A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) paid its Zone Program Integrity Contractors (ZPIC) about $108 million in 2012. ZPICs reported spending most of this funding on fraud case development, primarily for investigative staff, who in 2012 reported conducting about 3,600 beneficiary interviews, almost 780 onsite inspections, and reviews of more than 200,000 Medicare claims."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies occupying facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration (GSA) are responsible for preparing and maintaining occupant emergency plans (OEP), with assistance or guidance from the Federal Protective Service (FPS) and others, and the majority of selected federal facilities' OEPs GAO reviewed reflect federal guidance. As required by federal regulations, all 20 selected facilities had OEPs and had designated officials, who are responsible for maintaining OEPs and initiating action according to the OEP in the event of an emergency, including the evacuation of facility occupants. Consistent with federal guidance, officials at 19 of the 20 selected facilities reported that they review and update OEPs at least annually, and officials at 1 facility said they were in the process of updating their OEP. When requested, FPS provides OEP guidance, such as templates to facility officials. Officials at 14 facilities reported using FPS guidance or feedback for their OEPs, officials at 1 facility reported not using FPS guidance, and officials at 5 facilities said they used their own agency's guidance. FPS also checks OEPs during periodic facility security assessments--conducted at least every 3 to 5 …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Twelve of the 14 proposals we identified would eliminate means testing altogether as a requirement for states to receive federal funding to help pay for the costs associated with supporting children in foster care. Two other proposals would link means testing to a different benchmark. Half of the proposals would mitigate a potential increase in federal costs due to the elimination of means testing by either changing the rate of federal reimbursements, capping federal funding, or both. Additionally, half would attempt to mitigate the potentially negative effects of lowering the reimbursement rate on states by, for example, allowing states to access additional funding in the event of an unanticipated increase in foster care placements. All five proposals that specify how states should use any foster care maintenance savings they incur would require states to reinvest these savings in child welfare services that benefit all children at risk of neglect or abuse."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2010, congressional legislation, such as the Comprehensive Iran Accountability, Sanctions, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA), as well as a number of executive orders, have established additional U.S. financial sanctions targeting Iran. For example, CISADA authorized the imposition of sanctions on foreign financial institutions that facilitated certain activities or financial transactions by entities including Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to an Under Secretary of the Treasury, CISADA "set a new precedent," because "[i]t gave the Secretary of the Treasury the authority for the first time to require U.S. banks to terminate correspondent banking relationships with foreign banks that knowingly engaged in significant transactions with designated Iranian banks.""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal years 2008 through 2012, the Department of Energy (DOE) performed about $2 billion annually of Work for Others (WFO) projects, as measured by the costs incurred. Although the amount of WFO performed has remained relatively constant over the last 5 years overall, WFO as a percentage of the total work performed at the laboratories--measured in total laboratory costs incurred--has declined from 17 percent in fiscal year 2008 to about 13 percent in fiscal year 2012. In fiscal year 2012, the WFO program included more than 6,500 projects. About 88 percent of this work was for other federal agencies, with the majority of it performed for the Department of Defense. For example, one project for the Army applies a laboratory's expertise in laser decontamination of surfaces to develop a system that will remove chemical agent residues from equipment. The remaining WFO work was sponsored by nonfederal entities, including state and local governments, universities, private industry, and foreign entities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Between fiscal years 2010 and 2012, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) border and maritime research and development (R&D) components reported producing 97 R&D deliverables at an estimated cost of $177 million. The type of border and maritime R&D deliverables produced by DHS's Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate, the Coast Guard, and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) varied, and R&D customers we met with reported mixed views on the impact of the R&D deliverables they received. These deliverables were wide-ranging in their cost and scale, and included knowledge products and reports, technology prototypes, and software (as shown in the figure below). The Coast Guard and DNDO reported having processes in place to collect and evaluate feedback from its customers regarding the results of R&D deliverables. However, S&T has not established timeframes and milestones for collecting and evaluating feedback from its customers on the extent to which the deliverables it provides to DHS components--such as US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)--are meeting its customer's needs. Doing so could help S&T better determine the usefulness and impact of its R&D projects and deliverables and make better-informed decisions …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The majority of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) education payments were made to a small percentage of schools receiving VA funding in fiscal year 2011, primarily through the Post-9/11 GI Bill. About 5 percent of schools (654 schools) received more than $3.8 billion in aggregate VA education payments used for tuition and fees in fiscal year 2011, over 60 percent of such funding. These 654 "highly VA-funded schools" each received at least $2 million (and as much as $113 million) in Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition and fee payments from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2011 and enrolled more total students on average than other schools. Almost half of tuition and fee payments for all VA education programs were used at public schools. However, the breakdown of Post-9/11 GI Bill payments differed somewhat, with for-profit and public schools receiving about the same proportion of Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition and fee payments."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO identified four methods the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), within the U.S. Department of Transportation, uses to assure that recipients of federal transit funding comply with civil rights requirements: 1) requiring recipients to self-certify that they assure compliance with applicable civil rights requirements; 2) issuing guidance to inform recipients of their responsibilities; 3) administering a complaints process; and 4) conducting oversight reviews of funding recipients' compliance with laws and requirements. GAO found that FTA's policies and procedures for processing civil rights complaints incorporate nine key federal practices based on an analysis of U.S. Department of Justice guidance: 1) ensure a timely complaint process; 2) provide a complaint process that is accessible to the public; 3) acknowledge receipt of complaint to complainant; 4) document complaint allegations to be resolved; 5) document the results of any complaint investigations; 6) use informal method to resolve complaints when possible; 7) provide a formal or an informal appeals process for the results of complaints investigations; 8) after a complaint investigation is completed, monitor the recipient based on the issues involved in the complaint; and 9) oversee an effective program of compliance reviews for …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 10 new demonstrations GAO examined expanded states' use of federal funds and implemented new coverage strategies. Arizona and Texas established funding pools to make new supplemental payments beyond what they could have made under traditional Medicaid requirements and receive federal matching funds for the payments. All 10 demonstrations were approved to use different coverage strategies or impose new cost sharing requirements, including limiting benefits or imposing deductibles for certain populations."

