The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) is a federal law passed on March 2, 2020 to help identify and reduce improper payments by government agencies.[1]
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| Long title | An act to identify and reduce improper payments by government agencies |
|---|---|
| Enacted by | the 116th United States Congress |
| Effective | March 2, 2020 |
| Legislative history | |
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Overpayment or fraudulent payments by government agencies is a long standing problem. Since FY2004 (fiscal year 2004) it is estimated that close to $3.0 trillion were erroneously paid out. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated that $233 billion to $521 billion annually was lost to fraud between 2018 and 2022 and this does not include improper payments.[2][3]
In FY2025, 15 federal agencies reported $186 billion in improper payments from 64 programs, an increase of $24 billion from FY2024, when 16 federal agencies reported $162 billion in improper payments from 68 programs. Most of these improper payments were a result of overpayments.[4][5]
Background
editImproper payments erroneously paid either for the wrong amounts or for the wrong reasons, as well as fraudulent payments, are an ongoing concern of US government agencies. Since FY2004, agencies have reported approximately $3.0 trillion in improper payments.[6]
In particular there was an large increase from FY2020 through FY2023, after the government's $4.6 trillion initiative to reduce the economic effects of the COVID-19 virus. Hundreds of billions of dollars were paid out in fraudulent claims[7] and billions of stimulus payments were paid to ineligible recipients, among them $1.4 billion in payments sent to deceased individuals.[8]
Of all the federal program liable to reporting, certain ones seem to report overpayments each year: Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. These programs have accounted for 77% (approximately $2.3 trillion) of improper payments reported since FY2004. In FY2025, Medicare, the federal program that covers healthcare costs for the elderly, reported $57 billion in improper payments, according to the GAO; Medicaid, the joint federal-state program for the poor, reported $37 billion in improper payments. These two programs alone accounted for 51 percent of the improper payments.[9][4]
Provisions
editIn an effort to reduce improper payments, Congress has passed several different laws from 2002 and 2015, among them Improper Payments Information Act of 2002, the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010, the Improper Payments Elimination Recovery Act of 2012, and the Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics Act of 2015.[10] These were merged and replaced by the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA; P.L. 116-117).[1]
The goal of the new legislation was to encourage greater cooperation and transparency between agencies and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to reduce or minimize the likelihood of duplication of programs. It also increases the number of risk indicators to evaluate the possibility of fraud or overpayment.
For every program that has a budget greater than $10 million PIIA requires each of the 24 federal agencies to determine if there is risk of significant improper payments. If so, the agency must publish an estimate of its improper payments, together with a plan to reduce them, and establish goals for meeting these targets.
PIIA requires agencies to develop a plan to recapture overpayments.
Programs that spend more than $1 million annually must develop a recovery audit program. The agency’s inspector general must determine whether or not they meet PIIA compliance requirements.[10][11]
Other followup programs
editIn addition to this law, there have been additional suggestions and attempts to reduce the levels of fraud and overpayment.[2] For example, the Department of Labor has initiated a review of how states are using the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Information Technology (IT) modernization funds which is part of the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), in an effort to reduce unemployment overpayments.[12]
Another example is the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud led by Vice President JD Vance.[13]
External Links
editReferences
edit- 1 2 "Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019". www.govinfo.gov. March 2, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- 1 2 "Reducing Fraud and Improper Payments in Government Spending Programs | The Foundation for American Innovation". www.thefai.org. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- ↑ Tapscott, Mark (June 5, 2026). "At Least 10% of Payments by 4 Major Federal Agencies Were Improper during Biden Era". washingtonstand.com. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- 1 2 Office, U. S. Government Accountability (April 27, 2026). "Payment Integrity: Agencies' Estimated Improper Payments Increased to $186 Billion in Fiscal Year 2025 | U.S. GAO". www.gao.gov. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- ↑ Bell, Mary McCue (June 6, 2026). "Federal agencies made $186 billion in improper payments last year, watchdog finds". The Washington Times. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Improper Payments: Ongoing Challenges and Recent Legislative Proposals". www.congress.gov. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Improper Payments in Pandemic Assistance Programs". www.congress.gov. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- ↑ "COVID-19: Opportunities to Improve Federal Response and Recovery Efforts, GAO-20-625". Government Accountability Office (GAO). June 2020.
- ↑ Boehm, Eric (June 4, 2026). "The feds wasted $186 billion on 'improper payments' last year". Reason.com. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- 1 2 Health, 6 Degrees (September 9, 2022). "Payment Integrity Act of 2019 Explained". 6 Degrees Health. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019" (PDF). KPMG.
- ↑ "Improper payments rose to $183B in 2025, but it's not all bad news". Federal News Network. April 27, 2026. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
- ↑ Leonard, Brady. "Eliminating Fraud Will Not Balance the Budget: News Article". Independent Institute. Retrieved June 8, 2026.