There was most likely between $100 billion and $135 billion in unemployment insurance (UI) fraud during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), The Hill reported.
This accounts for about 11% to 15% of the total UI benefits during the pandemic. The GAO said there was some $900 billion in UI expenditures from April 1, 2020, to May 31, 2023, the date which was the official end of the public health emergency.
"The unprecedented demand for UI benefits and the urgency with which states implemented the new programs during the pandemic increased the risk of improper payments, including, but not limited to, those due to fraud," according to the report.
The latest GAO report gives a higher number for UI fraud than previous estimates, as a GAO study this past December said the number was at least $60 billion.
The GAO report released on Tuesday stated that it reached its estimates by using "a substantial methodology employing independent sampling and modeling work."
However, the GAO acknowledged that the Department of Labor "expressed concerns" about the fraud estimation methodology used in the report and "and stated that the resulting estimate was likely overstated."
But the GAO stood behind its method, laying out in detail the process of estimating the fraud range.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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