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 …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO found that the Navy has made progress in addressing some of the early design and construction problems on the LCS 1 and LCS 2 seaframes, and quality defects and unit costs are declining, now that the seaframes are in steady production. Based on projected learning curves, shipyard performance can be expected to continue to improve over time. This expected progress could, however, be disrupted, as the Navy is considering potentially significant seaframe design changes. For example, the Navy is currently studying changes to increase the commonality of systems and equipment between the two ship variants, primarily with regard to the ships' combat management systems, and add new capabilities. In addition, the Navy still has outstanding gaps in its knowledge about how the unique designs of the two variants will perform in certain conditions. The lead ship of the Freedom class is currently on an extended deployment to Southeast Asia, and the Navy views this as an important opportunity to demonstrate some of the ship's capabilities and allow the crew to obtain first-hand experience with operations. Yet, developmental testing of the seaframes is ongoing, and neither variant has …

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

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government owns facilities that are underutilized in locations where it also leases space. In some cases, space within these government-owned properties could be occupied by other government agencies. This is particularly true for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), for which declining mail volume and operational changes have freed space in many facilities. However, this potential for collocation of federal agencies is affected by such factors as the size, location, and condition of the available space."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made several changes to its criteria for including assets on the National Critical Infrastructure Prioritization Program (NCIPP) list of the nation's highest-priority infrastructure, but has not identified the impact of these changes or validated its approach. In 2009, DHS changed the criteria to make the list entirely consequence based--that is, based on the effect of an event on public health and safety, and economic, psychological, and government mission impacts. Subsequent changes introduced specialized criteria for some sectors and assets. For example, infrastructure that has received a specific, credible threat, but otherwise does not meet NCIPP criteria, may be included on the list. DHS's changes to the NCIPP criteria have changed the composition of the NCIPP list, which has had an impact on users of the list, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, DHS has not reviewed the impact of changes on users nor validated its approach to developing the list. While the change to an entirely consequence-based list created a common approach to identify infrastructure and align the program with applicable laws and the National Infrastructure Protection …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Voluntary agencies consider various factors when determining where refugees will be placed, but few agencies we visited consulted relevant local stakeholders, which posed challenges for service providers. When deciding how many refugees to place in each community, some voluntary agencies prioritize local agency capacity, such as staffing levels, while others emphasize community capacity, such as housing availability. Although the Immigration and Nationality Act states that it is the intent of Congress for voluntary agencies to work closely with state and local stakeholders when making these decisions, the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) offers limited guidance on how this should occur. Some communities GAO visited had developed formal processes for obtaining stakeholder input after receiving an overwhelming number of refugees, but most had not, which made it difficult for health care providers and school systems to prepare for and properly serve refugees."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Our March 2012 review found that the CMS Office of the Actuary’s (OACT) estimated cost of the demonstration exceeds $8 billion over 10 years. About $5.34 billion of this estimate is attributed to quality bonus payments more generous than those prescribed in PPACA, specifically to (1) higher bonuses for 4-star and 5-star plans, (2) new bonuses for 3-star and 3.5-star plans, (3) applying bonuses to plans’ entire benchmarks during the phase-in of PPACA’s new payment methodology, and (4) allowing plans’ benchmarks to exceed their pre-PPACA levels. Most of the remaining projected demonstration spending stems from higher MA enrollment because the bonuses enable MA plans to offer beneficiaries more benefits or lower premiums. Taken together, the expanded bonuses and higher enrollment mainly benefit average-performing plans—those receiving 3 and 3.5-star ratings. Also, while a reduction in MA payments was projected to occur as a result of PPACA’s payment reforms, OACT estimated that the demonstration would offset more than one-third of these payment reductions projected for 2012 through 2014."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since fiscal year 2008, U.S. agencies allocated over $1.2 billion in funding for Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) activities and non-CARSI funding that supports CARSI goals. As of June 1, 2013, the Department of State (State) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) obligated at least $463 million of the close to $495 million in allocated funding for CARSI activities, and disbursed at least $189 million to provide partner countries with equipment, technical assistance, and training to improve interdiction and disrupt criminal networks. Moreover, as of March 31, 2013, U.S. agencies estimated that they had allocated approximately $708 million in non-CARSI funding that supports CARSI goals, but data on disbursements were not readily available. U.S. agencies, including State, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Justice, use this funding to provide equipment, technical assistance, and training, as well as infrastructure and investigation assistance to partner countries. For example, DOD allocated $25 million in funding to help Guatemala establish an interagency border unit to combat drug trafficking."