A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO was asked to review the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initiative to publicly report additional information on its "Nursing Home Compare" Web site intended to help consumers choose a nursing home. GAO examined CMS's development of the new nursing home quality indicators and efforts to verify the underlying data used to calculate them. GAO also reviewed the assistance CMS offered the public in interpreting and comparing indicators available in its six-state pilot program, launched in April 2002, and its own evaluation of the pilot. The new indicators are scheduled to be used nationally beginning in November 2002."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Industrial facilities that operate under permits regulating some emissions and discharges have been the subject of complaints from community groups and environmental activists who charge that the facilities expose the surrounding communities to greater environmental risk than the general population. In response, the facilities point out that they contribute to the economic growth of the surrounding communities by employing residents and supporting other community needs, such as schools and infrastructure. In a survey of selected facilities, GAO found that the number of jobs in some decreased over time. According to facility officials, these jobs included unskilled, trade, technical, administrative, and professional positions with salaries ranging from $15,000 to $80,000 per year. Most of the facilities identified other contributions that they had made or planned to make in the local communities. These included volunteer work such as organizing cleanups; infrastructure improvements such as installing a new water drainage system; and financial assistance to schools, universities, community groups, and other organizations. Property values in a community are affected by many factors, including the condition of the land and houses, the proximity of the property to natural or man-made …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal employees' health insurance premiums have increased at double-digit rates for 3 consecutive years. GAO was asked to examine how the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program's (FEHBP) premium trends compared to those of other large purchasers of employer-sponsored health insurance, factors contributing to FEHBP's premium growth, and steps the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) takes to help contain premium increases compared to those of other large purchasers. GAO compared FEHBP to the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), General Motors, and a large private-employer purchasing coalition in California as well as data from employee benefit surveys."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report addresses (1) the relationship between Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) payments and the costs of treating Medicare patients in freestanding SNFs, as well as the effect of Medicare SNF payments on the financial condition of these facilities, and (2) the relationship between Medicare SNF payments and the costs of treating patients in hospital-based SNFs, as well as the factors that may account for cost differences between hospital-based and freestanding SNFs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials believe that some aliens are using the benefit application process to carry out illegal activities, such as crimes of violence, narcotics trafficking, and terrorism. The extent of immigration benefit fraud is unknown, but INS officials and others believe that this problem will increase as smugglers and other criminal enterprises use fraud to bring illegal aliens, including criminals, into the United States. INS investigative units in both the service centers and the district offices investigate possible benefit fraud on the basis of information they receive from staff who process benefit applications, other INS units, the public, and law enforcement agencies. Providing immigration benefits in a timely manner may conflict with the goal of preserving the integrity of the legal immigration system. Although INS recognizes the need to balance these competing goals, it has not always succeeded. INS has several performance measures in place to gauge the results of its benefit fraud enforcement activities. However, INS has not established outcome-based performance measures to assess the results of fraud activities. Additionally, INS has not established goals or measurement criteria for the service center …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2001, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spent more than $15 million to move air traffic controllers and their managers to new permanent duty locations. FAA classifies the funds that it spends for these moves as permanent change of station (PCS) benefits. In 1998, as part of a broader effort to reform its personnel policies, FAA changed its policies on PCS benefits. Instead of fully reimbursing the costs of all PCS moves and prohibiting unfunded PCS moves, as it once did, FAA now determines the amount of PCS benefits to be offered on a position-by-position basis and allows employees and managers to move at their own expense. Under its new polices, FAA can fully reimburse the costs of a move if it determines that he move is in the interest of the government, or it can offer partial fixed relocation benefits if it determines that the agency will derive some benefit from the move. FAA's policies on eligibility for PCS benefits are the same for air traffic controllers and their managers, but the amounts of the benefits vary. According to these policies, eligibility depends …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For more than 60 years, the federal government has sought to improve the condition and reduce the cost of rental housing for poor Americans. In fiscal year 1999, 5.2 million low-income households received $28.7 billion in federal housing assistance through more than a dozen programs. Despite this assistance, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that 9 million other very-low-income households still have serious unmet housing needs. The most widespread problem facing these households is a lack of affordable housing; many pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent. The housing provided under the six active federal programs varies by such characteristics as age, building type, unit size, location, and services. GAO estimates that, for units with the same number of bedrooms in the same general location, these production programs cost more than housing vouchers. Across the six active programs, the federal government and tenants pay most of the programs' total costs. Except for one program, the federal government