Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "IRS’s appropriations have declined to below fiscal year 2009 levels and FTEs have been reduced by about 8,000 since fiscal year 2009. Planned performance in enforcement and taxpayer service has decreased or fluctuated; for example, in the fiscal year 2014 congressional justification the audit coverage target for individual examinations was 1.0 percent for fiscal year 2014, however, the target was lowered to 0.8 percent in the fiscal year 2015 congressional justification. Amidst lower demand, IRS’s telephone level of service performance (the percentage of callers seeking live assistance and receiving it) was 73 percent from January 1 through March 15, 2014 compared to 69 percent during the same period last year. However, between fiscal years 2009 and 2013, IRS’s telephone level of service fluctuated between 61 percent and 74 percent. Average wait times have almost doubled since fiscal year 2009—from 8.8 minutes to 16.8 minutes as of mid-March 2014."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO’s review of written responses and documentation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that, since enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Secretary of HHS (the Secretary) contacted the Chief Executive Officers of five organizations to solicit support for one outside entity, Enroll America, involved in activities related to PPACA. Specifically, the Secretary requested financial support for Enroll America from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and H&R Block; and nonfinancial support, such as technical assistance, from Ascension Health, Johnson & Johnson, and Kaiser (which consists of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals). GAO’s review of the documentation also found that the Secretary received oral guidance from HHS’s Office of General Counsel in early February 2013 and written guidance on soliciting support for outside entities later in the month, after the contact with RWJF but prior to the four remaining contacts. Among other things, this guidance stated that HHS officials may encourage members of the public to support certain organizations assisting Americans to enroll in coverage under PPACA, pursuant to authority provided under sections 1703 and 1704 …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) September 2012 policy on conferences and its November 2013 update are generally consistent with the requirements established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in May 2012. The key elements of OMB's May 2012 requirements for agencies are the prohibition of conferences with costs in excess of $500,000 unless the agency head signs a waiver, establishment of a Deputy Secretary-level review process for conferences with estimated costs in excess of $100,000, and public reporting annually on the costs of these conferences. DOD adopted a tiered approval structure for the senior-level approval of waivers and all conference-related costs. DOD's policy, which cites the department's size and complexity, places the approval authority for conference waivers and for conferences costing less than $500,000 at lower levels than called for by OMB. For example, OMB requires that waivers approving conferences with costs in excess of $500,000 be signed by the head of an agency, while DOD's policy delegates this authority to 23 senior leaders throughout the department. DOD's policy is more expansive as it requires senior-level review and pre-approval of all conference-related costs, compared …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Census Bureau (Bureau) is not producing reliable schedules for the two programs most relevant to building the Master Address File (MAF)--the 2020 Research and Testing program and the Geographic Support System Initiative."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In five selected states, GAO determined that the separate State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plans were generally comparable to the benchmark plans selected by states in 2012 as models for the benefits that will be offered through qualified health plans (QHP) in 2014. The plans were comparable in the services they covered and the services on which they imposed limits, although there was some variation. For example, in coverage of hearing and outpatient therapy services, the benchmark plan in one of the five states--Kansas--did not cover hearing aids nor hearing tests, while the CHIP plans in all states covered at least one of these services. Similarly, two states' CHIP plans and three states' benchmark plans did not cover certain outpatient therapies--known as habilitative services--to help individuals attain or maintain skills they had not learned due to a disability. States' CHIP and benchmark state plans were also similar in terms of the services on which they imposed day, visit, or dollar limits. Plans most commonly imposed limits on outpatient therapies and pediatric dental, vision, and hearing services. Officials in all five states expect that CHIP coverage, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Sponsors of private sector pension plans are required to submit various reports to federal agencies and disclosures to participants depending on the plans' type, size, and circumstances. GAO identified more than 130 reports and disclosures stemming from provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code, as administered largely by three ERISA agencies: the Department of Labor (Labor), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Although each plan sponsor is required to submit only certain of these reports and disclosures, determining which ones can be challenging and the agencies' online resources to aid plan sponsors with this task are neither comprehensive nor up-to-date."