As President Obama asks for more money from taxpayers for his jobs plan, he’s trying to show just how serious he is about cutting a little fat out of the administration’s own budgetary diet.
While no amount of belt-tightening or efficiency-finding reviews will pull the nation out of the debt crisis, the White House is intent on showing — at the very least — that it’s trying to do a better job safeguarding the taxpayers dollars it already has. By taking up the usually GOP pet cause of cutting government waste, fraud and abuse, the White House also hopes to pick up a bit of bipartisan praise. Officials note that the effort is draws in part on efficiency proposals offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK).
Vice President Joe Biden convened a cabinet meeting Wednesday to discuss how the administration’s Campaign to Cut Waste at all federal agencies is going. The meeting came after a “steady drumbeat” of agency reports of new steps to save costs since June, administration officials said.
After the meeting, Biden announced a new initiative to fight waste in Medicaid that the administration estimates will save taxpayers $2 billion over five years, and unveiled new efforts to track state progress in reducing improper unemployment insurance payments. In addition, he directed each cabinet secretary to conduct an efficiency review to target wasteful federal spending.
“If we’re going to spur jobs and economic growth and restore long-term fiscal solvency, we need to make sure hard-earned tax dollars don’t go to waste,” Biden said in a statement announcing the initiative.
Healthy and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius joined Biden to discuss a new initiative to fight waste and fraud in Medicaid that will save taxpayers an estimated $2.1 billion, $900 million of which will be returned to the states.
The final rule for the Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor Program, a program created by the Affordable Care Act, will produce the additional savings, Sebelius said. The new program is based on a similar audit program for Medicare, which the Biden said has recovered nearly $670 million to date.
“We simply can’t afford to see even one penny of our health care dollars wasted and expanding this program will help us reach that goal,” Sebelius said.
Biden also cited cost savings produced by the Department of Homeland Security’s efficiency review as a model for other agencies.
Since 2009, the mammoth department has identified more than $1 billion in cost avoidances and implemented 30 efficiency initiatives across the agency – from buying software licenses in bulk to using government offices for meetings instead of renting private space.
As a result of these savings and other ongoing efficiency initiatives, the agency’s 2012 budget request included more than $800 million in reductions, Biden noted.
