Resource Type

The U.S. Government Is Establishing Procedures for a Procurement Ban against Firms that Sell Iran Technology to Disrupt Communications but Has Not Identified Any Firms (open access)

The U.S. Government Is Establishing Procedures for a Procurement Ban against Firms that Sell Iran Technology to Disrupt Communications but Has Not Identified Any Firms

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Congress has found that the Iranian government continues to engage in systematic and ongoing violations of human rights, including the suppression of freedom of expression. Such violations have reportedly increased in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election in Iran on June 12, 2009. Of particular concern has been the Iranian regime's crackdown on freedom of expression and interference with the use of the Internet, mobile phones, and other means of communication in order to restrict the free flow of information. According to a Freedom House report, the Iranian authorities have employed extensive and sophisticated methods to tamper with Internet access, mobile phone services, and satellite broadcasting; monitor dissenters online; and use monitored information to intimidate and arrest dissenters. The U.S. government, governments of other nations, and nongovernmental organizations have expressed concern that firms outside Iran have aided the Iranian government in monitoring and suppressing its citizens' activities. For example, in 2008, Nokia Siemens Network, as part of a contract for mobile phone network technology, sold communications monitoring equipment to the Iranian government. As a result of credible reports that the Iranian government misused the technology …
Date: June 30, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Management Report: Opportunities for Improvement in the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Internal Controls and Accounting Procedures (open access)

Management Report: Opportunities for Improvement in the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Internal Controls and Accounting Procedures

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2010, we issued our opinion on the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) fiscal years 2010 and 2009 financial statements. Our report also included our opinion on the effectiveness of FHFA's internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2010, and our evaluation of FHFA's compliance with provisions of selected laws and regulations for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) created FHFA and gave it responsibility for, among other things, the supervision and oversight of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the 12 federal home loan banks. Specifically, FHFA was assigned responsibility for ensuring that the regulated entities operate in a fiscally safe and sound manner, including maintenance of adequate capital and internal controls, in carrying out their housing and community-development finance mission. HERA requires FHFA to annually prepare financial statements, and requires GAO to audit these statements. The purpose of this report is to present additional information on the internal control and accounting procedure issues we identified during our audit of FHFA's fiscal year 2010 …
Date: April 29, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ryan White CARE Act: Estimated Effect of Draft Stop-Loss Provision (open access)

Ryan White CARE Act: Estimated Effect of Draft Stop-Loss Provision

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress asked us to estimate the effect on Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990 (CARE Act) funding to urban areas if a certain stop-loss provision was enacted. The CARE Act, administered by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), was enacted to address the needs of jurisdictions, health care providers, and people with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). In October 2009, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 (RWTEA) reauthorized CARE Act programs for fiscal years 2010 through 2013. The stop-loss provision that you asked us to address was contained in a draft consolidated appropriations bill for fiscal year 2011."
Date: January 21, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Depot Maintenance: Navy Has Revised Its Estimated Workforce Cost for Basing an Aircraft Carrier at Mayport, Florida (open access)

Depot Maintenance: Navy Has Revised Its Estimated Workforce Cost for Basing an Aircraft Carrier at Mayport, Florida

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to House Report 111-491 to accompany a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (H.R. 5136). The House Report noted that according to the environmental impact statement for the proposed homeporting of additional ships at Naval Station, Mayport, Florida, homeporting of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier would result in temporary surges of maintenance employees associated with the 3-year depot-level maintenance cycle for the aircraft carrier. The homeporting of the aircraft carrier at Mayport is projected to begin in fiscal year 2019. Also, the House report raised questions about the potential impact that the additional depot-level workload would have on the sustainability, efficiency, capabilities, and stability of the maintenance employees who would travel from Navy depots to Mayport to perform the maintenance. To examine these issues, the House report directed GAO to provide an assessment of the readiness and cost impacts of the aircraft carrier homeporting and maintenance at Mayport on the Navy's traveling workforce. In response, our objectives were to determine the extent to which (1) the Navy has identified potential workforce-related costs associated with the planned move and used cost-estimating best …
Date: March 3, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Management Report: Improvements Are Needed in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (open access)

Management Report: Improvements Are Needed in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting for the Troubled Asset Relief Program

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) requires that we annually audit the financial statements of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which is implemented by the Office of Financial Stability (OFS). On November 15, 2010, we issued our audit report including (1) an unqualified opinion on OFS's financial statements for TARP as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010, and 2009, and (2) an opinion that OFS maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2010. We also reported that our tests of OFS's compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, disclosed no instances of noncompliance. Our November 2010 audit report concluded that although certain internal controls could be improved, OFS maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2010, that provided reasonable assurance that misstatements, losses, or noncompliance material in relation to the financial statements would be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis. Our audit report also identified a significant deficiency in OFS's internal control over its accounting and financial …
Date: April 18, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Multiple U.S. Agencies Provided Billions of Dollars to Train and Equip Foreign Police Forces (open access)

