Maritime Infrastructure: Opportunities Exist to Improve the Effectiveness of Federal Efforts to Support the Marine Transportation System (open access)

Maritime Infrastructure: Opportunities Exist to Improve the Effectiveness of Federal Efforts to Support the Marine Transportation System

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) use a variety of programs to maintain and improve Marine Transportation System (MTS) infrastructure. The Corps is the lead federal agency responsible for maintaining and improving navigable waterways. Corps data show that obligations for navigable waterways have decreased from over $3 billion in fiscal year 2009 to about $1.8 billion in fiscal year 2011. Most annual DOT funding is provided to states through formulas, and states determine which projects to fund. For example, in fiscal year 2011, the Surface Transportation Program provided $9.5 billion to states for a variety of transportation projects, which may have included port improvements. However, because DOT does not specifically track formula funding used to maintain or improve ports or port connectors, officials were unable to provide GAO the extent to which these funds were used for port improvements, although the officials stated that the number of port-specific projects was likely small. Several DOT grant and credit programs can also provide specific funding to ports, though ports are primarily responsible for maintaining and improving infrastructure on port property."
Date: November 13, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare Program Integrity: Greater Prepayment Control Efforts Could Increase Savings and Better Ensure Proper Payment (open access)

Medicare Program Integrity: Greater Prepayment Control Efforts Could Increase Savings and Better Ensure Proper Payment

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Use of prepayment edits saved Medicare at least $1.76 billion in fiscal year 2010, but GAO found that savings could have been greater had prepayment edits been more widely used. GAO illustrated this point using analysis of a limited number of national policies and local coverage determinations (LCD), which are established by each Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) to specify coverage rules in its jurisdiction. GAO identified $14.7 million in payments in fiscal year 2010 that appeared to be inconsistent with four national policies and therefore improper. These payments could have been prevented through automated prepayment edits. GAO also found more than $100 million in payments that were inconsistent with three selected LCDs and that could have been identified using automated edits."
Date: November 13, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicaid Integrity Program: CMS Should Take Steps to Eliminate Duplication and Improve Efficiency (open access)

Medicaid Integrity Program: CMS Should Take Steps to Eliminate Duplication and Improve Efficiency

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicaid Integrity Group's (MIG) hiring of separate review and audit contractors for its National Medicaid Audit Program (NMAP) was inefficient and led to duplication because key functions were performed by both entities. Review contractors analyze state claims data to identify aberrant claims or billing anomalies while audit contractors conduct postpayment audits to determine if payments to providers were improper. Because both types of contractors had to assess whether payments were improper under state Medicaid policies, having separate contractors doubled states' burden in ensuring that state policies were being correctly applied. Also, poor coordination and communication between the two types of contractors resulted in duplicative data analysis. In turn, these inefficiencies added to the length of audits, which on average took almost 23 months to complete. By contrast, the average duration of six audits using a more collaborative and coordinated approach was 16 months, and the amount of identified overpayments increased significantly."
Date: November 13, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library