Federal Reports

In November 2021, Congress passed the VA Transparency & Trust Act of 2021 (Transparency Act) to provide oversight of VA’s spending of COVID-19-related emergency relief funding, including funding related to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. To comply, VA must provide a detailed plan to Congress outlining its intent and justification for obligating and expending funds covered by the act. Additionally, the Transparency Act requires VA to submit biweekly reports to Congress detailing its obligations, expenditures, and planned uses, as well as justification for any deviation from the plan. The act also requires the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) to submit semiannual reports comparing how VA is obligating and expending covered funds to the planned obligations and expenditures. In this fourth report, the OIG found VA initially purchased services, supplies, and materials that were not aligned with FFCRA but took action to correct its obligations and expenditures based on guidance from the Office of General Counsel. The OIG determined that expenditure transfers may pose a risk to VA’s financial reporting and that VA generally did not comply with its financial policies to process and authorize FFCRA expenditure transfers. The OIG also found that VA generally complied with the Transparency Act for CARES Act reporting requirements and biweekly reports. The OIG made one recommendation to VA’s under secretary for health to ensure that Veterans Health Administration fiscal staff are trained on the VA financial policy requirements for the preparation and approval of journal vouchers (including expenditure transfers).

We inspected the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) corrective action(s) for 8 of our 11 recommendations from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit report Audit of SBA’s Oversight of the SCORE Association to determine whether SBA continues to practice corrective actions. A verification inspection is a limited scope that focuses on closed recommendations from prior OIG reports.We determined OIG Report 19-12 recommendations 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11 to be fully implemented; however, SBA program officials did not fully implement recommendation 10. We will track management’s implementation by reopening the recommendation and will work with SBA to establish a target date for implementing corrective actions through the audit follow-up process.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this management advisory to bring to U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) attention concerns regarding the SBA’s Reporting of Loan Data to a Commercial Credit Reporting Agency. These issues require immediate attention and action by SBA to ensure the commercial loan data it provides to Experian can be effectively incorporated into Experian’s commercial credit database and analyzed.Experian, as one of the three primary commercial credit reporting agencies, collects data on millions of businesses and combines the data to create business credit reports and calculate a credit rating. These business credit reports are used when businesses apply for a business loan, establish payment terms with a new vendor, or obtain any type of business credit.The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provided Experian its commercial loan data; however, SBA was unaware that Experian had not analyzed or incorporated this loan data into its commercial credit files from October 2018 to June 2023. According to Experian, it could not use the data because, in 2018, SBA did not submit it timely. Experian stated that SBA needed to validate the integrity of the data before it could resume using it.To ensure SBA provides Experian with complete, accurate, and timely loan data sufficient to be incorporated into Experian’s business credit files and establish an applicant’s creditworthiness, we suggested SBA (1) coordinate with Experian to ensure SBA commercial loan data is reported in a manner that can be included in the credit reporting agency’s commercial credit files, (2) establish communication protocols with Experian to address, resolve, and monitor commercial credit reporting issues, and (3) establish a written agreement for reporting loan data with Experian and other major commercial credit reporting agencies, as applicable.

Our objective was to assess the Postal Service management of AMS for rural routes. Specifically, we determined whether the process for maintaining delivery points and other route information is timely and accurate. We limited our review to rural routes due to the recent implementation of the Rural Route Evaluation Compensation System, which relies on delivery point data from AMS.

To obtain further information about this Classified Report, please contact the OIG Office of Counsel at OIGCounsel@oig.treas.gov, (202) 927-0650, or by mail at Office of Treasury Inspector General, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20220.

To obtain further information about this Classified Report, please contact the OIG Office of Counsel at OIGCounsel@oig.treas.gov, 202 (927)-0650, or by mail at Office of Treasury Inspector General, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20220.

The COVID-19 pandemic put an unprecedented strain on the nation’s federal healthcare systems. The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Health Care Subgroup surveyed more than 300 facilities across four federal healthcare programs to determine if the facilities had sufficient medical staff during the pandemic. The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed staffing at Veterans Health Administration facilities, the Department of Justice OIG reviewed Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities, the Department of Defense OIG reviewed medical treatment facilities, and the Health and Human Services OIG reviewed staffing within Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes. Collectively, the IGs learned that most facilities had challenges hiring and maintaining the staff they needed. This joint report provides insights into shortages in personnel positions most commonly reported; factors contributing to personnel shortages reported by facility officials; impacts to the healthcare personnel, the patients, and healthcare services provided by the federal healthcare programs; and strategies to mitigate personnel shortages caused by or exacerbated by the pandemic. Specific insights identified in the report include• Nurses and medical officers were the most commonly reported positions that experienced shortages during the pandemic.• A limited labor pool, noncompetitive pay, COVID-19 requirements, and a challenging hiring process were the most commonly reported factors that contributed to personnel shortages.• A decrease in patient access to care and patient satisfaction and an increase in health care personnel work hours and responsibilities were the most commonly reported impacts resulting from personnel shortages.• Monetary incentives were the most commonly reported strategy to recruit and retain personnel.These insights can help policymakers understand the challenges that federal healthcare programs experienced throughout the pandemic and determine the actions necessary to ensure sufficient staffing for ongoing health care needs and future pandemic response efforts.