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In February, GAO submitted its fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget request for a modest increase of 1.9 percent to bolster its staff capacity and retain its highly skilled workforce. Consistent with guidance from the appropriations committees and OMB, the FY 2014 request was based on the annualized level of the initial continuing resolution (CR) which provided a slight increase over FY 2012 in FY 2013. Since that time, several actions have significantly reduced GAO's FY 2013 appropriation from $511.3 million in FY 2012 to $479.5 million in FY 2013, including 1) a reduction of $5 million imposed in the final CR resulting in an enacted level of $506.3 million, and 2) the $25.7 million sequester and $1 million rescission required by the Budget Control Act--a total reduction of $31.7 million or 6.2 percent below FY 2012."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since GAO reported on overstays in April 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken action to address a backlog of potential overstay records by reviewing such records to identify national security and public safety threats, but unmatched arrival records remain in DHS's system. In April 2011, GAO reported that, as of January 2011, DHS's Arrival and Departure Information System (ADIS) contained a backlog of 1.6 million potential overstay records. DHS uses ADIS to match departure records to arrival records and subsequently close records for individuals with matching arrival and departure records. Unmatched arrival records--those that do not have corresponding departure records--remain open and indicate that the individual is a potential overstay. In the summer of 2011, DHS reviewed the 1.6 million potential overstay records. As a result, DHS closed about 863,000 records and removed them from the backlog. Since that time, DHS has continued to review all potential overstay records for national security and public safety concerns. However, as of April 2013, DHS continues to maintain more than 1 million unmatched arrival records in ADIS. GAO's preliminary analysis identified nonimmigrants traveling to the United States on …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The network providers and equipment manufacturers GAO spoke with reported taking steps in their security plans and procurement processes to ensure the integrity of parts and equipment obtained from foreign sources. Although these companies do not consider foreign-manufactured equipment to be their most pressing security threat, their brand image and profitability depend on providing secure, reliable service. In the absence of industry or government standards on the use of this equipment, companies have adopted a range of voluntary risk-management practices. These practices span the life cycle of equipment and cover areas such as selecting vendors, establishing vendor security requirements, and testing and monitoring equipment. Equipment that is considered critical to the functioning of the network is likely to be subject to more stringent security requirements, according to these companies. In addition to these efforts, companies are collaborating on the development of industry security standards and best practices and participating in information-sharing efforts within industry and with the federal government."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The annual appropriation for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program allows grantees to use up to 20 percent of program funds for planning, management, and administration (collectively referred to as "administration"). Specifically, grantees may use these funds for a range of activities, including general management, oversight, and coordination; fair housing activities; preparing community development plans; and policy planning. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses broad categories, such as "general program administration" and "fair housing activities," to record grantees' administrative expenses. According to HUD's data for the last decade, grantees primarily recorded their administrative expenses under the general program administration category, which includes staff salaries. Grantees GAO interviewed added that they also used administrative funds to cover general administrative costs such as supplies, training, and travel."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the past 2 years, notable progress has been made in the vast majority of areas that were on GAO's 2011 High Risk List. Congress passed several laws and took oversight actions to help address high-risk areas. Top administration officials at the Office of Management and Budget and the individual agencies have continued to show their commitment to ensuring that high-risk areas receive attention and action. Additional progress is both possible and needed in all the high-risk areas on GAO's 2013 list."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Census Bureau (Bureau) issued significant changes to rules governing the records that communities use to challenge the Bureau's population estimates. Previously, the Bureau routinely accepted all challenges, largely without regard to the data sources cited or provided so long as they supported the calculations and covered the appropriate reporting periods. According to Bureau officials, these changes are based on research that shows that estimates based on some methods and records (e.g., births, deaths, and migration) are substantially more accurate than estimates based on others. Among other changes, the Bureau modified procedures so that challenges by subcounty governments to the Bureau's estimates of people living in housing units will no longer affect countylevel population estimates. Moving forward, any such challenge resulting in an increase in the estimate of a subcounty population will be offset by a downward revision to the population estimate of all other communities in the same county. Also, the Bureau plans to routinely review population challenges in light of each community's population growth trend.Corroborating data will be required for challenges inconsistent with the trend."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In GAO's opinion, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) fairly presented, in all material respects, the 2012 and 2011 financial statements for the two funds it administers--the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) and the FSLIC Resolution Fund (FRF). Also, in GAO's opinion, FDIC maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting relevant to the DIF and the FRF as of December 31, 2012. Further, GAO did not find any reportable instances of noncompliance with provisions of the laws and regulations it tested."