A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Forest Service has more miles of trail than it has been able to maintain, resulting in a persistent maintenance backlog with a range of negative effects. In fiscal year 2012, the agency reported that it accomplished at least some maintenance on about 37 percent of its 158,000 trail miles and that about one-quarter of its trail miles met the agency's standards. The Forest Service estimated the value of its trail maintenance backlog to be $314 million in fiscal year 2012, with an additional $210 million for annual maintenance, capital improvement, and operations. Trails not maintained to quality standards have a range of negative effects, such as inhibiting trail use and harming natural resources, and deferring maintenance can add to maintenance costs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Baseline assessment and reassessment data collected by the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) since 2004 show that pipeline operators are making repairs in highly populated or frequented areas ("high consequence areas"). For example, from 2004 to 2009, operators made 1,080 immediate repairs. While operators can use assessment data to determine reassessment intervals for specific pipelines, PHMSA's data are aggregated and cannot indicate an appropriate maximum interval for all pipelines nationwide. Such a determination requires, for example, collaboration of subject matter experts and analysis of technical studies."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Identifying the federal grant workforce presents challenges due to differences in how agencies manage grants and the wide range of job series that make up the grant workforce. Some agencies manage grants by using a combination of program specialists (subject-matter experts) and grants management specialists, while other agencies use program specialists to manage the entire grant process. In the four agencies that GAO focused on for this review--the Departments of Education (Education), Health and Human Services (HHS), State (State), and Transportation (DOT)--agency officials identified over 5,100 employees who were significantly involved in managing grants, spanning more than 50 different occupational job series. Recognizing the need for a classification that would more accurately capture the work of federal employees who manage grants, in 2010 the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) created the "Grants Management Specialist" job series. However, due to the different ways that agencies manage grants, the extent to which agencies have adopted this series varies widely. More than half of the 22 federal grant-making agencies GAO surveyed make limited or no use of the job series. The Council on Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR), established by …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provides detailed guidance in Circular No. A-11 for the agency goal development and the performance data verification and validation processes. OMB Circular No. A-11 directs agencies to have a data validation plan for performance reporting and cost-effective validation and verification techniques in place to ensure the completeness and reliability of all performance measurement data used in annual performance plans. In 2012, OMB revised Circular No. A-11 to incorporate the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA), which requires agencies to establish 2-year agency priority goals for areas where they seek to achieve near-term performance results but provides agencies with discretion to select their goals and the performance data used to show progress towards achieving these goals. Agencies must ensure that the data they use to report progress toward performance goals is accurate and reliable."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As of March 31, 2013, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had obligated $293 million (45 percent) and disbursed $204 million (31 percent) of $651 million in funding for Haiti from the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 (the Act). The Department of State (State) submitted four of five periodic reports to Congress, as required by the Act. The reports included information on funding obligated and disbursed and anecdotal information on outputs and outcomes of some activities, as the Act required. The Senate Appropriations Committee, in its Committee Report accompanying the Act, had also directed State to report more detailed information on funding and sector activities in Haiti, which State did not include in the reports. Although most funds have not been disbursed, State's reporting requirement ended in September 2012. As a result, Congress lacks information on the amounts of funds obligated and disbursed and program-by-program progress of U.S. reconstruction activities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since January 2010, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and selected agencies have held multiple TechStat Accountability Sessions (TechStats) on information technology (IT) investments that varied in terms of function, significance, and risk. As of April 2013, OMB reported conducting 79 TechStats, which focused on 55 investments at 23 federal agencies. The four agencies conducted 37 TechStats covering 28 investments. About 70 percent of the OMB- and 76 percent of agency-led TechStats on major investments were considered medium- to high-risk at the time of the TechStat. However, the number of at-risk TechStats held to date is relatively small compared to the current number of medium- and high-risk IT investments. Until OMB and agencies develop plans to address these investments, the investments will likely remain at risk."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has taken initial steps toward applying key project management practices in the areas of project planning, requirements management, and acquisition planning for its Federal Housing Administration Transformation (FHA Transformation) Initiative to address performance gaps in housing insurance programs and its Next Generation Management System (NGMS) to improve management of its affordable housing programs. However, HUD has not yet fully implemented any of these practices in executing and managing the information technology (IT) projects associated with these efforts. Specifically, while the department had developed project management artifacts such as charters and requirements management plans, none of these documents included all of the key details that could facilitate effective management of its projects such as full descriptions of the work necessary to complete the projects, cost and schedule baselines, or prioritized requirements, among other things. Department officials attributed these deficiencies to a lack of project management expertise."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has identified a number of issues related to information technology (IT) duplication across the federal government. For example, GAO has previously reported that hundreds of investments provide similar functions. Specifically, agencies reported 1,536 information and technology management investments, 777 supply chain management investments, and 622 human resource management investments."