Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and three subsequent laws that create new federal standards for private health insurance which covers nearly 175 million Americans under the age of 65. These laws include standards guaranteeing access to health insurance for small employers and individuals with existing health conditions as well as requirements for health plans regarding mental health services, hospital care for mothers and newborns following childbirth, and reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy. Since HIPAA's enactment in 1996, federal agencies' enforcement roles have continued to evolve as they have established new or expanded existing enforcement activities to ensure compliance with standards under HIPAA and the related federal laws. Agency officials state that they have enough staff resources and expertise to carry out their current enforcement responsibilities. The Health Care Financing Administration's future role depends on the actions of states in enforcing the federal standards, as well as on congressional decisions about whether to reauthorize the Mental Health Parity Act or to enact additional patient protection legislation. In addition, the scope of the Department of Labor's future enforcement activities may depend on …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "A 1995 Presidential Decision Directive gave the highest priority to developing the capabilities to detect, prevent, defeat, and manage the consequences of a nuclear, biological, or chemical attack. In addition, the former Secretary of Defense emphasized at his 1997 confirmation hearing the threat that U.S. forces abroad face from chemical and biological weapons. The Office of the Secretary of Defense, the joint staff, and the armed services play distinct but interrelated roles in ensuring medical readiness. Defense planning is led by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which sets policy and develops defense planning guidance. On the basis of this guidance, the Joint Chiefs issue a biannual Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan for the nation's unified combat commands. These commands are responsible for fighting and winning wars within a particular area, usually defined by geographical boundaries. The commanders-in-chief develop war plans and requirements that specify the combat troops and support that will be needed to meet the threat and mission assigned by the Capabilities Plan. The services, in turn, train and equip the forces, including medical personnel, to meet the needs of the commanders-in-chief. So far, neither DOD …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Drawing on GAO's high risk series (GAO-01-241 to GAO-01-263), this testimony discusses major government programs prone to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. This testimony focuses on (1) the range of governmentwide challenges and opportunities the 107th Congress and the new administration face to enhance performance and accountability of the federal government, (2) the major management challenges and program risks facing three key agencies--the Departments of Defense, State, and Veterans Affairs, and (3) whether these departments are meeting performance and accountability goals and measurements that are required under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States now confronts a range of diffuse threats that put increased destructive power into the hands of small states, groups, and individuals. These threats include terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure and computer systems, the potential use of weapons of mass destruction, and the spread of infectious diseases. Addressing these challenges will require leadership to develop and implement a homeland security strategy in coordination with all relevant partners, and to marshal and direct the necessary resources. The recent establishment of the Office of Homeland Security is a good first step, but questions remain about how this office will be structured, what authority its Director will have, and how this effort can be institutionalized and sustained over time. Although homeland security is an urgent and vital national priority, the United States still must address short-term and long-term fiscal challenges that were present before September 11."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The attacks of September 11 and the recent anthrax cases have heightened long-standing concerns about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The United States and the international community have undertaken several efforts over the years to secure these weapons and prevent their spread. Today, there is renewed need to maintain strong international controls over such weapons and related technologies, and to reevaluate the effectiveness of the controls. The United States has used the following four key policy instruments to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: (1) international treaties, (2) multilateral export control arrangements, (3) U.S. export controls, and (4) security assistance to other countries. Each instrument is important to preventing the transfer of weapons of mass destruction and associated technologies to terrorists or rogue states, but each has limitations. International treaties restrict transfers of weapons of mass destruction technologies, but their effectiveness depends on whether treaties can be verified and enforced and whether all countries of concern are members. Multilateral export control arrangements are voluntary, nonbinding agreements under which countries that produce the technologies used to develop weapons of mass destruction agree to restrict the …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) runs programs and activities designed to help veterans obtain employment and training assistance. Recently, policymakers have advocated changes to the structure and administration of the VETS program and the way it assesses program performance. This testimony discusses VETS' efforts to improve its performance measurement system. VETS has proposed changes to its performance measurement system that will move it closer to implementing an effective accountability system. However, more changes are needed so that VETS can effectively determine whether its programs and services are fulfilling its mission. VETS continues to send a mixed message to states about what services to provide and to whom. In addition, two of the proposed measures may provide nearly identical results, and neither helps VETS to monitor whether more intensive services are being provided to veterans or whether these services are successful. Furthermore, through its planning documents and proposed performance measures, VETS continues to inconsistently identify the groups of veterans that it wants states to help. This testimony summarizes a May report (GAO-01-580)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses (1) how payroll taxes fund Social Security and the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) programs and (2) noncompliance associated with the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and efforts to deal with that noncompliance. Payroll taxes fund the Social Security Program and the Medicare HI program. These taxes are paid in equal portions by employees and their employers. Employees and their families become eligible to collect these benefits once workers have been employed for a sufficient period of time. Although Social Security benefits are calculated using a formula that considers lifetime earnings, HI benefits are based on the health of the covered individual and are paid directly to the health care provider. Demographic trends indicate that these programs will impose an increasing burden on the federal budget and the overall economy. Regarding EITC, significant compliance problems can expose the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to billions of dollars in overpayments. EITC noncompliance is identified as taxpayer errors and intent to defraud. IRS and Congress have taken several steps to reduce noncompliance, including the passage of laws that enabled IRS to disallow EITC claims with invalid social security numbers …

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2000, United Airlines proposed to acquire US Airways and divest part of those assets to create a new airline to be called DC Air. More recently, American Airlines has proposed buying Trans World Airlines (TWA), along with certain assets from United. These proposals have raised questions about how such consolidation in the airline industry could affect competition in general and consumers in particular. Congress, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Transportation need to answer several questions in evaluating the proposed mergers. The proposals by American, TWA, United, US Airways, and DC Air constitute the most significant recent changes that have occured in the airline industry, and the outcome of these decisions could have both positive and negative effects for consumers for years to come. This testimony summarized a December GAO report (GAO-01-212)."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the late 1980's, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Defense Programs altered its mission. Instead of designing, testing, and building new nuclear weapons, the Office began to focus on maintaining the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile indefinitely without nuclear testing. This mission is performed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous agency within DOD. GAO found that NNSA's Office of Defense Programs is not developing a comprehensive stockpile life extension program plan as called for in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000. The Office believes their fiscal year 2002 budget submittal fulfills the spirit of the legislative requirement, and they have no plans to complete a comprehensive plan for the stockpile life extension program, other than to again include certain high-level refurbishment-related information in the fiscal year 2003 budget request. The Office is trying to improve the planning processes for some individual weapon life extension programs as well as their overall planning processes; however, they have no plans to integrate the individual life extension plans into an overall program."