A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute settlement system, focusing on: (1) how WTO members have used the new system, primarily on cases involving the United States; and (2) the impact of these cases on foreign trade practices and U.S. laws and regulations, and their overall commercial effects."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which became law in March, 2010, generally prohibits health insurance issuers and group health plan sponsors from imposing annual limits on the dollar value of "essential" covered health benefits beginning on January 1, 2014, but allows restricted annual limits, as defined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), on the value of those benefits until that time. In setting these annual limits, HHS is statutorily required to ensure that individuals' access to needed services remains available with a minimal impact on plan premiums. In June 2010, HHS set restrictions on annual limits for each plan year from September 2010 through December 2013. To mitigate a potential impact on individuals' access or premiums for existing plans with benefit limits below these amounts, HHS established a waiver program based on the statutory requirement. Under the program, issuers or other group health plan sponsors could apply for a waiver from the annual limits set by HHS if they attested and presented evidence that meeting the annual limits would result in diminished access to benefits or a significant increase in premiums. To …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was established in 1970 to advocate for low-income families. Allegations of voter registration fraud and videotapes of questionable behavior by ACORN employees raised concerns about ACORN, and Congress passed fiscal year 2010 laws prohibiting federal funds from being awarded to ACORN and ACORN related organizations. GAO was asked to report on these organizations, including (1) how much federal funding was awarded to them for fiscal years 2005 through 2009 and the purpose of the funding, (2) the extent to which federal agencies' monitoring of these awards detected issues identified by audits, (3) the nature and results of any federal investigations or prosecutions conducted of these organizations from fiscal years 2005 through 2009, and (4) how federal agencies implemented provisions prohibiting the award of funds. Among other things, GAO identified awards to ACORN or potentially related organizations by 31 federal agencies and audits of such awards; documentation of related investigations and cases; and actions to implement funding restrictions by the 27 agencies in our review subject to them."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Problems with management oversight and control of DOD's purchase card program led to concerns that similar issues exist for DOD's vendor payments. As a result, this report focuses on the Navy's telecommunication program and whether (1) the Navy has the basic cost and inventory information needed to oversee and manage these purchases and (2) selected Navy sites have adequate control to provide reasonable assurance that goods and services are purchased cost effectively and payments are made only for valid charges."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From 2008 to 2009, the U.S. unemployment rate increased significantly from 5.3 percent to 9.2 percent, leaving many Americans jobless and at risk of losing their employer-sponsored health care. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and subsequent amendments, employees who were involuntarily terminated between September 1, 2008, and May 31, 2010, became eligible to continue their health care coverage for up to 15 months at reduced rates. Previously, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) allowed certain former employees to maintain health coverage by paying the entire cost of coverage. Under ARRA, former employees pay 35 percent of insurance premiums while employers pay the remaining 65 percent. Employers are reimbursed through a tax credit against their payroll tax liability or through a tax refund if the credit exceeds their payroll tax liability. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the cost of this program to the federal government would be $25.1 billion. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as of March 20, 2010, employers had claimed approximately $2.2 billion in COBRA credits. Employers claiming COBRA credits use quarterly or annual payroll tax …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On April 12, 2005, the Comptroller General testified before Congress at a hearing on "NSPS: The New Department of Defense Civilian Personnel System--Reaching Readiness." This letter responds to a request that GAO provide answers to questions for the record. The questions covered major areas of concern for the Department of Defense's National Security Personnel System (NSPS)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed homes and displaced millions of individuals. In the wake of these natural disasters, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) responded to the need to provide aid quickly through the Individuals and Households Program (IHP) program, which provides housing assistance, real and personal property assistance, and for other immediate, emergency needs. As of February 2006, FEMA made 2.6 million payments totaling over $6 billion. Our testimony today will (1) provide an estimate of improper and potentially fraudulent payments through February 2006 related to certain aspects of the disaster registrations, (2) identify whether improper and potentially fraudulent payments were made to registrants who were incarcerated at the time of the disaster, (3) identify whether FEMA improperly provided registrants with rental assistance payments at the same time it was paying for their lodging at hotels, and (4) review FEMA's accountability over debit cards and controls over proper debit card usage. To estimate the magnitude of IHP payments made on the basis of invalid registrations, we selected a random statistical sample of 250 payments made to hurricanes Katrina and Rita registrants as of February 2006. We also conducted …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 requires that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issue sequestration reports annually to Congress. Overall, GAO found that OMB and CBO substantially complied with the act in fiscal year 2002. However, as in previous years, some of the required OMB and CBO reports were issued late. Further, GAO identified a total of 19 items where differences of over $500 million existed between CBO's and OMB's scoring of discretionary budget authority and/or outlays for enacted laws."