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GAO report shows USDA made $6.7 billion in improper payments

The Government Accountability Office says government agencies made $175 billion in improper payments in 2019. In its latest report, the GAO says $121 billion of that was concentrated in Medicaid, Medicare, and earned income tax credit.

The USDA was responsible for $6.7 billion of that total.

The report says the USDA made improper payments including $612 million through Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, $282.5 million in crop insurance funding, and $42.5 million in crop disaster assistance programs.

The GAO says improper payments are payments that should never have been made or those made in incorrect amounts. Improper payments have been estimated to total $1.7 trillion government-wide form 2003 through 2019.

Improper payments in 2018 totaled $151 billion.