Federal agencies made an estimated $186 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2025, with most coming from the nation's largest programs like Medicare and Medicaid. This represents roughly $3 trillion in improper payments since 2003 , meaning the 2025 figure is part of a persistent structural problem across decades. The post doesn't explain what counts as 'improper' (overpayments, duplicate payments, payments to ineligible recipients) or whether this figure represents a meaningful deterioration versus normal government accounting error rates.