Federal Reports

At the request of the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Supply Chain, we audited Thalle Construction Company, Inc.'s (Thalle) project change request (PCR) No. 017 issued to Purchase Order (PO) No. 3260693 under Contract No. 10061. TVA issued PO No. 3260693 to Thalle on September 21, 2017, using a target cost estimate (TCE) pricing methodology to provide supervision, labor, equipment, and materials for the Bull Run Fossil Site, Process Water Basin.TCE pricing provides that compensation would be cost based with the maximum amount of total compensation, including fee, not to exceed the TCE established for the work. Additionally, if the project's actual cost exceeded the TCE by more than 3 percent, the amount of overrun would be shared 50 percent by TVA and 50 percent by the contractor. Conversely, if the project's actual cost is more than 3 percent below the TCE, the savings would be shared 75 percent for TVA and 25 percent for the contractor.During March 2019, TVA reduced Thalle's statement of work (SOW) on the PO and required Thalle to complete all services by April 26, 2019. Thalle submitted PCR-017 on November 6, 2019, which provided a revised TCE totaling $5,077,957 based on the reduced SOW. Our audit objective was to determine the validity of Thalle's PCR-017.In summary, we determined Thalle's revised TCE in PCR-017 was overstated:$975,988 due to (1) incorrect deductions for the reduced SOW, (2) ineligible and unsupported additions to the TCE, and (3) overstated general and administrative (G&A) markup and fee used in the original TCE.$39,061 for unallowable performance fee paid on the costs that exceeded the TCE.In addition, based on our cursory review of payments made under PO No. 3260693, we determined Thalle overbilled TVA $58,612 in ineligible G&A costs and fee paid on TVA provided equipment. As a result, we determined Thalle owes TVA $524,403 including (1) $465,791 for its applicable share of the TCE cost overrun and (2) $58,612 in ineligible G&A and fee paid on TVA provided equipment. (Summary Only)

Many global postal operators, including the Postal Service, face difficulty covering the costs of their rural post offices. At the same time, rural post offices serve a special role for many small communities. The OIG studied how postal providers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are promoting profitability within their rural retail networks while continuing to offer adequate access to rural customers.

Our objective was to evaluate the accuracy of Postal Service “zone”-based postage rates. These rates apply to select mail products including Priority Mail, Bound Printed Matter, Parcel Select, First Class Package Service, and Periodicals. The total volume of competitive and market dominant mail that included zone pricing was 10.1 billion of the 142.4 billion pieces (7 percent) in fiscal year 2019.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an inspection related to a patient’s emergent mental health services, medication management, and emergency procedures at the facility. The inspection team identified an additional concern related to the Recovery and Engagement and Coordination for Health—Veterans Enhanced Treatment (REACH VET) program. The patient was a former service member who was granted 90 days of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) emergent mental health services due to other than honorable discharge (OTH) status. The OIG found that VHA did not provide written guidance on expected timeframes and patient notification processes regarding emergent mental health services extension requests. Facility staff notified the patient of the extension request denial two days prior to the patient’s eligibility ending. The Chief of Staff failed to review treatment notes and submit the extension request to the Veterans Integrated Service Network Chief Medical Officer, as required. The OIG team did not substantiate that facility providers discontinued the patient’s Suboxone® and other medications without a taper or transition to another program. Grant and Per Diem Program staff were instructed to call 911 rather than facility code blue for patients with OTH discharge status, which may result in disparity of care. The OIG reviewed the care of five patients with OTH discharge status who were also identified by the REACH VET program. Facility staff failed to follow up with one patient who was identified by the REACH VET program twice after the emergent mental health services eligibility ended. The patient died by suicide approximately three months later. The OIG made two recommendations to the Under Secretary for Health related to emergent mental health services and the REACH VET program and two recommendations to the Facility Director related to emergent mental health services and medical emergency procedures.