Federal Reports

The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (the DATA Act, P.L. No. 113-101) requires that Federal agencies report financial and payment data in accordance with data standards established by the Department of Treasury (Treasury) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The DATA Act also requires the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for each reporting Federal agency to submit a series of oversight reports to include, among other things, an assessment of the completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of data submitted. As the agencies will not submit data in compliance with the DATA Act until May 2017, HHS OIG completed an audit readiness report progress in November 2016. Given the difficulty of defining and developing common data elements across multiple reporting areas and the volume of diverse programs administered by HHS, we determined that HHS will face challenges implementing these uniform data standards within the required time frame.

The Office of Inspector General released a report examining NASA's management of its Earth science portfolio that includes Earth-orbiting satellites used to collect information on weather, climate, and natural phenomena such as earthquakes, droughts, and wildfires.

Management and Performance Challenges Facing the FLRA

With respect to Medicaid patient days, Wisconsin Physicians Service (WPS) did not properly settle Medicare cost reports submitted by Indiana hospitals for Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments in accordance with Federal requirements. The 48 selected providers improperly claimed a total of 14,325 Medicaid patient days on their Medicare cost reports, resulting in DSH overpayments totaling $6.1 million. These improper claims included both unallowable and unsupported patient days and involved separate Child Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) recipients, Aid to Residents in County Homes (ARCH) recipients, 590 Program recipients, and dual eligibles.