Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "One of the first defenses against improper Medicare billings is the screening of applications from providers seeking to participate in the program. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) operates and manages the Medicare program and, with help from insurance companies, reviews provider applications to determine whether providers meet Medicare requirements and if there is a reason to suspect that providers' future Medicare billings would be improper. GAO found that HCFA's current provider enrollment process does not completely ensure that dishonest and unqualified providers are prevented from obtaining Medicare billing privileges. GAO suggests consolidating provider enrollment tasks with fewer contractors to strengthen HCFA's ability to oversee these contractors and enhance the efficiency of the enrollment process. HCFA is implementing several changes to its provider enrollment processes that may make it more difficult for dishonest providers to enroll in Medicare; however, delays in implementing these initiatives will also postpone their benefits."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses what can be accomplished with FirstGov.gov and identifies challenges that should be addressed as it continues to be developed and refined. Under FirstGov, an important and previously unavailable capability--searching the entire government's web pages--was rapidly and successfully put into place. The FirstGov Board of Directors needs to address the following four issues: (1) improving site security, (2) assessing and acting upon information in the Fed-Search database that might facilitate malicious activity, (3) addressing issues regarding private sector sponsorship, and (4) developing plans for the future. An overall management plan for FirstGov.gov would be a useful vehicle for setting expectations about what general functions are likely to be achievable for FirstGov in the near term, how the site will be managed on an ongoing basis, and how progress toward the larger goals set forth in the President's December 1999 memorandum will be measured."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report summarizes GAO's findings on the United States Russia Fund and its investment selection process and criteria. The United States established enterprise funds to support private sector development in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union as they move from centrally planned to market-oriented economies. Enterprise funds are private, nonprofit U.S. corporations that are supposed to make loans to, or invest in, small, medium, and large businesses in which other financial institutions are reluctant to invest. The Fund is authorized to receive $440 million through the Agency for International Development. As of March 2000, the Fund had invested $114.4 million in 30 projects through its direct investment program which provides loans and equity capital to businesses in Russia. GAO found that the Fund followed its review process and criteria for selecting direct investments."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has provided international family planning assistance through the Agency for International Development (AID) since the mid-1960s. U.S. law prohibits the use of international family planning funds for abortions and requires that all family planning programs supported by AID be voluntary. This report discusses: (1) how much family planning assistance AID provided in fiscal years 1996-1999 and plans to provide in fiscal year 2000, and (2) what procedures have been established to ensure that funds are not being used for prohibited activities. GAO found that AID provided $432 million in assistance in fiscal year 1996 and $385 million in each of fiscal years 1997-1999. AID has established multiple procedures to ensure that family planning funds are not used for prohibited activities, including specifying the restrictions in grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) research activities administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), focusing on: (1) the CFS activities that CDC and NIH have supported; (2) the funds and resources CDC and NIH have devoted to CFS research; and (3) how CDC and NIH coordinate research and involve patient organizations and external researchers in developing their CFS research programs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America for fiscal years ended September 30, 1997 and 1998, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the Marine Corps League for the years ended June 30, 1997 and 1998, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Italian American War Veterans of the United States for the fiscal years ended August 31, 1998 and 1999, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Military Order of the World Wars for the fiscal years ended June 30, 1998 and 1999, focusing on whether the audit reports complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Academy of Public Administration for the fiscal years ended September 30, 1998 and 1999, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) administration and use of mining maintenance fees, focusing on: (1) whether BLM used Mining Law Administration Program (MLAP) fees to process mineral patent applications and whether this use was appropriate; and (2) the amount of MLAP fees collected by BLM in fiscal year (FY) 1998 and how BLM used these fees."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) authority to award severable service contracts in fiscal years 1998 and 1999 under section 801 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998, focusing on: (1) the extent to which DOD used the authority in the last month of the fiscal year; and (2) whether contracts reportedly valued at about $1 million or more and whose work was performed entirely in the following fiscal year were abuses of section 801."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed issues relating to the District of Columbia government's mismanagement of two building leases, focusing on: (1) whether the person or persons who approved the leases were authorized to do so; (2) the status of properties, leases, costs, and utilization; and (3) the steps the District has taken or is taking to ensure that leased properties, in general, are effectively managed and utilized."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the National Environmental Performance Partnership System (NEPPS), focusing on: (1) grants and agreements made under NEPPS between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and states; (2) progress that EPA and the states have made in developing results-oriented performance measures to be incorporated into NEPPS agreements and grants to the states; (3) how EPA oversight may or may not have been changing in states that were participating in NEPPS; and (4) the extent to which the use of these performance partnership agreements and grants had achieved the benefits envisioned for the states and the public."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the withdrawal of health maintenance organizations (HMO) from the Federal Employees' Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), focusing on: (1) changes in the number of HMOs participating in FEHBP from plan years 1994 to 2000; (2) reasons why HMOs withdrew from FEHBP in plan years 1999 and 2000; and (3) FEHBP enrollment experiences for HMOs that withdrew from the program in 2000."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the role of incentive programs in motivating and rewarding federal employees to achieve high performance that supports agency missions and goals."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed efforts to collect environmental health data, focusing on the: (1) extent to which states, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collect human exposure data on potentially harmful chemicals, including data to identify at-risk populations; and (2) main barriers hindering further progress in such efforts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) efforts to include women in clinical research, focusing on: (1) the extent to which women are being included in clinical research that NIH funds; (2) the activities and accomplishments of the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) in promoting women's health research at NIH; and (3) how much funding NIH has allocated to research on health issues that affect women."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board's organizational changes, determining the status of the Board's: (1) organization; (2) operations; and (3) efforts to update and develop plans, policies, and procedures for accomplishing the Board's mission."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the efforts being undertaken by the Department of Transportation's (DOT) newly established Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to reduce the number of large truck-related fatalities."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its views on the Department of Energy's (DOE) Implementation Plan for the newly created National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Baca Ranch owner's appraisal, the Forest Service's appraisal review report, and the Forest Service's market study."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed S. 1993, the Government Information Security Act of 1999 and its impact on strengthening the information security practices throughout the federal government, focusing on: (1) potential improvements in federal agency performance in addressing computer security issues; (2) the need for better-defined control standards; and (3) centralized leadership."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the carry over balances in the Department of Commerce's Advanced Technology Program (ATP), focusing on: (1) balances in the program for fiscal years 1995 through 1999; and (2) any balances that might exist at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2000 that could be used as offsets for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) programs in the FY 2001 budget."