Improper payments elimination and recovery improvement act, IPERIA, Do Not Pay Initiative

6.4 Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act

The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (IPERIA) (PL 112-248), signed into law on January 10, 2013, established the Do Not Pay Initiative to reduce improper payments or awards. Improper payments occur when funds go to the wrong recipient, the recipient receives the incorrect amount of funds (including overpayments and underpayments), documentation is not available to support a payment, or the recipient uses funds in an improper manner. Incorrect amounts are overpayments or underpayments that are made to eligible recipients (including inappropriate denials of payment or service, any payment that does not account for credit for applicable discounts, payments that are for an incorrect amount, and duplicate payments). When an agency's review is unable to discern whether a payment was proper as a result of insufficient or lack of documentation, this payment should also be considered an improper payment. When establishing documentation requirements for payments, agencies should ensure that all documentation requirements are necessary and should refrain from imposing additional burdensome documentation requirements. Interest or other fees that may result from an underpayment by an agency are not considered an improper payment if the interest was paid correctly. These payments are generally separate transactions and may be necessary under certain statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements.

HHS has implemented provisions of IPERIA through integrating use of the Do Not Pay system into the current payment processes managed by the PMS, HHS.