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Joint Strike Fighter restructuring continued throughout 2011 and into 2012, adding to cost and schedule. The new program baseline projects total acquisition costs of $395.7 billion, an increase of $117.2 billion (42 percent) from the prior 2007 baseline. Full rate production is now planned for 2019, a delay of 6 years from the 2007 baseline. Unit costs per aircraft have doubled since start of development in 2001. Critical dates for delivering warfighter requirements remain unsettled because of program uncertainties. While the total number of aircraft DOD plans to buy has not changed, it has for 3 straight years reduced near-term procurement quantities, deferring aircraft and costs to future years. Since 2002, the total quantity through 2017 has been reduced by three-fourths, from 1,591 to 365. Affordability is a key challenge–annual acquisition funding needs average about $12.5 billion through 2037 and life-cycle operating and support costs are estimated at $1.1 trillion. DOD has not thoroughly analyzed program impacts should funding expectations be unmet."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO followed up on its previous report on the scope and limits of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program's 1998 sanction data, focusing on: (1) whether the number of full-family sanctions in an average month in 1998 can be annualized and used to determine the impact full-family sanctions had that year on caseload size; and (2) what constitutes the combined number of full-family and partial sanctions in an average month during 1998."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Mall in Washington, D.C., encompasses some of our country's most treasured icons and serves as a public gathering place for millions of visitors each year. The National Air and Space Museum, for example, was the most visited museum worldwide in 2003, hosting 9.4 million visitors. Federal agencies with facilities on the National Mall have begun implementing physical security enhancements to protect their facilities and the visiting public. This report responds to Congressional interest in the efforts and expenditures pertaining to these security enhancements and discusses (1) the physical security enhancements that have been implemented on the National Mall since September 11, 2001, the additional enhancements planned, and the costs of these enhancements; (2) the considerations given to incorporating access and aesthetics into the design and approval of these security enhancements, and how issues of access and aesthetics are perceived by visitors in relation to these enhancements; and (3) examples of how federal agencies are using key practices to implement the enhancements, and any challenges the agencies are experiencing in using these key practices. In commenting on a draft of this report, the Smithsonian Institution, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We found that, compared to the initial test audits and the more recent collaborative audits, the majority of the MIG audits conducted under NMAP were less effective because they used Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS) data. MSIS is an extract of states’ claims data and is missing key elements, such as provider names, that are necessary for identifying audit targets. Since fiscal year 2008, a small fraction (4 percent) of the 1,550 MSIS audits identified $7.4 million in potential overpayments, over two-thirds did not identify overpayments, and the remaining audits (27 percent) were ongoing. In contrast, 26 test audits and 6 collaborative audits—which used states’ more robust Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) claims data and allowed states to select the audit targets—together identified more than $12 million in potential overpayments. Furthermore, the typical amount of the potential overpayment for MSIS audits ($16,000) was smaller than the amounts identified through test and collaborative audits—$140,000 and $600,000—respectively."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The military services store prepositioned stocks of equipment and material on ships and land in locations around the world to enable the rapid fielding of combat-ready forces. GAO's prior work has shown that the readiness and safety of military equipment can be severely degraded by corrosion and that the Department of Defense (DOD) spends billions of dollars annually to address corrosion. GAO was asked to review the impact of corrosion on prepositioned assets. GAO's specific objectives were to assess (1) the measures taken by the Army and the Marine Corps to reduce the impact of corrosion on prepositioned assets and (2) the availability of corrosion-related data to the Army and the Marine Corps to support corrosion prevention and mitigation efforts for prepositioned assets."