The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) made a recent announcement stating that the federal budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year amounted to $1.8 trillion.
This means that the Biden-Harris administration holds the record for being the biggest deficit spenders in modern history. In addition to this, they have also been found to have wasted around $1 trillion, as reported by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The Biden-Harris administration’s deficit spending can be attributed partly to the pandemic. However, it is important to note that President Biden used the pandemic as a convenient justification to allocate funds for his desired expenditures.
However, the Biden-Harris administration fell short in their efforts to minimize fraud and waste despite their significant spending. In fact, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an assessment on “improper payments” in April, revealing that the Biden-Harris team has surpassed all previous administrations in squandering taxpayer money.
Improper payments encompass more than just fraud, although fraud does constitute a significant portion. According to the GAO, improper payments refer to payments that should not have been made or were made in an incorrect amount.
For instance, if Medicare mistakenly overpays a hospital for its services, it would be considered an improper overpayment. However, it is important to note that there is also a considerable amount of deliberate fraud in the healthcare sector and various other federal programs, where payments should not have been made at all.
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Medicare and Medicaid combined accounted for over $100 billion in improper payments in FY2023. Additionally, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance received $43.6 billion in improper payments, the Earned Income Tax Credit received $21.9 billion, and the Paycheck Protection loan forgiveness program received $18.7 billion.
When we compare the Biden and Trump years, we can truly grasp the enormity of the improper payments.
Trump’s administration accumulated $672.8 billion in improper payments over the course of his four-year term, which, although unacceptably high, includes the substantial amount of money allocated by Congress during the pandemic year of 2020.
In contrast, under Biden’s presidency, improper payments have reached approximately $1 trillion.
Recent Health Care Fraud Stories That Will Shock You
Prepare to be astounded by these recent health care fraud stories that are bound to make your stomach churn.
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- “Scammers ripped off NY’s controversial Medicaid homecare program to the tune of $68M: feds,” the New York Post reports .
- Here’s one from September: “Scammers have taken more than $100 million meant for senior citizens’ Medicare bills, …” according to CBS News .
- From last August : “At a recent federal conference Operations Officer Mike Cohen, with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced that urinary catheter scams have now cost Medicare over $4 billion in losses in 2024.”
- This is from the Department of Justice last year in Detroit: “Twenty-Three individuals charged in $61.5 million Medicare fraud schemes.”
Law enforcement has managed to catch only a fraction of the scams that are out there. It is quite alarming to think about how many scammers are able to continue operating because they keep the dollar amounts relatively low.
Whether the government overpaid a group or individual, or if it was a result of fraud or another type of scam, the key issue is that the government has wasted your money. Although efforts have been made to recover some of these funds by identifying and prosecuting the culprits, a significant portion of the money will unfortunately remain unrecoverable.
The government’s increase in the allocation of taxpayer funds to individuals, organizations, and businesses inevitably leads to a rise in fraud and improper payments. Historically, the government has struggled to effectively detect and prevent such misconduct. Therefore, the initial solution to combat the issue of improper payments lies in reducing government expenditure.
Another important consideration is the need for government assistance to be directed towards those who truly require it. Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris administration has significantly broadened the scope of individuals and businesses receiving taxpayer funds, rather than limiting support to the most vulnerable. Furthermore, Kamala Harris intends to further increase the distribution of handouts if she becomes president.
Politicians often make promises to save taxpayer money by reducing waste, fraud, and abuse, but very few actually follow through. Unfortunately, this is also true for President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The evidence lies in the staggering $1 trillion that has been wasted in improper payments.
Merrill Matthews, a renowned public policy and political analyst, is also the co-author of the book “On the Edge: America Faces the Entitlements Cliff.” Keep up with his insights and analysis by following him on X@MerrillMatthews.