GAO Reports Improper Payments Rose to an Estimated $186 billion Across the Federal Government in Fiscal Year 2025

WASHINGTON (April 27, 2026) GAO today issued its report on federal agencies’ improper payments estimates for fiscal year 2025, reporting that agencies identified $186 billion in payment errors. A longstanding, government-wide issue, improper payments are a result of overpayments, fraud, or other causes. Overpayments accounted for $153 billion of this year’s improper payments estimate, or roughly 82 percent. Today’s report shows a $24 billion increase in improper payments from the previous fiscal year, and GAO continues to make recommendations aimed at reducing these payment errors and safeguarding federal funds.

“Federal agencies must do more to protect taxpayer dollars from the errors that drive improper payments,” said Orice W. Brown, Acting Comptroller General of the United States and head of the GAO. “This $186 billion problem demands urgent action – agencies need stronger controls, better data, a commitment to accountability, as well as robust Congressional oversight.”

The fiscal year 2025 improper payments estimate is based on reporting from 64 federal programs across 15 federal agencies, though 73 percent of improper payments recorded were concentrated in just five program areas. Those include Medicare, Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program. Nineteen programs reported improper payment rates of over 10 percent, and six programs reported rates of over 25 percent.

The $24 billion increase in improper payments from fiscal year 2024 is largely attributable to programs that reported estimates in fiscal year 2025 but did not report estimates in the prior fiscal year, as well as an increase in Medicaid improper payments. The Department of Health and Human Services noted that Medicaid errors rose due to increased problems with eligibility redeterminations and provider screening while phasing out COVID-era flexibilities in the program. 

The improper payment estimates do not represent the full extent of government-wide improper payments. The government-wide estimate does not include some programs that were determined to be susceptible to significant improper payments. For example, the $186 billion estimate does not include improper payments made under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

GAO has made numerous recommendations to agencies and Congress to help reduce payment errors by enhancing transparency and accountability of federal spending. These include designating all new federal programs making more than $100 million in payments in any one fiscal year as susceptible to improper payments and requiring agencies to develop internal control plans that can be rapidly deployed for future emergency funding.

The full report is available on GAO’s website. If you have further questions, please contact Kristen Kociolek, Managing Director of Financial Management and Assurance, at KociolekK@gao.gov or Sarah Kaczmarek, Managing Director of Public Affairs, at media@gao.gov.

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