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2005, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents filed about 730,000 petitions with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to sponsor noncitizen family members, including spouses, fiances, and children, to immigrate to the United States. Those doing the sponsoring are called petitioners; those benefiting from the sponsoring are called beneficiaries. If USCIS approves the petition, overseas beneficiaries must also file a visa application with the Department of State to enter the United States. In January 2002, USCIS started to conduct background security checks on all petitioners in addition to the beneficiaries. These background checks revealed that some of the petitioners had convictions for criminal sex offenses; further, some of those criminal sex offenders were filing family-based petitions for children (those under the age of 21). This report addresses the number of convicted sex offenders who filed family-based petitions in fiscal year 2005 based upon a computer match of USCIS data with individuals in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Sex Offender Registry and discusses USCIS's and the Department of State's framework for disclosing a sponsor's criminal sexual background to the beneficiary. DHS, the …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Navy is developing a new destroyer, the DD(X), to serve as a next-generation multimission surface combatant ship. It will provide advanced land attack capability to support forces ashore and contribute to military dominance in shallow coastal water environments. To reduce program risk and demonstrate the ship's 12 technologies, the Navy is building 10 engineering development models that represent the ship's most critical subsystems. This approach is intended to improve the assessment of these key subsystems by designing, developing, and testing working models early in the process. In September 2004, we reported that while the engineering development model process could be beneficial, the program's schedule does not allow enough time to acquire appropriate levels of knowledge before key decisions are made. We also reported that some of the engineering development models were progressing according to plan, but others faced significant technical challenges. This letter provides an update on the progress of DD(X) subsystems, as demonstrated by recent tests and design reviews of the engineering development models. Our review concentrated on five of the ten engineering development models. These five development models were chosen because of their importance to …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recalls are an important tool to mitigate serious health consequences associated with defective or unsafe medical devices. Typically, a recall is voluntarily initiated by the firm that manufactured the device. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), oversees implementation of the recall. FDA classifies recalls based on health risks of using the recalled device--class I recalls present the highest risk (including death), followed by class II and class III. FDA also determines whether a firm has effectively implemented a recall, and when a recall can be terminated. This report identifies (1) the numbers and characteristics of medical device recalls and FDA's use of this information to aid its oversight, and (2) the extent to which the process ensures the effective implementation and termination of the highest-risk recalls. GAO interviewed FDA officials and examined information on medical device recalls initiated and reported from 2005 through 2009, and reviewed FDA's documentation for a sample of 53 (40 percent) of class I recalls initiated during this period."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Nonprofit organizations, such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), play an important role in providing a wide range of public services. To provide these services, these organizations rely on funding through federal grants and contracts, among other sources. Just as it is important for federal agencies to be held accountable for the efficient and effective use of taxpayer dollars, it is also important for these nonprofit organizations to be held accountable for their use of federal funds. ACORN was established in 1970 as a grassroots organization to advocate for low-income families. By 2009, ACORN reportedly had 500,000 members and had expanded into a national network of organizations involved in the development of affordable housing, foreclosure counseling, voter registration, and political mobilization, among other things. ACORN organizations relied on membership dues and on federal and private foundation funding to support various activities. Voter registration fraud allegations in a number of states and widely distributed videotapes depicting what appeared to be inappropriate behavior by employees of several local ACORN chapters spurred calls to identify federal funding provided to ACORN and ACORN-related organizations and for legislation to …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Each year organized groups of professional shoplifters steal or fraudulently obtain billions of dollars in merchandise to resell in an activity known as organized retail crime (ORC). These stolen goods can also be sold on online marketplaces, a practice known as "e-fencing." GAO was asked to assess ORC and e-fencing. This report addresses: (1) types of efforts that select retailers, state and local law enforcement, and federal agencies are undertaking to combat ORC; (2) the extent to which tools or mechanisms exist to facilitate collaboration and information sharing among these ORC stakeholders; and (3) steps that select online marketplaces have taken to combat ORC and e-fencing, and additional actions, if any, retailers and law enforcement think may enhance these efforts. GAO reviewed retail-industry documentation, such as reports and surveys, and academic studies related to ORC and efforts to combat it. GAO also interviewed representatives from four major retail associations and five individual retailers, selected for their knowledge of and efforts to combat ORC, as well as eight local law enforcement officials involved in the development of ORC information sharing networks, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO responded to congressional questions on its April 6, 2000, testimony on the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) efforts to contain the costs of providing health care to inmates, focusing on whether: (1) requiring a copayment would reduce the number of prisoners seeking medical care in order to get out of work or other duties; (2) recent BOP initiatives have helped reduce staff costs; (3) it would be more cost-effective for BOP to have an intermediate care medical facility for inmates needing long-term care; and (4) the Federal Prisoner Health Care Copayment Act of 1999 would significantly contribute to reducing health care costs."