have the data and technology to greatly eliminate this waste in the years ahead. The operational structure and legal authority to put these tools to work protecting taxpayer dollars needs to be refreshed and prioritized.
The challenge is straightforward: Government agencies often can’t effectively share and verify basic information before sending payments. For example, federal agencies may not be able to easily check if someone is deceased, verify income or detect duplicate payments across programs…(More)”.
