Government Program Wasted More Than $100 Million Of Taxpayer Dollars

Posted: Jul 1, 2010 11:53 AM by Melissa Canone
Updated: Jul 1, 2010 11:54 AM

MIAMI - A government program that's supposed to help
impoverished families heat and cool their homes wasted more than
$100 million of taxpayer dollars paying the electric bills of
thousands of applicants who were dead, in prison or living in
million-dollar mansions.
The Department of Health and Human Services spent $5 billion
through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program in 2009,
doling out money to states with little oversight. An investigation
by the Government Accountability Office found about $116 million in
improper payments to seven states in 2009.
The program helped pay the electric bill of a Chicago woman who
lives in a $2 million home and drives a Mercedes.
The study found HHS paid $3.9 million to 11,000 applicants who
used the identities of dead people.

Topics: Government, Program, Wasted, More, Than, $100, Million, Of, Taxpayer, Dollars