Federal Reports

Clinical diagnostic laboratory (lab) tests provide information integral to preventing, diagnosing, and treating disease in millions of Medicare beneficiaries every year. The Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA) requires reform of Medicare's payment system for lab tests-the first such reform in 3 decades. Beginning in 2018, Medicare payment rates-which are currently based on inflation-adjusted lab charges-will be replaced with new rates based on current charges in the private health care market. In response to a mandate contained in PAMA, OIG is monitoring Medicare payments for lab tests and CMS's implementation of the new payment system.

This is our final report on the Department of Commerce’s top management and performance challenges for fiscal year (FY) 2017. We have aligned our report with the Department’s FYs 2014–2018 Strategic Plan—and, within each of the plan’s strategic goals, we discuss the challenges we have identified:Challenge 1. TRADE AND INVESTMENTChallenge 2. INNOVATIONChallenge 3. ENVIRONMENTChallenge 4. DATAChallenge 5. OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

The first evaluation was completed by September 30, 2013; a second, to be completed by September 30, 2016, was to review progress made after the first. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Department took appropriate corrective actions on recommendations made in OIG’s 2013 report.