Posted September 5, 2013
According to a report released by USDA’s Office of
Inspector General (OIG), USDA made 239 “high-dollar” overpayments totaling
approximately $20.3 million in fiscal year 2012. No “high-dollar” overpayments, however, came
from nutrition programs. The report is
available here.
Members of Congress returning from their recess and
preparing to head to conference over a 2013 farm bill, will confront the “news
that USDA sent out more money than it should have for subsidies and that other
farmer assistance rose by 67 percent in 2012” according to a Politico article,
available here. Congress will also confront the news that
there were no “high-dollar” overpayments from the nutrition programs designated
as “high risk.” The farm bill debate “over
food stamps has been so heated” that “House leadership stripped out the food
stamp portion of a farm bill that was narrowly approved in July.”
The report is required by Executive Order 13520,
“Reducing Improper Payments” and is intended to “intensify efforts to eliminate
payment error, waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal programs.” The Executive Order requires the OIG to review
USDA’s “high-dollar” overpayment reports and recommend plans to recover and
prevent those overpayments. To be
included in the report as a “high-dollar” overpayment, an overpayment must be
at least 50 percent more than the correct amount and more than $5,000 to an
individual or $25,000 to an entity for the quarter.
USDA designated 16 “high-risk” programs included in the
OIG’s audit and Report. Exhibit B of the
report provides information on overpayment by USDA agency. USDA’s Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
Program Fund (FCIC) had the highest number and amount of overpayments. The FCIC overpaid 70 individuals or entities
for a total of about $14.7 million. The
NRCS’s Farm Security and Rural Investment Program overpaid 53 individuals or
entities for a total of about $2.8 million in overpayments.
There were no “high-dollar” overpayments in the USDA’s
high-risk nutrition programs including the National School Lunch Program, the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Infants, Women, and Children (WIC), and the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The report suggests that USDA can reduce overpayment by
additional oversight, better bookkeeping, and reporting errors in a shorter
time period.
