Federal Reports

Alta Bates Medical Center, located in Berkeley, California, did not comply with all Medicare requirements for reporting wage data in its fiscal year 2010 Medicare cost report. We estimated that, as a result, in 2014 Medicare overpaid the Medical Center $154,000 and overpaid 32 other hospitals in 2 core-based statistical areas a total of approximately $5.3 million.

The OIG worked with an expert in postal costing and economics to analyze product cost changes in four traditional USPS products: First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Package Services. The analysis compares costs from fiscal year (FY) 2006 to FY 2015. Four external factors drove product cost changes: inflation, change in product mix, individual volume change, and overall volume decline. The report attributes the remaining change in unit costs to other factors, some which are at least partially within the Postal Service’s control. When the main cost factors over which the Postal Service has no real control over are accounted for, unit costs were lower in FY 2015 than in FY 2006 for First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, and Package Services. Only Periodicals’ unit costs increased.

In accordance with the Office of National Drug Control Policy Circular, “Accounting of Drug Control Funding and Performance Summary,” we authenticated the Department’s accounting of FY 2016 drug control funds and performance measures for key drug control programs by expressing a conclusion about the reliability of each assertion made in the Department’s accounting report and performance report. Based on our review, nothing came to our attention that caused us to believe that management’s assertions contained in the Department’s detailedaccounting report and performance summary report were not fairly stated in all material respects