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is research comparing different interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) appropriated $1.1 billion to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) specifically for CER, including $400 million to the Secretary of HHS, $300 million to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and $400 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Recovery Act required that these funds be obligated by September 30, 2010. For grants and cooperative agreements, funds are drawn down by recipients on an as-needed basis in accordance with the objectives of the project. For contracts, as milestones are met, invoices are submitted to HHS for payments for goods and services provided under the contract. Additionally, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) directed AHRQ to disseminate the findings of CER published by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and other related government-funded research in consultation with NIH. PPACA established a trust fund to support PCORI's mission and specified that percentages of this trust fund be provided to the Secretary of HHS …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, we found that DOT’s data do not distinguish between delayed baggage and other types of mishandled baggage, such as those that are lost, damaged, or pilfered. DOT includes all of these types of occurrences in its definition of “mishandled baggage.” Using DOT’s data, we found that the number of mishandled-baggage reports has decreased since 2008, when airlines first began charging for the first checked bag. There are a number of factors that could contribute to this decline in the number of mishandled-baggage reports, such as a decline in the number of bags checked and improved baggage handling processes. However, because of limitations to DOT’s baggage data, an assessment of baggage delays—a subcategory of mishandled baggage—cannot be conducted. DOT has proposed a change to airline-reporting requirements designed to improve its ability to measure airline performance regarding mishandled bags, but the change would not distinguish among the types of mishandled baggage (lost, delayed, damaged, or pilfered)."

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Key federal environmental statutes, such as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which established the Superfund program, require that parties statutorily responsible for pollution bear the cost of cleaning up contaminated sites. In many cases, liable parties meet their cleanup responsibilities. However, many parties responsible for hardrock mining sites include businesses that no longer exist, having been liquidated through bankruptcy or otherwise dissolved. Under these circumstances, some hardrock mining companies that have caused environmental contamination have left the problem for others, typically the government, to address. We were asked to provide a statement for the record on the cleanup of contamination resulting from hardrock mining as it relates to our August 2005 report, Environmental Liabilities: EPA Should Do More to Ensure that Liable Parties Meet Their Cleanup Obligations (GAO-05-658). We made nine recommendations in this report aimed at reducing the government's financial burden for costly environmental cleanups. The agency generally agreed with many of the recommendations, stating its intent to further evaluate some of them."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State (State) faces persistent experience gaps in overseas Foreign Service positions, particularly at the midlevels, and these gaps have not diminished since 2008. In fiscal years 2009 and 2010, State increased the size of the Foreign Service by 17 percent. However, these new hires will not have the experience to reach midlevels until fiscal years 2014 and 2015. GAO found that 28 percent of overseas Foreign Service positions were either vacant or filled by upstretch candidates—officers serving in positions above their grade—as of October 2011, a percentage that has not changed since 2008. Midlevel positions represent the largest share of these gaps. According to State officials, the gaps have not diminished because State increased the total number of overseas positions in response to increased needs and emerging priorities. State officials noted the department takes special measures to fill high-priority positions, including those in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has not yet adequately revised its regulatory and oversight approach to respond to the transition to competitive energy markets. FERC recognizes that the transition from highly regulated monopolies to competitive markets requires a fundamental change in how it does business. However, it has struggled through various strategic planning and other efforts to define the specific strategies, processes, and activities to regulate and oversee these markets. GAO found that FERC (1) has had difficulty recruiting staff because it has trouble competing with private sector salaries; (2) faces the retirement of more than one-quarter of its employees by 2005; (3) has used recruitment bonuses, retention allowances, tuition reimbursement, and flexible work schedules to attract new staff and to retain current employees but has not taken advantage of the full range of personnel flexibilities and tools available to federal agencies, such as special salary rates; and (4) has not developed a strategic human capital management plan to assess its workforce needs and to develop strategies to address them."