**GAO-22-105301**                      Published: May 11, 2022. Publicly Released: May 11, 2022.                  

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## Fast Facts

Each year, GAO reports on federal programs with fragmented, overlapping, or duplicative goals or actions, and we have suggested hundreds of ways to address those problems, reduce costs, or boost revenue. In our 12th annual report, we identified 94 new actions that Congress and agencies could take to address these findings.

Congress and agencies made significant progress in addressing many of the nearly 1,300 actions we suggested. These actions have yielded approximately $552 billion in cost savings and revenue increases. Addressing remaining actions could save tens of billions more dollars and improve government services.

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## Highlights

## What GAO Found

GAO identified 94 new actions in 21 new and nine existing areas for Congress or executive branch agencies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government. For example:
                          - The Department of Energy could pursue less expensive disposal options of nuclear and hazardous waste, such as immobilizing waste in grout, which could help save  tens of billions of dollars .
                          - Contracting leaders at federal agencies should use metrics measuring cost reduction or avoidance to improve the performance of their procurement organizations and potentially save  billions of dollars annually .
                          - Congress should consider directing the Department of Health and Human Services to implement additional payment reductions for Skilled Nursing Facilities with high rates of potentially preventable hospital readmissions and emergency room visits, potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars  in Medicare costs.
                          - The Internal Revenue Service could improve taxpayer service and better manage refund interest payments, potentially saving  $20 million or more annually , by establishing a mechanism to identify, monitor, and mitigate issues contributing to refund interest payments.
                          - The Social Security Administration could potentially save  millions of dollars  by identifying and addressing the causes for overpayments to disability beneficiaries in its Ticket to Work program.
                          - The Department of Defense could improve various administrative services, such as by better managing fragmentation in its food program and strengthening ongoing initiatives to reduce improper defense travel payments, potentially saving  millions of dollars  in those programs.

Congress and executive branch agencies have made significant progress in addressing many of the 1,299 actions that GAO identified from 2011 to 2022 to reduce costs, increase revenues, and improve agencies’ operating effectiveness, although work remains to fully address them. As shown in the figure below, these efforts have resulted in approximately $552 billion in financial benefits, an increase of $35 billion from GAO’s last duplication report. These are rough estimates based on a variety of sources that considered different time periods and used different data sources, assumptions, and methodologies.

**Total Reported Financial Benefits of $552 Billion, as of March 2022**

To achieve these benefits, as of March 2022, Congress and executive branch agencies have fully addressed 724 (about 56 percent) of the 1,299 actions GAO identified from 2011 to 2022 and partially addressed 240 (about 18 percent). Examples of actions taken that led to significant financial benefits include:
                          - The Department of Health and Human Services changed processes to curtail some problematic methods of determining budget neutrality and restricted the amount of unspent funds states can accrue and carry forward to expand Medicaid demonstrations, which resulted in more than  $140 billion  in federal savings.
                          - In support of the Office of Management and Budget’s Data Center Optimization Initiative, 22 federal agencies have been consolidating their data centers to improve government efficiency with related cost savings of approximately  $5.7 billion .

Further steps are needed to fully address the actions GAO identified from 2011 to 2022. While GAO is no longer tracking 106 actions due to changing circumstances, GAO estimates that fully addressing the remaining 469 open actions could result in savings of tens of billions of dollars and improved government services, among other benefits. For example:

**Examples of Areas with Open Actions with Potential Financial and Non-Financial Benefits**

Source: GAO. | GAO-22-105301

Note: All estimates of potential financial benefits are dependent on various factors, such as whether action is taken and how it is taken. For estimates of potential financial benefits where outside estimates of potential financial benefits were not available, GAO developed the notional estimates, which are intended to provide a sense of the potential magnitude of benefits. Notional estimates have been developed using broad assumptions about potential financial benefits which are rooted in previously identified losses, the overall size of the program, previous experience with similar reforms, and similar rough indicators of potential financial benefits.

## Why GAO Did This Study

GAO issues annual reports on federal programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives—either within departments or government-wide—that have duplicative goals or activities. As part of this work, GAO also identifies additional opportunities for greater efficiency and effectiveness that result in cost savings or enhanced revenue collection

This report discusses new opportunities for achieving billions of dollars in financial savings and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of a wide range of federal programs. It also evaluates progress in addressing actions identified in GAO's previous 11 annual reports.

In addition, the report provides examples of open actions where further steps by Congress and executive branch agencies could yield significant financial and non-financial benefits.

For more information, contact Jessica Lucas-Judy at (202)512-6806 or lucasjudyj@gao.gov, or Michelle Sager at (202)512-6806 or sagerm@gao.gov.

## Full Report

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Highlights Page (2 pages)

Full Report (121 pages)

Accessible PDF (134 pages)

## GAO Contacts

Jessica Lucas-Judy
lucasjudyj@gao.gov

(202) 512-6806

Michelle Sager
sagerm@gao.gov

(202) 512-6806

## Office of Public Affairs

Chuck Young
youngc1@gao.gov

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## Topics

Government Operations

Budget neutralityBudgetary informationCompliance oversightCost savingsDebt reductionFederal agenciesGovernment efficiencyHazardous waste disposalTaxpayer serviceHealth care

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## Video

U.S. Comptroller General Testifies to U.S. Senate on GAO's 2022 Duplication & Cost Savings ReportTuesday, June 14, 2022TranscriptBlog PostWhere can Government Save Money? We’ve Found More than Half a Trillion Dollars in Potential Savings Wednesday, May 11, 2022  How, specifically, can the federal government save billions of dollars and also improve the way many...Press ReleaseAnnual Report on Government Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication Flags Billions of Dollars in Potential SavingsDateWednesday, May 11, 2022  Washington, D.C. (May 11, 2022) – The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) today issued its 12 th annual report identifying opportunities to reduce fragmentation, overlap, and duplication...Receive GAO Updates
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