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WASHINGTON — More than $98 billion in taxpayer dollars spent by government agencies was wasted, much of it on questionable claims for tax credits and Medicare benefits, representing an increase of $26 billion from the previous year.
In all, about 5 percent of spending in federal programs in fiscal year 2009 was improper, according to new details of a government financial report released Tuesday.
Saying the overall error rate was similar in 2008, officials attributed the $26 billion jump to some changes in defining improper spending as well as an increase in overall spending due to the recession.
