Estimated improper federal payments have reached about $3 trillion since fiscal year 2003, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Federal government agencies reported a total estimate of about $186 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2025, an increase of $24 billion from 2024.
About $153 billion—roughly 82 percent—of this total arose from overpayments.
The Government Accountability Office estimated that cumulative improper payments have reached about $3 trillion since fiscal year 2003. The actual amount may be much higher, the federal watchdog acknowledged in an April 27 report.
These improper payments represent false distributions—such as payments made to the wrong people, paid without proper documentation, or issued in the incorrect amount—from 64 programs reported by 15 federal agencies, and have been a government-wide issue for more than 20 years.
For fiscal year 2025, eight federal programs reported improper payment estimates of $5 billion or more.
Medicaid ($37 billion), Traditional Medicare ($28.8 billion), and Medicare Advantage ($23.7 billion) accounted for more than 50 percent of these erroneous payments.
Medicaid improper payments expanded by $6.3 billion in 2025, compared to the previous year. The Department of Health and Human Services stated that this was due to increased errors in eligibility redeterminations and provider screening as COVID-19 enrollment flexibilities phased out.
The Earned Income Tax Credit ($21 billion), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ($10 billion), and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program ($10 billion) added up to more than 20 percent of the total improper payments.
Improper payments arising from the Earned Income Tax Credit—a refundable federal tax credit for low-to-moderate-income working individuals and families—increased by $5.2 billion. The Department of the Treasury has not provided reasons for the improper payments.
Improper Payment Rates
Of the programs reporting improper payment estimates, 19 reported improper payment rates of at least 10 percent, including six programs whose rates exceeded 25 percent.
The Small Business Administration reported improper payments in the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program for the first time in fiscal year 2025.
The grant program aimed to help the live arts and entertainment industry survive the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, Congress provided $16.25 billion to the Small Business Administration, which awarded grants to 13,011 different businesses and organizations.
Nearly 70 percent of these distributions were erroneous payments, according to the federal watchdog.
By Sylvia Xu
