{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-improper-payments-continue-to-waste-hundreds-of-millions-of-tax", "Kuster: Improper Payments Continue to Waste Hundreds of Millions of Tax Dollars", "2013-11-20", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "NH", "Ann Kuster", "K000382", "kuster.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Helps introduce common sense legislation \u2013 the Improper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act \u2013 to crack down on erroneous payments to deceased individuals\nLegislation would help give agencies tools they need to curb this wasteful practice and cut down on fraud and abuse across government\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) helped introduce common sense legislation that would crack down on improper federal payments to deceased individuals that have wasted hundreds of millions of tax dollars in recent years. The legislation, the Improper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act, would equip federal agencies with tools to help ensure tax dollars are not wasted on unnecessary payments and to cut down on fraud across government. Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) and Congressman Chris Gibson (NY-19) are the lead sponsors of the bill.\n\u201cInstead of going after programs that seniors, middle class families, and struggling Americans count on, Congress should aggressively root out waste and fraud across government,\u201d Kuster said. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what this common sense bill does. By cracking down on wasteful improper payments, we can save hundreds of millions of tax dollars while protecting critical priorities that we need to create jobs and strengthen the middle class.\u201d\nEvery year, federal payments are erroneously made to deceased individuals all across the country. Recent examples of improper payments to deceased individuals include:\n A total of $601 million in improper payments were made from 2006 to 2010 to federal retirees later found to have already died;\n\tMore than $1 billion in farm program payments to farmers who were dead for more than three years; and\n\tMedicare prescription drug plans were paid approximately $3.6 million for drugs provided to 1,500 dead beneficiaries.\n Improving the collection of information on deceased beneficiaries has the potential to save the government hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. The Improper Payments Agency Cooperation Enhancement Act would take several steps to improve the information that is available to federal agencies, including:\n Improving the Death Master File, which the Social Security Administration and other agencies use to verify death records;\n\tRequiring use of death data to curb improper payments;\n\tAllowing federal agencies access to the complete Death Master File database; and\n\tEnsuring that federal agencies managing retirement programs share best practices.\n Kuster is committed to cutting waste while protecting critical programs and services seniors and middle class families count on. Earlier this month, Kuster called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to take action to crack down on wasteful improper Medicare payments. She also introduced legislation that would force federal agencies to eliminate empty bank accounts that cost millions of dollars to maintain despite serving no purpose.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-improper-payments-continue-to-waste-hundreds-of-millions-of-tax"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9422108996659517, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}