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Outpatient medical appointment wait times reported by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), are unreliable. Wait times for outpatient medical appointments--referred to as medical appointments--are calculated as the number of days elapsed from the desired date, which is defined as the date on which the patient or health care provider wants the patient to be seen. The reliability of reported wait time performance measures is dependent on the consistency with which schedulers record the desired date in the scheduling system in accordance with VHA's scheduling policy. However, VHA's scheduling policy and training documents for recording desired date are unclear and do not ensure consistent use of the desired date. Some schedulers at Veterans Affairs medical centers (VAMC) that GAO visited did not record the desired date correctly. For example, three schedulers changed the desired date based on appointment availability; this would have resulted in a reported wait time that was shorter than the patient actually experienced. VHA officials acknowledged limitations of measuring wait times based on desired date, and described additional information used to monitor veterans' access to medical appointments, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A number of factors—both external and internal to the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)—have contributed to the increase in processing timeframes and subsequent growth in the backlog of veterans’ disability compensation claims. As the population of new veterans has swelled in recent years, the annual number of claims received by VBA has gone up. Compared to the past, these claims have a higher number of disabling conditions, and some of these conditions, such as traumatic brain injuries, make their assessment complex. Moreover, due to new regulations that have established eligibility for benefits for new diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure, VBA adjudicated 260,000 previously denied and new claims. Beyond these external factors, issues with the design and implementation of the compensation program have contributed to timeliness challenges. For example, the law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to assist veterans in obtaining records that support their claim. However, VBA officials said that lengthy timeframes in obtaining military records—particularly for members of the National Guard and Reserve—and Social Security Administration (SSA) medical records impact VA’s duty to assist, possibly delaying a decision on a veteran’s disability claim. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To verify license applicants' identity, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have procedures that may detect counterfeit documents. For example, all states are now verifying key personal information, such as Social Security numbers (SSN) through online queries to a Social Security Administration (SSA) database, a significant increase from about a decade ago. This effort helps ensure that the identity information presented belongs to a valid identity and also is not associated with a deceased person. Additionally, most states verify non-citizen applicants' immigration documents with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure these individuals have lawful status in the United States. Many states are also using facial recognition techniques to better detect attempts to obtain a license under another's identity. While most states have taken steps required by the REAL ID Act of 2005 (Act), officials in some states indicated that they may not comply with certain provisions--such as re-verifying SSNs for license renewals--because of state laws or concerns that these requirements are unnecessary and burdensome."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, we found that 68 of the 71 programs that responded to our survey reported that they experienced funding instability, faced workforce shortfalls, or that their planned capabilities changed after initiation. Most respondentsreported a combination of these challenges. We have previously reported that these challenges increase the likelihood acquisition programs will cost more and take longer to deliver capabilities than expected. Although DHS largely does not have reliable cost estimates and realistic schedules to accurately measure program performance, we used our survey results, cost information DHS provided to Congress, and an internal DHS review to identify 42 programs that experienced cost growth, schedule slips, or both. Further, using DHS's future-years funding plans - which aggregate funding levels to produce total project costs - we gained insight into the magnitude of the cost growth for 16 of the 42 programs. The total project costs for these 16 programs increased from $19.7 billion in 2008 to $52.2 billion in 2011, an aggregate increase of 166 percent."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In March 2012, GAO issued a report on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare Advantage (MA) quality bonus payment demonstration—a demonstration CMS initiated rather than implementing the quality bonus program established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Compared to the PPACA quality bonus program, CMS’s demonstration increases the number of plans eligible for a bonus, enlarges the size of payments for some plans, and accelerates payment phase-in. CMS stated that the demonstration’s research goal is to test whether scaling bonus payments to quality scores MA plans receive increases the speed and degree of annual quality improvements for plans compared with what would have occurred under PPACA. GAO reported that CMS’s Office of the Actuary estimated that the demonstration would cost $8.35 billion over 10 years—an amount greater than the combined budgetary impact of all Medicare demonstrations conducted since 1995. In addition, GAO also found several