Automated Teller Machines: Some Consumer Fees Have Increased (open access)

Automated Teller Machines: Some Consumer Fees Have Increased

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Automated teller machine (ATM) operators include financial institutions--banks and credit unions--as well as independent firms. Industry representatives GAO spoke with estimate there are approximately 420,000 ATMs in the United States. They estimate that financial institutions operate and set the fees for about half of the market, and independent operators work together with merchants to operate the remainder and to determine the fees incurred by consumers. ATM operators have differing business models that affect the way they set ATM fees for consumers. Financial institutions operate ATMs as a convenience to their own account holders, who generally do not pay fees to use these ATMs, while non-account-holding customers do. At independent ATMs, most consumers incur a surcharge fee, although there are some exceptions, such as when the ATM is part of a surcharge-free ATM network."
Date: April 11, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Courthouses: Recommended Construction Projects Should Be Evaluated under New Capital- Planning Process (open access)

Federal Courthouses: Recommended Construction Projects Should Be Evaluated under New Capital- Planning Process

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Asset Management Planning (AMP) process represents progress by the federal judiciary (judiciary) in better aligning its capital-planning process with leading capitalplanning practices, but its 5-year plan for fiscal years 2014 to 2018--the document the judiciary uses to request courthouse construction projects--lacks transparency and key information on how projects qualify for new construction, alternatives the judiciary considered, and their cost. For example, the plan lists costs for the next phase of the 12 recommended courthouse projects, which have several phases, but does not list previous funding or ongoing annual costs for the projects. As a result, the plan lists about $1 billion in costs for the 12 projects, but the projects would actually cost the federal government an estimated $3.2 billion over the next 20 years. Congress has appropriated a small share of the money needed for the projects, and most will need design changes before construction can begin. As a result, there is a risk that congressional funding decisions could be made without complete and accurate information. However, with this information, decision makers could weigh current-year budget decisions within the context of projects' expected future …
Date: April 11, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Indian Health Service: Capping Payment Rates for Nonhospital Services Could Save Millions of Dollars for Contract Health Services (open access)

Indian Health Service: Capping Payment Rates for Nonhospital Services Could Save Millions of Dollars for Contract Health Services

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Indian Health Service's (IHS) federal contract health services (CHS) programs primarily paid physicians at their billed charges, which were significantly higher than what Medicare and private insurers would have paid for the same services. IHS's policy states that federal CHS programs should purchase services from contracted providers at negotiated, reduced rates. However, of the almost $63 million that the federal CHS programs paid for physician services provided in 2010, they paid about $51 million (81 percent) to physicians at billed charges and about $12 million (19 percent) to physicians at negotiated, reduced rates. Payments for other types of nonhospital services followed similar trends, with about $40 million out of $52 million (77 percent) paid at billed charges. GAO estimated that IHS's federal CHS programs paid two times as much as what Medicare would have paid and about one and a quarter times as much as what private insurers would have paid for the same physician services provided in 2010. If federal CHS programs had paid Medicare rates for these services, they could have used an estimated $32 million in savings to pay for many of …
Date: April 11, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Direct Overt U.S. Aid Appropriations for and Military Reimbursements to Pakistan, FY2002-FY2014 (open access)

Direct Overt U.S. Aid Appropriations for and Military Reimbursements to Pakistan, FY2002-FY2014

This report provides data regarding the direct overt U.S. aid appropriations and military reimbursements to Pakistan.
Date: April 11, 2013
Creator: Kronstadt, K. Alan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) (open access)

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

This report discusses the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), an amendment to the Consumer Credit Protection Act added in order to "eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors." Under the law, third party debt collectors are prohibited from threatening or harassing debtors, and their contacts with debtors are restricted.
Date: April 11, 2013
Creator: Lee, Margaret Mikyung
System: The UNT Digital Library