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The effects of the financial crisis on insurers and policyholders were generally limited, with a few exceptions. While some insurers experienced capital and liquidity pressures in 2008, their capital levels had recovered by the end of 2009. Net income also dropped but recovered somewhat in 2009. Effects on insurers' investments, underwriting performance, and premium revenues were also limited. However, some life insurers that offered variable annuities with guaranteed living benefits, as well as financial and mortgage guaranty insurers, were more affected by their exposures to the distressed equity and mortgage markets. The crisis had a generally minor effect on policyholders, but some mortgage and financial guaranty policyholders--banks and other commercial entities--received partial claims or faced decreased availability of coverage."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During its audit of the fiscal year 2012 consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government (CFS), GAO identified new and continuing control deficiencies in the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) and the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) processes used to prepare the CFS. These control deficiencies contributed to material weaknesses in internal control over the federal government's ability to"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The — executive branch has taken a number of steps to implement key provisions of the GPRA Modernization Act (the act). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) developed interim cross-agency priority (CAP) goals, and agencies developed agency priority goals (APG). Agency officials reported that their agencies have assigned performance management leadership roles and responsibilities to officials who generally participate in performance management activities, including quarterly performance reviews (QPR) for APGs. Further, OMB developed Performance.gov, a government-wide website, which provides quarterly updates on the CAP goals and APGs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA) requires Performance.gov to provide program and performance information accessible to the public and members and committees of Congress. GAO used leading practices from HowTo.gov, a key source of guidance for federal website development and management, to assess the website and found that although Performance.gov incorporates some leading practices, opportunities exist to further incorporate them through continued development. For example, consistent with leading practices, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), working with the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Performance Improvement Council (PIC), provided information about the purposes and audiences for the website, but they have made limited efforts to clarify how audiences can use the information provided. If the specific uses of Performance.gov are not clarified, while taking into consideration what the law requires, it could lead to varying ideas and expectations for how Performance.gov should be developed."

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."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Self-referred anatomic pathology services increased at a faster rate than non-self-referred services from 2004 to 2010. During this period, the number of self-referred anatomic pathology services more than doubled, growing from 1.06 million services to about 2.26 million services, while non-self-referred services grew about 38 percent, from about 5.64 million services to about 7.77 million services. Similarly, the growth rate of expenditures for self-referred anatomic pathology services was higher than for non-self-referred services. Three provider specialties--dermatology, gastroenterology, and urology--accounted for 90 percent of referrals for self-referred anatomic pathology services in 2010."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare expenditures for Part B drugs in 2010 were concentrated among relatively few drugs. The 55 highest-expenditure Part B drugs represented $16.9 billion in spending, or about 85 percent of all Medicare spending on Part B drugs, and the 10 highest-expenditure drugs accounted for about 45 percent of all Part B drug spending in 2010. Most of these drugs were under patent and could be purchased only from a single manufacturer. The number of Medicare beneficiaries who used the 55 drugs ranged from over 15 million beneficiaries who received the influenza vaccine to 660 beneficiaries who used a drug that treats hemophilia. The annual per beneficiary cost of the Part B drugs GAO examined also varied widely in 2010, from $13 for influenza vaccine to over $200,000 for factor vii recombinant to treat hemophilia. Spending, utilization, and prices increased for most of the 55 drugs between 2008 and 2010, with the drugs that showed the greatest increases in expenditures also showing the greatest increases in utilization."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO previously reported that, in 2012, upward payment adjustments affected the vast majority of hospitals paid under Medicare's inpatient prospective system (IPPS). (See GAO-13-334). For this report, GAO found that, of the 3,455 IPPS hospitals in the prior review, the proportion of hospitals qualifying for at least one of four categories of payment adjustments was higher among nonprofit and government hospitals than among for-profit hospitals. On average, 97 percent of government-owned hospitals and 90 percent of nonprofit hospitals received at least one form of increased payment in 2012. In contrast, 80 percent of for-profit hospitals qualified for at least one category of payment adjustment that year. In addition, for-profit hospitals were more likely to receive no, or only one form of, additional payment, whereas government-owned and nonprofit hospitals were more likely to receive two or three forms of additional payment."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD exceeded the flying hours needed to meet military training requirements for fiscal years 2002 through 2010 because of increased operational requirements associated with Afghanistan and Iraq; however it does not know whether it used Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) participants to the maximum extent practicable. DOD guidance requires it to meet training requirements and to use commercial transportation to the "maximum extent practicable." During fiscal years 2002 through 2010, DOD flew its fleet more than needed to train its crews, although its flying has more closely matched its training needs in recent years. DOD has also used CRAF participants extensively to supplement military airlift. Although DOD has taken steps to make more airlift business available to CRAF participants, officials said that overseas operations have provided enough missions to support both training and CRAF business obligations. However, with the drawdown in Afghanistan, DOD officials expect the need for airlift to decline by at least 66 percent--to pre-September 2001 levels--reducing both training hours available for DOD and business opportunities for CRAF. DOD does not use its process for monitoring flying