OMB: 'Aggressive' use of IT cuts $17.6B in waste, fraud, and abuse

The Office of Management and Budget announced Tuesday that the Administration has cut wasteful improper payments by $17.6 billion dollars in 2011. The cuts included those paid for Medicare, Medicaid, Pell Grants, and Food Stamps. The government-wide error rate for Medicare and Medicaid dropped to 4.7%, down from the 2010 error rate of 5.3% and the 2009 error rate of 5.42%, according to the OMB. Also, the Medicare fee-for-service error rate fell from 9.1% in 2010 to 8.6% in 2011. OMB Director Jack Lew said the cuts are due to the effective and aggressive use of technology. In 2010, the president announced that by the end of 2012, the Administration would avoid $50 billion in improper payments, cut Medicare fee-for-service errors in half, and recapture $2 billion in overpayments to contractors. The Administration is on track to meet or exceed those goals, the OMB said.