Medicaid is significantly overpaying for many drugs, Mr. Spitzer said, although it is unclear exactly how large those overpayments may be.
And while both these figures may sound large, total overpayments account for less than 3% of benefit expenditure, and losses through fraud alone make up less than 1% of the benefits bill.
The investigators, from the General Accounting Office, said Medicare officials had ignored their own rules and procedures in negotiating secret deals to settle the debts -- the three largest Medicare overpayment cases of the last decade.
These savings include cutting large and unnecessary overpayments to private insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans.
"There seems to be a significant amount of money out there in unused tax credits and water bill overpayments that owners of large buildings are just not aware they are entitled to," said Herb Rose, a Manhattan co-op consultant.
If you can afford it, overpayments could be a great financial move.
"You know what a large part of that $716 billion in savings turns out to be? Ending overpayments to the Medicare Advantage program.
Rachel Springall from financial analyst moneyfacts.co.uk said: "There are risks involved with taking a loan out from a less well-established company, and unlike other loans offered by the larger banks and building societies they may not offer flexible payments or overpayments to clear the debt earlier, so borrowers should check the fine print carefully".
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, which is the largest in Kent and employs more than 7,000 people, said it had also been steadily reducing incidents of overpayments made to its staff.
They typically claim damages based on overpayment for a product less valuable than that advertised, meaning the sums of money involved in individual suits are not particularly large.
