Health care spending isn’t just the main driver of our debt. It’s also the main driver of our waste.

The federal government made $98 billion in improper payments in 2009, about 5 percent of total spending.

Improper payments are funds that “go to the wrong recipient, the recipient receives the incorrect amount of funds, or the recipient uses the funds in an improper manner,” according to the White House. And more than half of the waste — $54.2 billion — came from Medicare and Medicaid.

How did this happen?

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