The government's track record for reducing improper payments--particularly improper payments made through Medicare and Medicaid programs--is not something to write home about, writes Scott Schumacher, a government and commercial expert in complex data analysis, in FierceGovernmentIT. The Medicaid program within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) accounted for $13 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2007, according to a then-released Government Accountability Office report. An updated report states that figure rose to about $18.6 billion in fiscal 2008. -- Read the full article in FierceGovernmentIT