pays the largest percentage of the average total per-unit costs. GAO's work raises several housing policy issues, including the relative costs and benefits …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since fiscal year 1999, the Navy's budget for repairing spare parts to support its aviation weapons systems has increased by about 50 percent, from $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion. Some military commands have asserted that the escalating cost of these parts has adversely impacted the funds available for the readiness of military forces. Overall, the prices for Navy repairable spare parts continue to climb for the three aircraft and their engines that GAO focused on in its November 2000 report. GAO's assessment of selected parts being repaired showed that while nearly 45 percent of the parts decreased in price, about 55 percent increased an average of 91.5 percent between fiscal year 1999 and 2002. The price increases were primarily due to the dramatically higher costs of the materials needed to repair spare parts, although other factors, such as overhead fees and labor rates, contributed. However, GAO could not determine the underlying causes for the rising material costs because the Navy's database lacked key information on each repair. The Navy's progress in developing an overall plan to identify and address the reasons for higher spare parts prices …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States/Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement expired in March 2001. As part of the preparation process for renegotiating the agreement, the United States Trade Representative requested public comment on softwood lumber trade issues between the United States and Canada and on Canadian softwood lumbering practices. The comments received included allegations that Canadian lumbering and forestry practices were affecting animal species with U.S./Canadian ranges that are listed as threatened or endangered in the United States. To consider these comments as well as provide useful information to the U.S. Trade Representative in the renegotiations, the Department of the Interior, with the Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) assistance, prepared a conservation status report on selected species that may be affected by the new agreement. GAO reviewed the FWS' preliminary conclusions and found that, in compiling the information for the Department of the Interior's 2001 conservation report for the U.S. Trade Representative, FWS relied chiefly on previously published material and internal agency documents, such as individual species recovery plans, Federal Register listing information, other administrative records, and public comments received. The report underestimates the extent of cooperation between U.S. and …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Section 1085 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 authorized the military department secretaries to (1) charge fees to persons requesting information from the primary military archives and (2) retain collected fees to help defray costs associated with providing the information. The military archives also have authority under the User Charge Statute and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to charge for general information provided to the public. The Conference Report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 directs the Comptroller General to provide a report 1 year after implementation of the act on the fees collected and the associated costs of providing historical information. GAO found that Section 1085 authorizes but does not require action by the four primary military archives. Because of this, only the Army Military History Institute has implemented a fee schedule. Officials of the other three archives stated that the archives have no plans to implement a fee schedule under Section 1085. The Army Military History Institute first implemented a Section 1085 fee schedule in October 2001 and modified it in April 2002 to simplify some of …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Dangerous accumulations of brush, small trees, and other vegetation on federal lands, particularly in the western United States, have helped fuel devastating wildfires in recent years. Although a single focal point is critical for directing firefighting efforts by federal, state, and local governments, GAO found a lack of clearly defined leadership at the federal level. Authority and responsibility remain fragmented among the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service, and the states. Implementation of a performance accountability network also remains fragmented. As a result, GAO could not determine if the $796 million earmarked for hazardous fuels reduction in 2001 and 2002 has been targeted to communities and areas at highest risk. The five federal land management agencies--the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Forest Service--have yet to begin the research needed to identify and prioritize vulnerable communities near high-risk federal lands. Moreover, the agencies are not collecting the data needed to determine if changes are needed to expedite the project-planning process. They also are not collecting data needed to measure the effectiveness …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues regulations that states, localities, and private companies must comply with under the existing federal approach to environmental protection. This approach has been widely criticized for being costly, inflexible, and ineffective in addressing some of the nation's most pressing environmental problems. The states have used several methods to obtain EPA approval for innovative approaches to environmental protection. Among the primary approaches cited by the state environmental officials GAO interviewed are EPA's Project XL and the Joint EPA/State Agreement to Pursue Regulatory Innovation. Officials in most states told GAO that they faced significant challenges in submitting proposals to EPA, including resistance from within the state environmental agency and a lack of adequate resources to pursue innovative approaches. EPA recognizes that it needs to do more to encourage innovative environmental approaches by states and other entities. As a result, EPA has (1) issued a broad-based draft strategy entitled "Innovating for Better Environmental Results" and (2) adopted the recommendations of an internal task force, which advocated the consideration of innovative alternatives as new regulations are developed."