Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Health care spending varies across the country due to differences in the use and price of health care services. Understanding the reasons for utilization and price variation may contribute to developing methods to control health care spending. This report provides preliminary results from our work on geographic variations in health care spending and prices. Congress asked us to examine geographic variations in health care spending and prices in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). FEHBP is the health insurance program administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for federal civilian employees and retirees, which covered 8.5 million people in 2001. FEHBP contracts with private insurers to provide health benefits. It is the largest private insurance program in the United States. This report summarizes preliminary information provided to you at an interim briefing on July 21, 2004. The enclosed briefing slides highlight the results of our work comparing Milwaukee to other areas of the country. The objectives of the briefing were to (1) compare Milwaukee health care spending per enrollee, hospital inpatient prices, and physician prices with other metropolitan areas, and (2) examine factors identified by stakeholders …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress has provided funding for numerous highway demonstration projects in legislation authorizing surface transportation programs as well as in annual appropriations acts for the Department of Transportation (DOT). In some cases, the projects are identified in the legislation itself. In others, they are identified in committee reports accompanying the legislation. These projects are all designated for specific geographic locations within states and for specific purposes, and funds made available for them generally remain available for them until expended. This report includes information we provided to Congress on July 14, 2004, on unobligated funds no longer needed that could be rescinded from highway demonstration projects and also includes a recommendation to the Secretary of Transportation."