A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 established the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST), within the Department of the Interior, to oversee the implementation of management reforms for funds--derived primarily from Interior's leasing of Indian lands--that Interior holds in trust for many Indian tribes and individuals. Specifically, the act directs that an integrated information system be developed that interfaces the trust fund accounting system with the land title records and asset management systems maintained by Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). GAO examined (1) OST's progress in implementing the trust fund management reforms and (2) the extent to which OST has used contractors in implementing these reforms. GAO reviewed OST's strategic plans and contracting documents and interviewed OST and BIA managers."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) is a 10-year, $9.3 billion information technology services program. Through a performance-based contract, the Navy is buying network (intranet), application, and other hardware and software services at a fixed price per unit (or "seat") to support about 550 sites. GAO prepared this report under the Comptroller General's authority as part of a continued effort to assist Congress and reviewed (1) whether the program is meeting its strategic goals, (2) the extent to which the contractor is meeting service level agreements, (3) whether customers are satisfied with the program, and (4) what is being done to improve customer satisfaction. To accomplish this, GAO reviewed key program and contract performance management-related plans, measures, and data and interviewed NMCI program and contractor officials, as well as NMCI customers at shipyards and air depots."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD emphasizes the need for joint training to prepare U.S. forces to conduct joint operations in urban terrain. It defines joint training as exercises involving the interaction of joint forces and/or joint staffs under a joint headquarters. To guide the services' plans to train forces for urban operations and construct related facilities, in May 2002, the Senate Armed Services Committee directed DOD to establish facility requirements and, in May 2005, the committee directed DOD to complete its efforts and provide a requirements baseline for measuring training capabilities within the services and across DOD by November 1, 2005. Due to DOD's focus on joint urban operations and congressional interest in synchronizing service training and facility plans, GAO, on the authority of the Comptroller General, reviewed the extent to which (1) DOD has developed a joint urban operations training strategy and related requirements, (2) exercises offer opportunities for joint urban operations training, and (3) DOD has incorporated lessons learned from ongoing operations into its training."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, often inhabit waters where commercial fishing occurs, they can become entangled in fishing gear, which may injure or kill them--this is referred to as "incidental take." The 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) require the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to establish take reduction teams for certain marine mammals to develop measures to reduce their incidental takes. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which NMFS (1) can accurately identify the marine mammal stocks--generally a population of animals of the same species located in a common area--that meet the MMPA's requirements for establishing such teams, (2) has established teams for those stocks that meet the requirements, (3) has met the MMPA's deadlines for the teams subject to them, and (4) evaluates the effectiveness of take reduction regulations. GAO reviewed the MMPA, and NMFS data on marine mammals, and take reduction team documents and obtained the views of NMFS officials, scientists, and take reduction team members."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As requested in a letter of November 5, 2003, this letter provides our responses for the record to the questions posed to GAO. At the subject hearing, we discussed the challenges that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) faces in integrating its information gathering and sharing functions, particularly as they relate to fulfilling the department's responsibilities for critical infrastructure protection (CIP)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To assist youth who live in high poverty rural areas obtain and retain jobs, YouthBuild USA, a national nonprofit organization, has proposed providing donated used cars to selected low-income youth in rural communities. YouthBuild USA's proposed program hinges on receiving donations of used cars from the federal government's General Services Administration (GSA). This report discusses (1) the effect of donating 1 to 5 percent of selected GSA used cars on GSA's fleet vehicle sales operations, (2) what studies have shown with respect to the benefits that car ownership or access may hold for low-income individuals, and (3) what studies of selected low income car ownership programs and experiences of these programs have shown with respect to the benefits of participant car ownership. In conducting this study, GAO examined auction data from GSA, reviewed academic studies on the benefits of car access in gaining employment, and interviewed officials of six existing low income car ownership programs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Allegations of favoritism were raised about the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General's (OIG) payment of relocation allowances to certain employees. GAO investigated the transfers of six OIG employees between or within its New York and New Jersey district offices from 1995 to November 2000. GAO found that decisions to grant or deny permanent change of station (PCS) and related relocation allowances were based on the needs of OIG and the availability of funds and do not appear to result from favoritism. Furthermore, the reimbursement associated with the PCS was in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In March 1999, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a telephone help line--1-800-MEDICARE--to provide information about program eligibility, enrollment, and benefits. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) directed GAO to examine several issues related to this 24-hour help line and the customer service representatives (CSRs) who staff it. In this report, GAO evaluated (1) the accuracy of the information the help line provides, (2) the training given to CSRs, and (3) CMS's efforts to monitor the accuracy of information provided through the help line."