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Some small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)--which are defined by the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy as independent businesses with fewer than 500 employees--have petitioned for the imposition of antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duties to seek relief from unfair trade practices. Among the 56 petitions filed between 2007 and 2012, GAO found 21 that included at least 1 SME petitioner. In addition, the 56 petitions represented a total of 147 petitioners, of which 38 were SMEs. The majority of these SME petitioners had annual sales revenue of at least $10 million. Close to half of the total SME petitioners were in the iron and steel industry. Since participation in the petitions is not mandatory, producers, including SMEs, may benefit from a successful petition even if they choose not to join as a petitioner."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "There is still no one agency or group that knows the nation's need for all U.S. high- containment laboratories, including the research priorities and the capacity, number and location, to address priorities. This deficiency may be more critical today than 3 years ago because current budget constraints make prioritization essential. Since the publication of our report in 2009, the number of high-containment laboratories has increased. Although modern high-containment technologies (for example, high-efficiency particulate air [HEPA] filtration) in conjunction with laboratory design have been effective in reducing the level of risk, there is nevertheless some degree of risk associated with design, construction, operations, and maintenance of high-containment laboratories. This was realized following a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) power failure incident in Atlanta, Georgia, where no biological agent was released but that showed the difficulties in maintaining biological containment, and a leaky pipe incident in Pirbright, United Kingdom, that failed to maintain biological containment. Increasing the number of laboratories also increases the aggregate national risk."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) carries out a variety of programs and activities abroad within its areas of expertise that could have the effect of thwarting terrorists and their plots while also combating other categories of transnational crime, and DHS expended approximately $451 million on programs and activities abroad in fiscal year 2012. For example, through the Visa Security Program, DHS has deployed personnel abroad to help prevent the issuance of visas to people who might pose a threat. As of May 2013, DHS has stationed about 1,800 employees in almost 80 countries to conduct these and other activities. In addition, DHS has delivered training and technical assistance in areas such as border and aviation security to officials from about 180 countries to enhance partner nations' security capacities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the early 2000s, the Forest Service, within the Department of Agriculture, centralized the operations of three major business services: (1) budget and finance, (2) human resources management, and (3) information technology. The agency's goals in centralizing these services, which were previously delivered by staff in field units throughout the country, were to streamline and improve operations and reduce costs. Congressional committees directed GAO to independently analyze whether centralization had achieved intended efficiencies and cost savings. Accordingly, this report examines the (1) types of effects centralization has had on the Forest Service and its employees, particularly in field units; (2) actions the agency has taken to assess its delivery of its centralized business services and to address identified shortcomings; and (3) extent to which the agency can demonstrate that it achieved intended cost savings. GAO examined agency reports, performance studies, cost estimates, and other documentation and interviewed and conducted focus groups with employees across the agency."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) changed how the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides housing assistance to Native Americans. Congress created NAHASDA to recognize self-determination for tribes in addressing their low-income housing needs. In NAHASDA's 2008 reauthorization, Congress asked GAO to assess the program's effectiveness. This report discusses (1) how tribes have used NAHASDA funds, (2) how NAHASDA has improved the process of providing tribes with funds for housing, and (3) the extent to which NAHASDA has contributed to infrastructure improvements in tribal communities. GAO analyzed agency documentation, surveyed all tribes receiving grants in fiscal year 2008, conducted site visits with select tribes, and interviewed officials at HUD and other agencies."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has improved its methodology for estimating and comparing the full cost to the taxpayer of work performed by military and civilian personnel and contractor support, but the methodology continues to have certain limitations. Best practices state that cost estimating rules should include a common set of standards that minimize conflicts in definitions, but DOD's methodology does not provide guidance for certain costs. For instance, its estimate of service training costs divides total training funding by the number of servicemembers. Using this method yields an average training cost of $6,490 per servicemember in the Army for fiscal year 2012. However, Army data show that training for a general aviation officer can be as high as $93,600 a year, while the training for an enlisted infantryman can be as low as about $4,600 a year. DOD's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) office has not provided more specific direction on training costs, although some officials have requested it. Additionally, CAPE officials told GAO they did not include Reserve and National Guard personnel in the methodology because usually these personnel are used on a …