Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "States provide health care coverage to about 60 million low-income uninsured adults and children largely through two federal-state programs--Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Medicaid, established in title XIX of the Social Security Act, generally covers low-income families and elderly and disabled individuals, and SCHIP, established in title XXI of the act, covers children in families whose incomes, although low, are above Medicaid's eligibility requirements. In 2001, the Secretary of Health and Human Services announced a new initiative--the Health Insurance Flexibility and Accountability Initiative (HIFA)--under which states could expand coverage to uninsured populations using Medicaid and SCHIP funds. HIFA encourages states to develop coordinated public and private health insurance coverage options and to target program resources to uninsured individuals with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). Authority for this initiative comes from section 1115 of the Social Security Act, which allows the Secretary to waive many of the statutory requirements of Medicaid or SCHIP in the case of experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects that promote program objectives. Within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Medicare & …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a request by the Chairman and a Member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, House Committee on Armed Services, GAO responded to post-hearing questions concerning on DOD's Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction Program."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (HSA) established the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). CIS is responsible for several functions transferred from the former Immigration Services Division of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) under the Department of Justice. CIS's functions include adjudicating and processing applications for U.S. citizenship and naturalization, administering work authorizations and other petitions, and providing services for new residents and citizens. CIS collects fees from applicants to process the various immigrationrelated applications and petitions. CIS also receives appropriated funds to pay for administrative and overhead costs such as records management and backlog reduction. HSA requires that we report on whether CIS is likely to derive sufficient funds from fees to carry out its functions in the absence of appropriated funds."