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government's spending on the Medicare Advantage (MA) program has grown substantially in recent years, from approximately $60 billion in 2006 and $77 billion in 2007 to an estimated $91 billion in 2008. MA organizations provide health care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries through private health plans, thus offering an alternative to the original Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) program. Payments to MA organizations are, in part, based on the projected expenditures organizations submit in their bids for providing Medicare-covered services, as well as actual enrollment and beneficiary health status. Once Medicare payments are determined, they are not modified based on differences between actual and projected expenses. MA organizations are not required to submit claims data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--the agency that administers Medicare--but they must report actual expenditures for the year 2 years prior to the upcoming contract year. For example, MA organizations reported their actual 2006 expenditures in their bid submission for contract year 2008. When MA organizations submit their bids, the actual expenditures reported in their bid submissions reflect the MA organizations' most recent full calendar year of actual expenditure data. In …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The use of managed care within Medicaid, a joint federal-state program that finances health insurance for certain low-income families with children and individuals who are aged or disabled, increased significantly during the 1990s. By 2003, 59 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries were enrolled in managed care, compared with less than 10 percent in 1991. Medicaid managed care, under which states make prospective payments to managed care plans to provide or arrange for all services for enrollees, attempts to ensure the provision of appropriate health care services in a cost-efficient manner. However, because plans are paid a fixed amount regardless of the number of services they provide, managed care programs require safeguards against the incentive for some plans to underserve enrollees, such as by limiting enrollees' access to care. Access is also affected by other factors, such as physician location and willingness to participate in managed care plans. Safeguards to ensure enrollees have access to care could include requiring plans to maintain provider networks that provide enrollees with sufficient geographic access to providers or requiring managed care plans to develop and monitor certain quality indicators, such as enrollee satisfaction surveys …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Health care providers are concerned about the quality of Medicare guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Specifically, they have reported that (1) they receive unclear guidance on program requirements and (2) because policies and procedures change frequently, they may rely on obsolete guidance, resulting in billing errors. Some government agencies issue advisory opinions in response to specific questions from requesters. These opinions permit agencies to apply law and regulation to a particular set of facts and provide requesters with specific guidance. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 directed GAO to determine the appropriateness and feasibility of establishing in the Secretary of Health and Human Services authority to issue legally binding advisory opinions to interpret Medicare regulations. GAO (1) identified factors relevant in establishing an advisory opinion process and (2) assessed the role such a process could play in clarifying program requirements. GAO examined four federal agencies' advisory opinion processes and interviewed officials from organizations representing Medicare stakeholders to learn how such a process might address their …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Rail transit generally has been one of the safest forms of public transportation. However, several recent notable accidents are cause for concern. For example, a July 2009 crash on the Washington Metro Red Line resulted in nine deaths. The federal government does not directly regulate the safety of rail transit. Through its State Safety Oversight program, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requires states to designate an oversight agency to directly oversee the safety of rail transit systems. In 2006, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report that made recommendations to improve the program. The Department of Transportation (DOT) is planning to propose legislation that, if passed, would result in a greater role for FTA in regulating and overseeing the safety of these systems. This statement (1) summarizes the findings of GAO's 2006 report and (2) provides GAO's preliminary observations on key elements DOT has told us it will include in its legislative proposal for revamping rail transit safety oversight. It is based primarily on GAO's 2006 report, an analysis of the Administration's proposal through review of documents and interviews with DOT officials, and GAO's previous work on …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 was intended to give the nation's public housing agencies greater flexibility to manage their public housing or tenant-based section 8 programs. In the two years since the legislation was passed, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has provided sufficient guidance for housing agencies to begin making use of their expanded discretionary authority. In GAO's view, the agencies appear to be tailoring their policies to fit their own perceived needs and priorities, adopting only those provisions that fit their particular circumstances."

Contains notes and research for Air Force Team Analyst Art Beauchamp regarding Ellsworth AFB, Dyes AFB Ranges, and MOA Reference

Contains general notes and research (COBRA and base information) for Art Beauchamp regarding Andrews AFB, MD

Contains general information for Air Force Team Analyst Art Beauchamp regarding Hill AFB, UT

Contains COBRA data for Ellsworth AFB, SD and Dyess, AFB, TX for Air Force Analyst Art Beauchamp

Contains the base visit briefing for Air Force Team Analyst Art Beauchamp regarding Hill AFB, UT

Contains notes and research from Army Team Analyst Dean Rhody regarding the Combat Service Support at Ft. Lee, VA

Contains notes and research from Army Team Analyst Dean Rhody regarding the Aviation Logistics School at Fort Rucker, AL

Contains Ft. Monmouth, NJ COBRA Runs for Army Team Analyst Wes Hood

Contains Economic Impact Report from various states for Army Team Analyst Wes Hood

Contains the Community Presentation of July 29, 2005 and other CODEL information

Contains Air Force Institute of Technology, OH data for Syd Carroll of the Joint Cross Service Team