Multiple U.S. Agencies Provided Billions of Dollars to Train and Equip Foreign Police Forces

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past few years, the United States has increased its emphasis on training and equipping foreign police as a means of supporting a wide range of U.S. foreign-policy goals, including countering terrorists overseas and stopping the flow of narcotics to the United States. Funding for these activities has increased significantly since we last reported on these issues in 1992. In response to congressional request, this report provides estimates of the funding the U.S. government provided for activities to train and equip foreign police, hereafter referred to as "police assistance," during fiscal year 2009. We defined "police" as all law-enforcement units or personnel with arrest, investigative, or interdiction authorities."
Date: April 27, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
VA Mental Health: Number of Veterans Receiving Care, Barriers Faced, and Efforts to Increase Access (open access)

VA Mental Health: Number of Veterans Receiving Care, Barriers Faced, and Efforts to Increase Access

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provided health care to about 5.2 million veterans. Recent legislation has increased many Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans' priority for accessing VA's health care, and concerns have been raised about the extent to which VA is providing mental health care to eligible veterans of all eras. There also are concerns that barriers may hinder some veterans from accessing needed mental health care. GAO was asked to provide information on veterans who receive mental health care from VA. In this report, GAO provides information on (1) how many veterans received mental health care from VA from fiscal years 2006 through 2010, (2) key barriers that may hinder veterans from accessing mental health care from VA, and (3) VA efforts to increase veterans' access to VA mental health care. GAO obtained data from VA's Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC) on the number of veterans who received mental health care from VA. The number of veterans represents a unique count of veterans; veterans were counted only once, even if they received care multiple times during a …
Date: October 14, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard: Action Needed as Approved Deepwater Program Remains Unachievable (open access)

Coast Guard: Action Needed as Approved Deepwater Program Remains Unachievable

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses our recent work on the Coast Guard's Deepwater acquisition, which represents the majority of the Coast Guard's efforts to recapitalize its fleet of vessels and aircraft. This statement is based on our July 28, 2011, report, Coast Guard: Action Needed as Approved Deepwater Program Remains Unachievable. This report discusses areas in which the Coast Guard has strengthened its acquisition management capabilities but also emphasizes actions the Coast Guard needs to take to address the cost growth, schedule delays, and capability shortfalls that have made the approved Deepwater Program unachievable. Today's climate of rapidly building fiscal pressures underscores the importance of assessing priorities--from a Coast Guard-wide perspective--so that more realistic budgets can be submitted to Congress. Such a step would help alleviate what has become a pattern of churn in revising program baselines when unrealistic planned funding does not materialize, which contributes to schedule delays and can lead to other issues such as unhealthy competition for funding. We also recognize several steps that the Coast Guard has taken to improve the management of the Deepwater Program. For example, the Coast Guard has updated its Major …
Date: October 4, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare: Issues for Manufacturer-Level Competitive Bidding for Durable Medical Equipment (open access)

Medicare: Issues for Manufacturer-Level Competitive Bidding for Durable Medical Equipment

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2009, Medicare--a federal health insurance program that serves about 46.3 million beneficiaries--spent approximately $8.1 billion on durable medical equipment (DME), prosthetics, orthotics, and related supplies for 10.6 million beneficiaries. DME includes items such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, and walkers. Medicare beneficiaries typically obtain DME items from suppliers, who submit claims for payment for these items to Medicare on behalf of beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has responsibility for administering the Medicare program. Both we and HHS's Office of Inspector General (OIG) have reported that Medicare and its beneficiaries--through their out-of-pocket costs--have sometimes paid higher than market rates for various medical equipment and supplies. To achieve Medicare savings for DME and to address DME fraud concerns, Congress, through the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), required CMS to phase in a competitive bidding program (CBP) for DME suppliers in selected competitive bidding areas (CBA). In CBP, suppliers submit bid prices in the amounts they are willing to accept as payment to provide DME items to Medicare beneficiaries. CMS then …
Date: May 31, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Legislative Restrictions on Contractor Use of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements Have Had No Reported Impacts on National Security (open access)

Legislative Restrictions on Contractor Use of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements Have Had No Reported Impacts on National Security