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is a primary sponsor of research conducted in the United States, expending during fiscal year 2001 $19.4 billion for research performed by federal employees and $62.2 billion for research conducted under contracts and grants. Some of this research leads to the development of technology that can be patented, licensed, and made available to the public through the introduction of new products and processes. In the past, however, there have been concerns that new technologies developed under federal research projects were not being properly translated into practical use. In response, Congress has made attempts through legislation over the past two decades to ensure that federally sponsored inventions were being transferred to the private sector where they could be commercialized. Federal agencies are identifying, patenting, and licensing inventions created in their own facilities through technology transfer programs that vary in design, approach, and measurable output. With respect to design, some agencies have centralized technology transfer programs, while others have decentralized programs, and still others have components of both. From an approach stand point, the agencies differ on what they will patent and the types of …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To address system problems and other long-standing management weaknesses, in 1998, the Congress created a discrete unit within the Department of Education, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). This office subsequently adopted a new approach to systems integration using middleware (a type of software that can allow an application to access data residing in different databases) and Extensible Markup Language (XML)--a flexible, nonproprietary set of standards that is intended to make it easier to identify, integrate, and process information widely dispersed among systems and organizations. FSA's first use of this approach is the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) process for the Direct Loan, Pell Grant, and campus-based programs. GAO initiated a follow-up review to assess FSA's progress in implementing this process."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has become increasingly aware of the need to be prepared for emergencies, including those involving hazardous chemicals. The local emergency responders and representatives from national organizations that GAO contacted have varied views on the adequacy of (1) information in chemical inventory forms and risk management plans and (2) the manner in which that information is delivered. Most members of the emergency response community believe that the manner of delivery of federally required information could be improved. Environmental Protection Agency officials cited their efforts to ensure compliance with provisions of the Clean Air Act's risk management program. However, their sense of the extent of compliance varies across three specific provisions; that is, the extent to which (1) facilities have registered risk management plans, (2) the plans contain accurate information, and (3) local responders are receiving the plans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Financial Management Service's (FMS) overall security control environment continues to be ineffective in identifying, deterring, and responding to computer control weaknesses promptly. Consequently, billions of dollars of payments and collections are at significant risk of loss or fraud, sensitive data are at risk of inappropriate disclosure, and critical computer-based operations are vulnerable to serious disruptions. During its fiscal year 2000 audit, GAO found new general computer control weaknesses in the entity-wide security management program, access controls, and system software. GAO also identified new weaknesses in the authorization and completeness controls over one key FMS financial application. GAO's follow-up on the status of FMS's corrective actions to address weaknesses discussed in its fiscal year 1999 report found that, as of September 30, 2000, FMS had corrected or mitigated the risks associated with 35 of the 61 computer control weaknesses discussed in that report. To assist FMS management in addressing its computer control weaknesses, GAO made four overall recommendations in this public report."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To assess the quality of the population data collected in the 2000 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau conducted the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (A.C.E.) program, which focused on a survey of housing units designed to estimate the number of people missed, counted more than once, or otherwise improperly counted in the census. GAO reviewed the life cycle costs of the A.C.E. program and its predecessor, the Integrated Coverage Measurement (ICM) program. GAO found that the original estimated cycle costs of conducting the ICM/A.C.E. programs were $400 million. The first evidence for the original $400 million estimate is in the original budget justifications for fiscal year 2000. The bureau based its estimates of ICM/A.C.E. costs on assumptions about the needs for personnel and benefits, contractual services, travel, office space, equipment, and other costs necessary to conduct and support operations of the programs. The budgeted amounts that GAO identified from bureau records for conducting the ICM/A.C.E. programs are $277 million through fiscal year 2003. The obligated costs that GAO identified from bureau records for conducting the ICM/A.C.E. programs are $207 million through fiscal year 2001. $58 million of …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to a Congressional request for information regarding critical infrastructure protection within the federal government. In May 1998, Presidential Decision Directive 63 was issued with the intent to eliminate any significant vulnerability to both physical and cyber attacks on the nation's critical infrastructure. It makes every department and agency of the federal government responsible for protecting its own critical physical infrastructure. The Interagency Security Committee (ISC) and all 22 of the agencies GAO reviewed have some role in providing security for office space, although the degree of involvement varied from agency to agency. Other types of security responsibilities include performing security assessments, providing security funding, providing security forces and security technology, and coordination of security efforts among and within agencies. Eleven of the 22 agencies stated that they had completed security assessments on all their facilities since 1995. Nine agencies reported that they were still doing security assessments on their buildings. Two agencies are located in General Service Administration (GSA) space only and GSA is responsible for the security assessments. The agencies provide security using a combination of security forces and security technologies. Security …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 was designed to improve the quality of public housing and the lives of its residents. Since fiscal year 2000, housing agencies managing low-rent or tenant-based Section 8 units have been required to develop and submit five-year and annual plans. As of January 2002, 98 percent of public housing agency plans for fiscal year 2000 had been submitted and approved. