11.   Federal officials said Tuesday that they were trying to establish the exact amount of the improper payments and might try to recover some of the money.

12.   Improper payments include inadvertent mistakes as well as outright fraud and abuse.

13.   Improper payments, commissions and fees are not uncommon in international aircraft sales.

14.   Joklik said that as a member of the Salt Lake City bid committee he had been unaware of any improper payments.

15.   On a related issue Tuesday, federal health officials reported a reduction in improper Medicare payments to health care providers.

16.   Prosecutors had no plans to bring charges, and the agency did not expect to recover the improper payments.

17.   Reasons for the improper payments include inadvertent mistakes, abuse and outright fraud.

18.   That scandal also involved improper payments to clients, some of which were linked with criminal groups.

19.   The American Medical Association also raised questions about the statistical methods used by the inspector general to estimate improper payments.

20.   The auditor general blamed the improper Medicaid payments largely on delays by the vital statistics office and the state DCF.