DoD OIG: Significant Improvements Needed in Efforts to Address Improper Payment Requirements

DOD reported $1.1 billion in improper payments for fiscal year 2011, which marked the eighth year of implementation of IPIA, as well as the first year of implementation of IPERA. The Department of Defense (DOD) did not adequately implement key provisions of the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) and the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements for fiscal year 2011. Most important, GAO found that DOD’s improper payment estimates reported in its fiscal year 2011 Agency Financial Report were neither reliable nor statistically valid because of long-standing and pervasive financial management weaknesses and significant deficiencies in the department’s procedures to estimate improper payments.