Federal Reports

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 requires CMS to phase in a Competitive Bidding Program for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies. Initially, under this program, suppliers competed to become Medicare contract suppliers for diabetes testing supplies provided via mail order in select areas. In July 2013, the program was expanded to include a National Mail-Order Program for diabetes testing supplies.

This final report documents the results of our audit on the effectiveness of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) unliquidated obligation (ULO) review policies and procedures developed since our OIG audit report issued in June 2013 (OIG-13-026-A). In our 2013 report, we concluded that Department-wide controls over the management of ULOs needed strengthening. We also concluded that effective management of outstanding obligation balances allows bureaus to review and deobligate unneeded funds, promoting a better use of federal resources. Our objective for the current audit was to evaluate the effectiveness of NOAA obligation and deobligation practices, as well as review policies and procedures that were implemented, since our June 2013 audit report.

For this audit, our objectives were to assess the adequacy of GOES-R development as the program completes system integration and test activities for the flight and ground segments in preparation for launch and data distribution, per National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) standards. We also monitored the program's progress in developing and reporting on flight and ground segment contracting actions and changes to minimize cost increases.