Federal Reports

DHS’ Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction’s (CWMD)BioWatch has information sharing challenges that reducenationwide readiness to respond to biological terrorismthreats. According to its mission statement, BioWatch isdesigned to operate a nationwide aerosol detection system.The system is intended to detect potential biological threatagents, identify the agent used, and share information withstakeholders, serving as an early warning system.However, BioWatch does not operate a nationwide earlywarning system. Its biological detection equipment is locatedin just 22 of 50 states (44 percent), which leaves 28 stateswithout coverage. This occurred because BioWatch has notreassessed its strategic posture and designated locationsneeding coverage since 2003. Moreover, BioWatch equipmentin 34 of 35 jurisdictions could not always collect air samplesto test for biological threats because the equipment was notsecured to prevent unplugging or security breaches.Further, BioWatch monitors and detects just 6 of 14(approximately 43 percent) biological agents known to bethreats because it has not updated its biological agentdetection capabilities with the 2017 threat assessmentresults. Also, as of 2018, BioWatch stopped conductingroutine full-scale exercises with its jurisdictions inpreparation for a potential bioterrorism attack. According toBioWatch officials, this occurred because CWMD leadershipdirected BioWatch to no longer conduct these exercises,leaving each jurisdiction discretion to perform its ownexercises.Without implementing changes to address BioWatch’schallenges, the United States’ ability to prepare for, detect,and respond to a potential bioterrorism attack is impeded,which could result in significant loss of human life.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act established health insurance marketplaces in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) operates the Federal marketplace and is responsible for generating advanced premium tax credits (APTCs) made to qualified health plans (QHPs). We previously audited CMS's interim process for approving financial assistance payments on an aggregate basis for the 2014 benefit year. We determined that CMS did not ensure that payments were made only for confirmed enrollees and in the correct amounts. This audit reviewed CMS's permanent process for authorizing APTCs to QHP issuers on a policy-level basis for the 2018 calendar year.The objectives of this audit were to determine whether CMS: (1) ensured APTCs were allowable; and (2) reported accurate enrollment data to the Department of the Treasury's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the IRS to use when reconciling APTCs.

OIG Investigations Newsletter Volume XXXII for the period of December 1, 2020 - January 31, 2021

We found that Ohio generally had sufficient internal controls to ensure that LEAs developed IEPs in accordance with Federal and State requirements for children with disabilities who attend virtual charter schools and that these students were provided with the services described in their IEPs. These internal controls included developing model policies and procedures; monitoring LEAs; and providing technical assistance, guidance, and training. However, we found that Ohio could strengthen its monitoring process to ensure that LEAs also have written procedures on how they implemented the model policies for IEP development and how they provided and documented service delivery for students with disabilities, and by requiring sponsors1 to timely report significant compliance issues found during their LEA monitoring reviews.

This investigation was initiated based on a Postal Service employee's allegations of voter fraud in a video.