hours to determine when it will exceed …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) and the military services have processes to meet statutory requirements for base closures and realignments, and use these processes hundreds of times each year to make basing decisions outside of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. These processes provide guidance for all types of basing actions, including, but not limited to base closures and realignments. For example, basing decisions can include actions such as reductions in force, disestablishments, renaming a command, and other organization changes. Generally, each service's basing decision process uses similar criteria, scope, and methodologies to determine where to locate its force structure, and each process is documented in established guidance. Each service's process requires a series of analyses, such as analysis of capability and capacity, cost estimates, and environmental considerations. Additionally, each service basing decision process includes legal reviews and an evaluation of the effect on civilian personnel. According to service officials, these reviews provide them data to determine whether a closure or realignment is above thresholds established in section 2687 of Title 10, U.S. Code (hereafter 10 U.S.C. 2687), and therefore subject to additional evaluations and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2006, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) established a records and information management program to maintain and preserve its federal records. The program includes policies related to compact management records--a subset of MCC's federal records. These policies also address the handling of other compact-related information generated by MCC partner governments' accountable entities, which typically manage compact implementation until the 5-year compacts close. MCC's policies require that the entities transfer their compact management records to MCC for storage before compact closure. MCC also requires that partner governments retain compact-related information not classified as records, such as survey data and data quality reviews, for at least 5 years after their compacts close, to facilitate audits and analysis of MCC assistance. However, MCC does not require, and has not conducted, periodic reviews to determine whether it has received all compact-management records from the accountable entities consistent with federal internal control standards. As a result, MCC cannot be sure that it is meeting the federal requirement that it preserve all records documenting its functions, activities, and other transactions."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Opportunities existed to improve how the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) evaluated the Moving to Work (MTW) program, which is intended to give participating public housing agencies (PHA) flexibility to design and test innovative strategies for providing housing assistance. GAO reported in April 2012 that HUD had not (1) developed guidance specifying that performance information collected from MTW agencies be outcome-oriented, (2) identified the performance data needed to assess results, or (3) established performance indicators for the program. The shortage of such standard performance data and indicators had hindered comprehensive evaluation efforts; such evaluations are key to determining the success of any demonstration program. In addition, HUD had not developed a systematic process for identifying lessons learned from the program, which limited HUD's ability to promote useful practices for broader implementation. Since the GAO report, HUD has revised reporting requirements for MTW agencies. These requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget in May 2013. GAO is reviewing this new guidance."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) management and operating (M&O) contractors differ in how they classify and allocate indirect costs at NNSA laboratories. Although different approaches are allowed by Cost Accounting Standards, these differences limit the ability to compare program costs across the laboratories. Recognizing the limitations of its current cost data, the Department of Energy (DOE) and NNSA are implementing the Institutional Cost Reporting initiative intended to create a standardized report of certain costs, including many indirect costs. However, DOE is uncertain how it will use the data gathered by this initiative, and these efforts may provide only limited improvements because the data will continue to only be reported at an aggregate level."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Officials in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)--a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)--have identified actions they believe will enhance management of the four preparedness programs GAO analyzed; however, FEMA still faces challenges. In February 2012, GAO found that FEMA lacked a process to coordinate application reviews and made award decisions with differing levels of information. To better identify potential unnecessary duplication, GAO recommended that FEMA collect project-level information and enhance internal coordination and administration of the programs. DHS concurred and has taken steps to address GAO's recommendations. For example, the fiscal year 2013 and 2014 President's budgets proposed the establishment of the National Preparedness Grant Program (NPGP), a consolidation of 16 FEMA grant programs into a single program. Members of Congress raised questions about the NPGP and did not approve the proposal for fiscal year 2013. FEMA incorporated stakeholder views, as directed by Congress, and the fiscal year 2014 President's Budget again proposed the NPGP. If approved, and depending on its final form and execution, the NPGP could help mitigate the potential for unnecessary duplication and address GAO's recommendation to improve internal coordination. In March …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2011, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) implemented a new budget development and execution process called Strategy Execution and Evaluation (SEE). This process includes seven steps, generally referred to by the names of the documents that capture the decisions made at that step. The first four steps in a SEE cycle cover planning, budget formulation, and budget submission, and the last three steps cover budget execution and performance evaluation. The seven steps are as follows:"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will operate a health insurance exchange in the 34 states that will not operate a state-based exchange for 2014. Of these 34 federally facilitated exchanges (FFE), 15 are in states expected to assist CMS in carrying out certain FFE functions. However, the activities that CMS plans to carry out in these 15 exchanges, as well as in the state-based exchanges, have evolved and may continue to change. For example, CMS approved states' exchange arrangements on the condition that they ultimately complete activities necessary for exchange implementation. CMS indicated that it would carry out more exchange functions if any state did not adequately progress towards implementation of all required activities."