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Section 8102 of the Department of Defense (DOD) and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2011 directed us to evaluate the effect on national security resulting from the section's requirements. These requirements, as well as those previously included in Section 8116 of the DOD Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2010, prohibit DOD's use of funds appropriated by the respective acts for any contract over $1 million unless the contractor agrees not to use or enforce mandatory arbitration agreements to resolve specified employee claims, such as those under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These statutes also provide that the Secretary of Defense can waive the application of these restrictions on mandatory arbitration to avoid harm to U.S. national security interests."
Date: June 13, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Indian Health Service: Continued Efforts Needed to Help Strengthen Response to Sexual Assaults and Domestic Violence (open access)

Indian Health Service: Continued Efforts Needed to Help Strengthen Response to Sexual Assaults and Domestic Violence

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Justice Department has reported that Indians are at least twice as likely to be raped or sexually assaulted as all other races in the United States. Indians living in remote areas may be days away from health care facilities providing medical forensic exams, which collect evidence related to an assault for use in criminal prosecution. The principal health care provider for Indians, which operates or funds tribes to operate 45 hospitals, is the Department of Health and Human Services' Indian Health Service (IHS). In response to a Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 mandate, GAO examined (1) the ability of IHS and tribally operated hospitals to collect and preserve medical forensic evidence involving cases of sexual assault and domestic violence, as needed for criminal prosecution; (2) what challenges, if any, these hospitals face in collecting and preserving such evidence; and (3) what factors besides medical forensic evidence contribute to a decision to prosecute such cases. GAO surveyed all 45 IHS and tribally operated hospitals and interviewed IHS and law enforcement officials and prosecutors.."
Date: October 26, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
OPM Retirement Modernization: Longstanding Information Technology Management Weaknesses Need to Be Addressed (open access)

OPM Retirement Modernization: Longstanding Information Technology Management Weaknesses Need to Be Addressed

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the central human resources agency for the federal government and, as such, is tasked with ensuring the government has an effective civilian workforce. As part of its mission, OPM defines recruiting and hiring processes and procedures; provides federal employees with various benefits, such as health benefits; and administers the retirement program for federal employees. The use of information technology (IT) is crucial in helping OPM to carry out its responsibilities, and in fiscal year 2011 the agency invested $79 million in IT systems and services. For over 2 decades, OPM has been attempting to modernize its federal employee retirement process by automating paper-based processes and replacing antiquated information systems. However, these efforts have been unsuccessful, and OPM canceled its most recent retirement modernization effort in February 2011. GAO was asked to provide a statement summarizing its work on challenges OPM has faced in managing its efforts to modernize federal employee retirement processing. To do this, GAO relied on previously published work as well as a limited review of more recent documentation on OPM's retirement modernization activities."
Date: November 15, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dodd-Frank Act: Eleven Agencies' Estimates of Resources for Implementing Regulatory Reform (open access)

Dodd-Frank Act: Eleven Agencies' Estimates of Resources for Implementing Regulatory Reform

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony provides information on selected federal agencies' reported funding and staff resources associated with implementing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) in 2010, 2011, and 2012. The recent financial crisis is considered to be the worst since the Great Depression, and data from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) show that it resulted in the loss of trillions of dollars in household wealth. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 in response to the ongoing crisis, including in the legislation numerous provisions intended to strengthen oversight of insured depository institutions and nonbank financial companies and to consolidate consumer protection responsibilities that had been fragmented across multiple agencies. The Dodd-Frank Act also authorized the creation of new offices and agencies to implement the reforms. The extensive reforms and the need for new offices to implement them have raised questions about the potential costs to agencies of complying with the provisions. The testimony today focuses on (1) the agencies' funding estimates and the sources of funds associated with implementing the Dodd-Frank Act, (2) agencies' estimates of …
Date: July 14, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard: Observations on Arctic Requirements, Icebreakers, and Coordination with Stakeholders (open access)

Coast Guard: Observations on Arctic Requirements, Icebreakers, and Coordination with Stakeholders

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The gradual retreat of polar sea ice, combined with an expected increase in human activity--shipping traffic, oil and gas exploration, and tourism in the Arctic region--has increased the strategic interest that the United States and other nations have in the Arctic. As a result, the U.S. Coast Guard, within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has responsibilities in the Arctic, which are expected to increase. This testimony provides an update of: (1) the extent to which the Coast Guard has taken actions to identify requirements for future Arctic operations; (2) issues related to the U.S. icebreaking fleet; and (3) the extent to which the Coast Guard is coordinating with stakeholders on Arctic issues. This statement is based on GAO-10-870, issued in September 2010, and includes selected updates. For the selected updates, GAO analyzed Coast Guard, Department of Defense (DOD,) and other related documents on Arctic operations and capabilities. GAO also interviewed Coast Guard and DOD officials about efforts to identify Arctic requirements and coordinate with stakeholders."
Date: December 1, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Afghanistan's Donor Dependence (open access)

