A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop a program to give physicians confidential feedback on the Medicare resources used to provide care to Medicare beneficiaries. GAO was asked to evaluate the per capita methodology for profiling physicians--a method which measures a patient's resource use over a fixed period of time and attributes that resource use to physicians--in order to assist the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) with the development of a physician feedback approach. In response, this report examines (1) the extent to which physicians in selected specialties show stable practice patterns and how beneficiary utilization of services varies by physician resource use level; (2) factors to consider in developing feedback reports on physicians' performance, including per capita resource use; and (3) the extent to which feedback reports may influence physician behavior. GAO focused on four medical specialties and four metropolitan areas chosen for their geographic diversity and range in average Medicare spending per beneficiary. To identify considerations for developing a physician feedback system, GAO reviewed the literature and interviewed officials …

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This guide supersedes GAO-05-958SP, "Understanding the Primary Components of the Annual Financial Report of the United States Government." The U.S. government is the largest, most diverse, most complex, and arguably the most important entity on earth today. Useful, timely, and reliable financial and performance information is needed to make sound decisions on the current results and future direction of vital federal programs and policies. The Department of the Treasury (Treasury), in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, annually prepares the Financial Report of the United States Government, hereafter referred to as the Consolidated Financial Report (CFR). The CFR is a general-purpose report of accountability intended internally for members of Congress, federal executives and federal program managers, and externally primarily for citizens and citizen intermediaries who are interested in and have a reasonable understanding of federal government activities and are willing to study the information with reasonable diligence. Citizen intermediaries include members of the news media, analysts, and others who analyze and interpret, for the general public, the more complex and detailed information in the CFR. The goal of the CFR, and the subject of this guide, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees the clinical investigators who conduct research involving new drugs, biologics, and medical devices to ensure that their conduct does not compromise the safety of clinical trial participants or the integrity of clinical trial data. FDA can debar or disqualify investigators who have engaged in misconduct such as submitting fraudulent data. Debarred or disqualified investigators cannot engage in certain activities related to clinical research. GAO was asked to review FDA's debarment and disqualification processes. GAO examined the length of time debarment and disqualification processes have taken and factors for those time frames, and the statutory and regulatory limitations of debarment and disqualification. GAO reviewed laws, regulations, and FDA files through November 5, 2008, for (1) all investigators, study coordinators, and sub-investigators for whom FDA pursued debarment since receiving debarment authority in 1992; and (2) all clinical investigators for whom FDA pursued disqualification since FDA adopted its current process for initiating proceedings in 1998."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, Congress has provided the Department of Defense (DOD) with $893 billion in supplemental and annual appropriations, as of June 2009, primarily for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).1 DOD's reported annual obligations2 for OCO have shown a steady increase from about $0.2 billion in fiscal year 2001 to about $162.4 billion in fiscal year 2008. For fiscal year 2009, Congress appropriated $151 billion in war-related requests. A total of $89.1 billion has been obligated through the third quarter of fiscal year 2009 through June 2009. The United States' commitments to OCO will likely involve the continued investment of significant resources, requiring decision makers to consider difficult trade-offs as the nation faces an increasing long-range fiscal challenge. The magnitude of future costs will depend on several direct and indirect cost variables and, in some cases, decisions that have not yet been made. DOD's future costs will likely be affected by the pace and duration of operations, the types of facilities needed to support troops overseas, redeployment plans, and the amount of equipment to be repaired or replaced. DOD compiles and reports monthly and cumulative incremental obligations incurred to support …

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While national security activities, which range from planning for an influenza pandemic to Iraq reconstruction, require collaboration among multiple agencies, the mechanisms used for such activities may not provide the means for interagency collaboration needed to meet modern national security challenges. To assist the 111th Congress and the new administration in developing their oversight and management agendas, this report, which was performed under the Comptroller General's authority, addresses actions needed to enhance interagency collaboration for national security activities: (1) the development and implementation of overarching, integrated strategies; (2) the creation of collaborative organizations; (3) the development of a well-trained workforce; and (4) the sharing and integration of national security information across agencies. This report is based largely on a body of GAO work issued since 2005."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) reports data about the operational readiness of its forces. In 1999, Congress directed DOD to create a comprehensive readiness system with timely, objective, and accurate data. In response, DOD started to develop the Defense Readiness Reporting System (DRRS). After 7 years, DOD has incrementally fielded some capabilities, and, through fiscal year 2008, reported obligating about $96.5 million. GAO was asked to review the program including the extent that DOD has (1) effectively managed and overseen DRRS acquisition and deployment and (2) implemented features of DRRS consistent with legislative requirements and DOD guidance. GAO compared DRRS acquisition disciplines, such as requirements development, test management, and DRRS oversight activities, to DOD and related guidance, and reviewed the system's current and intended capabilities relative to legislative requirements and DOD guidance. We did not evaluate DOD's overall ability to assess force readiness or the extent that readiness data reflects capabilities, vulnerabilities, or performance issues."

This report provides background on the Library Project, legal issues raised by digitization and indexing projects, and the proposed settlement.

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This report consists of different categories such as The F-35 in Brief, Program Origin and Milestone, International Participation etc. It also discusses about issues for congress and Legislative Activity for FY2010.

This report describes the statutory provision authorizing Gang of Eight notifications, reviews the legislative history of the provision, and examines the impact of such notifications on congressional oversight.

This report reviews the history of Gang of Four notification process and compares this procedure with that of the "Gang of Eight" notification procedure.

This report analyzes two consolidations of separate counterintelligence (CI) office -- the first authorized by Congress at the Department of Energy's (DOE) request; the second initiated by DOE -- and examines the impact of each on the effectiveness of the Department's CI program.

This report analyzes the jurisdictional issues in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by focusing on the procedural mechanisms used to initiate judicial review and the reach of an Article III court's jurisdiction to review a removal order.

This report addresses frequently asked questions regarding the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), a formula grant program that provides financial assistance to states and localities for correctional officer salary costs incurred for incarcerating "undocumented criminal aliens."

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

This report illustrates how the United States has been in the midst of a profound demographic change: the rapid aging of its population, as reflected by an increasing proportion of persons aged 65 and older, and an increasing median age in the population.