IT To Help Eliminate $67B In State & Local WFA Waste, Fraud, And Abuse

February 4, 2010

According to an Input report on State & Local Investment in Anti-Waste, Fraud, and Abuse (WFA), cash strapped state and local governments across the country will invest more than $4.7 billion within the next five years to clamp down on waste, fraud and abuse (WFA) within benefits programs, including Medicaid and Social Services.

Investments in business intelligence (BI), audit and recovery (A&R) technologies, preventative measures such as training, business process design and detection systems, are among the key strategies state and local governments are implementing to reduce WFA. State and local government agencies that implement these technologies may recover some of the $67 billion in annual WFA among the five biggest federal benefits programs: Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Housing Assistance and Food Stamps.

Unnecessary costs and spending, deliberate misrepresentation and excessive or improper use impacts all levels of government. INPUT projects that the federal government will disburse $500 billion annually over the next five years for states to administer. With an average of 13 percent of these funds lost annually to WFA, INPUT predicts that state and local governments will invest $600 million in A&R solutions, and $225 million in BI and prevention solutions in 2010 for the five biggest federal benefits programs.