Federal Reports

When Congress established average sales price (ASP) as the basis for Medicare Part B drug reimbursement, it also provided a mechanism for monitoring market prices and limiting potentially excessive payment amounts. The Social Security Act (the Act) mandates that OIG compare ASPs with average manufacturer prices (AMPs). If OIG finds that the ASP for a drug exceeds the AMP by a certain percentage (currently 5 percent), the Act directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to substitute the ASP-based payment amount with a lower calculated rate. Through regulation, CMS outlined that it would make this substitution only if the ASP for a drug exceeded the AMP by 5 percent in the 2 previous quarters or 3 of the previous 4 quarters.

FMFIA further requires each executive agency head, based on an evaluation conducted in accordance with applicable guidelines, to prepare and submit a signed statement to the President and the Congress disclosing whether the agency’s system of internal accounting and administrative control fully complies with requirements established in FMFIA.

The Office of Inspector General examined NASA’s progress in transporting astronauts to the International Space Station on commercial launch vehicles.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) performed procedures that were requested and agreed to by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) management solely to assist management in determining the validity of the Winning Performance/Executive Annual Incentive Plan (WP) Measures for fiscal year (FY) ending September 30, 2019. The WP Measures data provided to the OIG and to which the agreed-upon procedures were applied is the responsibility of TVA management. In summary, procedures applied by the OIG found: • The FY 2019 WP goals for the enterprise measures were properly approved. One change form was approved on November 9, 2018, and clarified the definition sheet methodology for calculating the goals for one of the measures. However, this change form did not impact the overall measure, weight, and goals of that measure. Another change form was approved on January 22, 2019, and affected one measure.• The FY 2019 goals (target) for the corporate multiplier measures were properly approved. • The actual FY to-date results for the enterprise measures agreed with the underlying support, without exception.• The actual FY to-date results for the corporate multiplier measures agreed with the underlying support, without exception.• The FY 2019 WP payout percentage provided by the Benchmarking and Enterprise Performance organization on November 6, 2019, was mathematically accurate and agreed with the OIG’s recalculation.

Audit of FTC Expert Witness Services (redacted)