Improper Payments: Responses to Posthearing Questions Related to Eliminating Waste and Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid

On April 22, 2009, representatives of the U.S. Government Accountability Office testified before the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. At that hearing, titled, “Eliminating Waste and Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid,” GAO staff discussed federal agencies’ progress in estimating and reducing improper payments, as well as existing challenges for federal agencies to fully meet the requirements of the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002. The agency's testimony also provided an overview of implementation of IPIA with respect to the Medicare and Medicaid programs by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a component of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

This letter responds to a May 29, 2009, request for responses to questions for the record related to the April 22, 2009, testimony.