The government's standard procedure is to disburse funds and attempt to recover improper payments later—a highly inefficient process that costs hundreds of billions annually. A more effective system would require real-time prepayment verification, defaulting to "no pay" if eligibility cannot be confirmed, preventing fraud before it occurs.

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The majority of what payers identify as 'care gaps' are actually 'data gaps'—a lack of information leads to an assumption of missing care. By solving the data acquisition problem first, organizations can distinguish between the two. This dramatically shrinks the problem set, focusing expensive outreach efforts only on patients with true care needs.

Your physical identity (Social Security number, etc.) is trivial to breach. The single most effective defense is to lock your credit reports with the major bureaus. This prevents fraudulent accounts from being opened in your name, as it blocks most verification checks, effectively freezing out attackers.

In regulated industries, AI's value isn't perfect breach detection but efficiently filtering millions of calls to identify a small, ambiguous subset needing human review. This shifts the goal from flawless accuracy to dramatically improving the efficiency and focus of human compliance officers.

Since the SSA database is a single point of failure for federal payments, its rampant inaccuracies must be addressed with a one-time, all-hands cleanup. This involves reconciling records across the VA, IRS, and state death registries, then maintaining integrity with a publicly tracked "accuracy scorecard" to ensure permanent data hygiene.

Unlike most countries that fund legislation upon passing it, the U.S. Congress passes laws first and separately debates funding later. This fundamental disconnect between approving work and approving payment is a structural flaw that repeatedly manufactures fiscal crises and government shutdowns.

Unlike other tech verticals, fintech platforms cannot claim neutrality and abdicate responsibility for risk. Providing robust consumer protections, like the chargeback process for credit cards, is essential for building the user trust required for mass adoption. Without that trust, there is no incentive for consumers to use the product.

A proposed government service would allow companies to pay for a pre-vetted antitrust assessment before announcing a merger. This "TSA Pre-Check" for deals would involve independent reports and a public interest test, aiming to streamline the process, reduce political favoritism, and avoid lengthy, uncertain reviews.

A significant source of waste stems from "zombie payments"—recurring government funds that continue indefinitely without review. When the official who authorized the payment leaves, retires, or dies, there is often no system to shut it off, creating a perpetual drain of funds to companies or individuals who rarely report it.

Validate market demand by securing payment from customers before investing significant resources in building anything. This applies to software, hardware, and services, completely eliminating the risk of creating something nobody wants to buy.

Flawed Social Security data (e.g., listing deceased individuals as alive) is used to fraudulently access a wide range of other federal benefits like student loans and unemployment. The SSA database acts as a single point of failure for the entire government ecosystem, enabling what Elon Musk calls "bank shot" fraud.

Inverting the Government's "Pay Now, Chase Later" Model Prevents Billions in Fraud | RiffOn