Federal Reports

The Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) transmission planning process includes assessing the capacity of the transmission system to reliably deliver power from generation resources to customer loads.  Due to the importance of ensuring TVA’s transmission system can accommodate its generation strategy and ensure adequate system margins to allow for reliable customer supply, we performed an evaluation to determine if TVA’s plans for transmission capacity support (1) planned generation additions and (2) demand growth.  We determined TVA’s plans for transmission capacity account for generation additions and demand growth; however, we identified an increased risk to Transmission Planning and Projects’ ability to execute these plans.  These included (1) gaps between budgeted funding levels and forecasted spending needed to support TVA’s planned generation and demand growth through fiscal year 2029 and (2) some transmission projects that were forecast to exceed approved cost and/or time frames, which could impact the ability of Transmission Planning and Projects to support generation additions or demand growth. 

The overall objective is to identify AbilityOne Program data generated or maintained by Central Nonprofit Agencies (CNA) and/or Nonprofit Agencies (NPA), that is not currently available to the Commission.  

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Healthcare Facility Inspection program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the care provided at the VA Western Colorado Healthcare System in Grand Junction. 

This evaluation focused on five key content domains:
   •    Culture
   •    Environment of care
   •    Patient safety
   •    Primary care
   •    Veteran-centered safety net

The OIG issued eight recommendations for improvement in two domains:
  1.    Environment of care
   •    Toxic exposure screenings
   •    Fire extinguisher inspections
   •    Preventive maintenance inspections 
   •    Wheelchair disinfection, ceiling vent dust removal, and wall repair
   •    Equipment and supply access and storage 
   •    Video monitoring
   •    Veterans Integrated Service Network oversight of the environment of care program
  2.    Patient Safety
   •    Patient test result notification process

The OIG conducted this review to assess the merits of two hotline complaints—one in March 2024 and one in April 2024—alleging Omaha VA Medical Center leaders manipulated the clinically indicated date for consults, thereby limiting veterans’ access to community care. The OIG substantiated the allegations, determining that from March 7, 2024, through April 11, 2024, facility leaders implemented a prohibited 29-day default for the clinically indicated date field that applied to referrals for specialty care and for some primary and mental health care. The default was implemented because clinically indicated dates for many specialty care consults were, in the chief of staff’s and medical facility director’s opinion, sooner than the patient’s condition warranted.

Before implementing the default, both the medical facility director and the chief of staff were made aware that there should not be a default. After implementing, they were also notified by an Omaha VA Medical Center employee that the default was not allowed and should be removed, but facility leaders took 19 days to remove the default. Furthermore, the OIG found providers were not given training on clinically indicated dates. In early November 2024—more than six months after the default was removed—training was provided.

The OIG made four recommendations: to clarify that automatically prepopulating the clinically indicated date field is prohibited; to determine whether any administrative action should be taken; to direct the medical facility director to provide education and training on the consult process; and to assess the actions the medical facility has taken to review consults potentially affected by the default and ensure veterans received the care they needed.

This report presents the results of our audit of the Postal Automated Redirection System. 

The Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS) was deployed in 2007 to handle letter mail that cannot be delivered to the name and address on the mailpiece. Mail sorting equipment can automatically intercept mail with an active Change of Address (COA), and PARS sorting equipment can forward it to the new destination, reducing additional mail handling. If mail that is undeliverable as addressed is not intercepted during the automated process, a carrier at the delivery unit can identify it as either forwardable — with a valid COA — or as return to sender and send it back to the plant for further processing. With the average American moving 11.7 times in their lifetime, the Postal Service must effectively handle PARS mail to ensure timely delivery of essential communications, such as bills, checks, and court documents. 

Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of procedures for processing and handling PARS mail. To accomplish our objective, we conducted interviews with U.S. Postal Service Headquarters management, obtained and analyzed PARS related data for fiscal years (FY) 2023 and 2024, and determined avoidable costs incurred due to identified issues.