Watchdog finds billions in potential savings via Medicare, Head Start reforms

A new Government Accountability Office report shows the federal government could potentially save tens of billions of taxpayer dollars and enhance program oversight through targeted changes.

Hundreds of cost-cutting and waste-reducing options are listed in GAO’s Recommendations for Congress report, including reforms to entitlement programs, the crop insurance program, and Department of Defense spending.

“Action to address open matters can produce tens of billions of dollars in future financial savings or improve the effectiveness of federal agencies and programs and help position the nation to address future challenges,” the report reads.

America’s national debt is currently over $36 trillion. Increased congressional and federal oversight of Medicaid alone could provide tens of billions of savings, the report notes, a long-discussed goal Republican lawmakers are pursuing through the budget reconciliation process.

The government could also recover hundreds of millions by streamlining Medicare payments to certain cancer hospitals.

But lawmakers have largely overlooked another source of potentially massive savings listed by GAO: improved radioactive waste cleanup strategies. The Department of Energy should explore different nuclear waste management, treatment, and disposal approaches, which would not only enhance federal transparency but also potentially reduce costs by tens of billions.

Billions in savings could also be achieved if Congress changes the crop insurance program by curtailing federal premium subsidies, GAO showed.

And changes to how – and how much – the Department of Defense spends could potentially save the federal government $100 million. The Pentagon holds a long record of financial mismanagement, failing seven consecutive audits, as The Center Square reported.

Other changes without specific cost estimates include enhancing the Department of Health and Human Services’ oversight of the Head Start and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs; reforming the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Flood Insurance program; and eliminating the incentive for 340B program-participating hospitals to prescribe more expensive drugs.

The alleged abuse of the 340B program by some hospitals has garnered national attention in recent years. A draft of the HHS annual budget lists 340B reform as one of many priorities, as The Center Square reported.