Afghanistan's Donor Dependence

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has allocated over $72 billion to secure, stabilize, and rebuild Afghanistan since 2002, and the President requested over $18 billion for these purposes for fiscal year 2012. GAO has on numerous occasions raised doubts about the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's (GIRoA) ability to fund its public expenditures--funds spent to provide public services to the Afghan population, such as security, infrastructure projects, and government salaries. In 2005, we reported that Afghanistan had limited resources and recommended that the Secretaries of State and Defense develop plans for funding the Afghan national security forces (ANSF).1 In 2007 and 2008, we reported that it was essential to develop future funding requirements for the ANSF and a strategy for transitioning these responsibilities to GIRoA.2 In 2008, Congress also mandated that the Department of Defense provide a long-term plan for sustaining the ANSF, including future funding requirements. The Department of Defense, however, has yet to provide the Congress an estimate of the cost to sustain the Afghanistan National Security Forces.3 In 2011, we again recommended that the U.S. and international partners develop estimates of the future funding needed …
Date: September 20, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Private Health Insurance: Waivers of Restrictions on Annual Limits on Health Benefits (open access)

Private Health Insurance: Waivers of Restrictions on Annual Limits on Health Benefits

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 …
Date: June 14, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicaid: Health Opportunity Accounts Demonstration Program (open access)

Medicaid: Health Opportunity Accounts Demonstration Program

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"
Date: December 16, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Motor Carrier Safety: FMCSA Has Devoted a Small but Increasing Amount of Resources to Develop the Compliance, Safety, Accountability Program but Is Requesting a Significant Increase for Full Implementation (open access)

Motor Carrier Safety: FMCSA Has Devoted a Small but Increasing Amount of Resources to Develop the Compliance, Safety, Accountability Program but Is Requesting a Significant Increase for Full Implementation

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) began work on its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) initiative to improve the safety of commercial motor vehicles, such as trucks and buses. FMCSA, whose primary mission is to reduce commercial motor vehicle-related crashes, fatalities and injuries, has made progress on CSA but needs to complete both implementation throughout all states and a Carrier Safety Fitness Determination rulemaking before CSA is fully implemented. CSA represents a different, more data-driven approach to motor carrier safety. Under CSA, which introduces a new system for identifying and responding to carrier safety risks, FMCSA intends to increase the number of carriers it evaluates and reduce crashes involving commercial vehicles. In light of delays in implementing CSA, Congress is concerned about FMCSA's ability to implement the program and directed GAO to monitor the program's implementation and review FMCSA's capacity to meet milestones within its planned cost estimates. As part of this work, Congress asked us to provide detailed information on the resources FMCSA has devoted and plans to devote to implementing CSA. This report provides information on (1) the amount of actual and proposed funding …
Date: February 25, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interagency Collaboration: Implications of a Common Alignment of World Regions among Select Federal Agencies (open access)

Interagency Collaboration: Implications of a Common Alignment of World Regions among Select Federal Agencies

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To carry out complex national security initiatives--such as combating illicit financing of terrorist activities, undertaking development projects in conflict zones, and countering piracy off the Horn of Africa--U.S. government agencies must coordinate with a large number of organizations in their planning efforts. Our prior work on the federal government's national security initiatives has determined that U.S. agencies face a number of challenges to effectively collaborating with one another, potentially resulting in gaps and overlaps in policy implementation. In particular, we have found that agencies face challenges to developing overarching strategies to achieve common goals, creating effective mechanisms for operating across agencies, and sharing sensitive information. For example, our work has shown that the Department of State (State) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have different planning time frames than the Department of Defense (DOD), which poses a challenge for the three organizations. This report summarizes and formally transmits the enclosed briefing in response to Section 1055 of the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, which required us to examine the need for and implications of a common alignment of world regions in …
Date: July 11, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Income Security: The Effect of the 2007-2009 Recession on Older Adults (open access)