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had mixed views about the fiscal year 2000 plan process and its value. The field locations that responded to GAO's survey reported that their review of fiscal year 2000 plans was hampered by several factors, including difficulty in transmitting data between public housing agencies and HUD. Most field locations responded that public housing agencies are implementing their plans but acknowledged that there may be some problems, particularly in fulfilling requirements related to resident participation in the process. The eight public housing agencies GAO visited had differing views on the usefulness of the planning process, the level of resources required to prepare the plans, the sufficiency of HUD's guidance on completing …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 replaced the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program with a block grant to states that provide Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). TANF strongly emphasizes work and job replacement and sets a five-year lifetime limit on federally funded TANF assistance to adults. To meet information needs for welfare reform, information systems must be able to share data across various programs, including TANF, Medicaid, job training, child care, and vocational rehabilitation. However, previous GAO studies found major gaps in states' information systems. Most of the local TANF administrators in 15 states surveyed by GAO reported that their current systems provide half or less of the information needed to manage individual cases, plan appropriate services for the caseload, and monitor overall program performance. The administrators are missing information because some of the systems used do not share data on these recipients, which constrains the ability of case managers to arrange and monitor the delivery of services. Five states--New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin--are modernizing their information systems to take advantage of recent technological advances. These …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the early 1980s, health maintenance organizations (HMO) have entered into risk-based contracts with Medicare and offered beneficiaries an alternative to the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) program. By 1997, 5.2 million Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in an HMO. Although Medicare HMOs were available in most urban areas, they were often unavailable in rural areas. Medicare+Choice (M+C) has HMO requirements pertaining to benefit package proposals, the beneficiary enrollment process, marketing and enrollee communication materials, and quality improvement, among other areas. An HMO must annually submit a benefit package proposal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for each M+C health plan that the HMO intends to offer. M+C requirements for the beneficiary enrollment process specify the information that an HMO must include in its enrollment application and the checks that it must perform to ensure that beneficiaries who submit applications are eligible to enroll in the HMO's health plan. M+C marketing requirements prohibit HMOs from using inaccurate or misleading language in advertisements or materials distributed to enrollees. M+C requirements for quality improvements specify that HMOs must undertake multiyear projects intended to improve the quality of health …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress changed the law governing the use of appropriation accounts in 1990 because it found that the Department of Defense (DOD) may have spent hundreds of millions of dollars for purposes that Congress had not approved. The 1990 law provided that, 5 years after the expiration of the period of availability of a fixed-term appropriation, the appropriation account be closed and all remaining balances canceled. After closing, the appropriation account could no longer be used for obligations or expenditures for any purpose. DOD has started the process of correcting the illegal or improper closed account adjustments made during fiscal year 2000. However, this will require substantial effort and, according to DOD, estimates will not be complete before the end of fiscal year 2002. DOD had upgraded its system control features by the end of fiscal year 2001 to preclude many of the wholesale adjustments that GAO had previously identified. Because its system enhancements were done in stages, including some near the end of fiscal year 2001, DOD continued to make large amounts of illegal and otherwise improper closed account adjustments during the year. However, given the …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal spending on Interstate highways has contributed to changes in residential and business land-use patterns. In 1991, GAO raised concerns about the condition of Interstate highways and rising levels of congestion. The original purposes for the Interstate system were to provide for efficient long-distance travel, support defense, and connect metropolitan and industrial areas. Today, the most important role that the Interstates perform, other than supporting safe travel, is moving freight traffic across their states. The federal government provides funding for, and oversight of, the Interstate system while the states do most of the maintaining and planning for the future of the system. Combined federal and state spending on the Interstate System increased from $13.0 billion in 1992 to 16.2 billion in 2000. States are required to pay ten percent of the cost of an Interstate project; however, GAO found that the average nonfederal share of urban Interstate projects was 15 percent and 11 percent for rural projects. Interstate highways are in better physical condition and are safer than other classes of roads, although they are generally more congested. The states expect that increased traffic, the aging …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) contract, the Department of the Navy is obtaining information technology (IT) services that are to allow it to replace thousands of independent networks, applications, hardware, and software with one secure network. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2002 directed GAO to review the impact on IT costs of NMCI at Navy shipyards and air depots, which are predominantly working capital funded activities. Because this funding model requires these activities to recover all costs through charges to customers, GAO also reviewed NMCI's impact on shipyard and depot rates."