shortcomings of the demonstration design that preclude a credible evaluation of its effectiveness in achieving CMS’s stated research goal. In July 2012, GAO sent a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the head …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recent data show variations in the material readiness of different types of ships, but do not reveal any clear trends of improvement or decline for the period from 2008 to 2012. The Navy uses a variety of means to collect, analyze, and track the material readiness of its surface combatant and amphibious warfare ships. Three data sources the Navy uses to provide information on the material readiness of ships are: casualty reports, which reflect equipment malfunctions; Defense Readiness Reporting System-Navy (DRRS-N) reports; and Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) material inspection reports. These data sources can be viewed as complementary, together providing data on both the current and life cycle material readiness of the surface force. INSURV and casualty report data show that the material readiness of amphibious warfare ships is lower than that of frigates and destroyers. However, there is no clear upward or downward trend in material readiness across the entire Navy surface combatant and amphibious warfare ships. From 2010 to March 2012, INSURV data indicated a slight improvement in the material readiness of the surface combatant and amphibious warfare fleet, but over that …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since our 2004 report, Open World has taken a number of steps to address our recommendations on financial management controls, and has also generally followed leading financial management practices. For example, to address our recommendations, Open World (1) contracted with an independent public accountant to perform an assessment of its ability to be audited; (2) developed Financial Procedures and Directives guidance that covers key activities such as grants; (3) developed the Grant Procedures document, which enhanced accountability for its grantees; (4) submitted its financial statements to an annual financial statement audit since fiscal year 2005, resulting in clean audit opinions since fiscal year 2006; (5) established an audit committee, comprised of independent members that have financial and programmatic knowledge, which also reviews management's annual assessment of its internal controls; and (6) developed guidelines for grantees to calculate and report the estimated value of U.S. volunteers' contributed services, and also disclosed this value as part of its annual budget justification. Open World's financial management controls also generally followed leading practices for financial accountability. For example, Open World (1) developed appropriate policies, procedures, techniques, and mechanisms with respect to each …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since GAO first identified the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Personnel Security Clearance Program as a high-risk area, DOD, in conjunction with Congress and executive agency leadership, took actions that resulted in significant progress toward improving the processing of security clearances. Congress held more than 14 oversight hearings to help oversee key legislation, such as the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which helped focus attention and sustain momentum of the governmentwide reform effort. In addition, the committed and collaborative efforts of DOD, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as leaders of the Suitability and Security Clearance Performance Accountability Council (Performance Accountability Council) demonstrated commitment to and created a vision for the reform effort, which led to significant improvements in the timeliness of processing security clearances. As a result, in 2011, GAO removed DOD’s Personnel Security Clearance Program from its high-risk list because of the agency’s progress in improving timeliness, development of tools and metrics to assess quality, and commitment to sustaining progress. Specifically, GAO found that DOD met the 60-day statutory …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Projects that received credit assistance through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program, administered by the Department of Transportation (DOT), tend to be large, high-cost highway projects. As of April 2012, DOT has executed 27 TIFIA credit agreements for 26 projects with project sponsors such as state DOTs and transit agencies. Overall, DOT has provided nearly $9.1 billion in credit assistance through 26 loans and one loan guarantee. By mode, there are 17 highway, 5 transit, and 4 intermodal projects. Most projects have a total cost of over $1 billion. DOT monitors individual credit agreements but does not systematically assess whether its TIFIA portfolio as a whole is achieving the program’s goals of leveraging federal funds and encouraging private co-investment. DOT has identified goals and objectives for the TIFIA program, but its limited use of performance measures makes it difficult to determine the degree to which the program is meeting these goals and objectives. Given that DOT already collects project data, it could use these data to better evaluate the program’s overall progress toward meeting its goals."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) enforces compliance with mandatory federal safety standards, it is also required by law to rely on voluntary safety standards when it determines that the standard adequately addresses the product hazard and is likely to have substantial compliance. Voluntary standards—developed by industry, consumer, and government participants through a consensus process—cover many of the thousands of types of products in CPSC’s jurisdiction. Compliance with voluntary standards is not routinely tracked, but it is generally considered to be high by industry participants. Compliance with these standards also depends on industry and legal factors, such as retailer requirements to demonstrate proof of compliance with voluntary safety standards and risk of liability in product liability lawsuits."