Income Security: The Effect of the 2007-2009 Recession on Older Adults

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the effects of the recent recession on older adults. While the recession officially ended in June 2009, our economy has experienced a weak recovery, with unemployment still above 9 percent. Older adults--particularly those close to or in retirement--may not have the same opportunities as younger adults to recover from the recession's effects. For example, older adults--generally those 55 and older--may have insufficient time to rebuild their depleted retirement savings due to sharp declines in financial markets and home equity, and increased medical costs. Further, while older workers are less likely to be unemployed than workers in younger age groups, when older workers lose a job they are less likely to find other employment. These changes have intensified older adults' concerns about having sufficient savings now and adequate income throughout retirement. Social Security forms the foundation of income for nearly all retiree households, providing 36 percent of aggregate income for households with a member aged 65 and older; however, it provides a much greater portion of income for low and middle income households. Pensions and assets together provide 31 percent of aggregate income. However, many …
Date: October 18, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Grants: Improvements Needed in Oversight and Accountability Processes (open access)

Federal Grants: Improvements Needed in Oversight and Accountability Processes

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While federal grant funding has been increasing, long-standing concerns remain about the federal government's grants management and the lack of effective oversight tools to reasonably assure that grants are used for their intended purposes and that risks of fraud, waste, and abuse are minimized. GAO has issued a range of reports raising concerns about the risks and vulnerabilities related to grants management and oversight. The Administration recognizes these concerns. It included improving grants management as a part of its initiative to eliminate waste in the U.S. government and has various efforts underway to improve grants oversight and accountability. This testimony addresses the (1) significance of federal grant funding, (2) risks and vulnerabilities in key controls in the federal grant life cycle, and (3) improvements needed to make the single audit process an effective accountability mechanism. This testimony is primarily based on prior GAO work that reviewed grant accountability and the single audit process."
Date: June 23, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare Secondary Payer: Process for Situations Involving Non-Group Health Plans (open access)

Medicare Secondary Payer: Process for Situations Involving Non-Group Health Plans

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is responsible for protecting the Medicare program's fiscal integrity and ensuring that it pays only for those services that are its responsibility. Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) provisions make Medicare a secondary payer to certain group health plans (GHP) and non-group health plans (NGHP), which include auto or other liability insurance, no-fault insurance, and workers' compensation plans. CMS has the right to recover Medicare payments made that should have been the responsibility of another payer, but CMS has not always been aware of these MSP situations. In 2007, Congress added mandatory reporting requirements for GHPs and NGHPs that should enable CMS to be aware of MSP situations. CMS reports that mandatory reporting was pushed back from 2009 to 2011 for some NGHPs and from 2009 to 2012 for others, in part due to concerns raised by the industry. GAO was asked to present background information about the MSP process as it pertains to NGHPs. To do this work, GAO reviewed relevant CMS documentation, including MSP regulations, manuals, and user guides, and conducted an interview with CMS related to mandatory reporting and …
Date: June 22, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Federal Government's Long-Term Fiscal Outlook: January 2011 Update [Reissued on March 22, 2011] (open access)

The Federal Government's Long-Term Fiscal Outlook: January 2011 Update [Reissued on March 22, 2011]

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1992, GAO has published long-term fiscal simulations showing federal deficits and debt levels under different sets of assumptions. GAO developed its long-term model in response to a bipartisan request from Members of Congress concerned about the long-term effects of fiscal policy. GAO's simulations provide a broad context for consideration of policy options by illustrating both the importance of taking action and the magnitude of the steps necessary to change the path. They are not intended to suggest particular policy choices but rather to help facilitate a dialogue on this important issue. As in the past, GAO shows two simulations: "Baseline Extended" and an "Alternative." The Baseline Extended follows the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) January 2011 baseline estimates for the first 10 years and then simply holds revenue and spending other than interest on the debt and the large entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) constant as a share of gross domestic product (GDP). Revenue as a share of GDP over the entire period is higher than the historical average; discretionary spending is below average. In the Alternative simulation, tax provisions other than the temporary …
Date: March 18, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeownership Counseling: Although Research Suggests Some Benefits, Implementation and Evaluation Challenges Exist (open access)

Homeownership Counseling: Although Research Suggests Some Benefits, Implementation and Evaluation Challenges Exist

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Homeownership counseling can help consumers learn about buying a home and give them tools to deal with setbacks that could keep them from making timely mortgage payments. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approves and provides grants to housing counseling agencies and has also implemented a requirement that borrowers seeking federally insured reverse mortgages through the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program receive counseling before taking out a HECM. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) has also implemented a counseling requirement as part of its mortgage modification efforts under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). This statement discusses (1) what research suggests about the effectiveness of homeownership counseling and the challenges of conducting such research, (2) shortcomings that prior GAO work found in federal agencies' implementation of homeownership counseling requirements, and (3) the status of efforts to establish an Office of Housing Counseling within HUD. In preparing this statement, GAO relied on its past work on homeownership counseling, including a review of research and interviews with federal agency staff on implementing and evaluating counseling programs."
Date: September 14, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library