Federal Reports

CMS could not ensure that advance premium tax credit (APTC) payments made to qualified health plan (QHP) issuers were only for enrollees who had paid their premiums. Specifically, we found that CMS (1) did not have a process in place to ensure that APTC payments were made only for enrollees who had paid their monthly premiums; instead, CMS relied on each QHP issuer to verify that enrollees paid their monthly premiums and to attest that APTC payment information that the issuer reported to CMS was accurate; and (2) had sole responsibility for ensuring that APTC payments were made only for enrollees who had paid their premiums and did not share these data for enrollees with the IRS when making payments.

For the period October 2007 through September 2014, we determined that the California Department of Health Care Services (State agency) did not correctly claim Medicaid expenditures for Indian Health Service facilities in accordance with Federal requirements.

Not all of the Connect for Health Colorado's (Colorado marketplace) internal controls were effective in ensuring that individuals were enrolled in qualified health plans (QHPs) according to Federal requirements. QHPs are private health insurance plans that each marketplace recognizes and certifies as meeting certain participation standards and covering a core set of benefits.

The New York State Department of Health (State agency) claimed Medicaid reimbursement for some Medicaid adult day health care (ADHC) services that did not comply with certain Federal and State requirements. Of the 100 claims in our random sample, the State agency properly claimed Medicaid reimbursement for 60 claims. However, the State agency claimed Medicaid reimbursement for services that were unallowable for the remaining 40 claims. On the basis of our sample results, we estimated that the State agency improperly claimed at least $70 million in Federal Medicaid reimbursement for ADHC services that did not comply with certain Federal and State requirements.

Teaching & Mentoring Communities (TMC) claimed $635,000 in costs that were unallowable under applicable Federal rules and the terms of grants that it was awarded. This amount consisted of $617,000 in health insurance costs that TMC overcharged, $16,000 in unsupported consulting costs and $2,000 in membership costs that did not have prior approval. In addition, TMC did not have adequate controls over its financial management system.

The NARA Office of Inspector General engaged, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, to audit the consolidated financial statements of National Archives andRecords Administration.

ln December 2015, an officer alleged that the United States Capitol Police (USCP or the Department) did not follow appropriate laws and regulations related to garnishment of wages. Based on interviews and review of documentation the officer provided, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) performed limited procedures to determine the merit of the allegation.

This is the report of our audit of the effectiveness of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA’s) oversight of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) comprehensive community infrastructure (CCI) awards. The purpose of our audit was to assess the effectiveness of NTIA’s procedures for identifying and disposing of inventories of excess BTOP equipment.

Evaluation of the FTC Office of the Chief Information Officer

Financial Statement

Of the $27.6 billion in Federal Medicaid funds that the California Department of Health Care Services (State agency) obtained for fiscal year (FY) 2010, $20.3 million was not supported by net expenditures. Specifically, the State agency (1) refunded less to its FY 2010 Payment Management System (PMS) accounts for certain adjustments to reduce its expenditures than it reported for those adjustments on the CMS 64s and (2) obtained funds for expenditures that it did not report on the CMS 64s. After reconciling the FY 2010 PMS accounts, the State agency did not take appropriate corrective actions for the $20.3 million because it did not have specific policies and procedures to resolve the differences identified or because it chose not to take action.

We found that OESE did not close audits timely and did not adequately maintain documentation of audit followup activities. From October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2013, OESE closed 86 external OIG audits. Of the 86 closed audits, 59 (69 percent) were closed more than 2 years after resolution and 34 (40 percent) were closed more than 5 years after resolution. The total of the monetary recommendations associated with the 86 audits was more than $587 million. Further, we found that OESE did not always adequately maintain documentation of audit followup activities. This included not maintaining supporting documentation of corrective actions in the official audit file and not maintaining documentation that supported that auditees actually took requested corrective actions before audit closure.

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At the request of the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Supply Chain, the OIG examined proposed hourly labor rates and drilling services unit rates for a managed task contract for TVA's Dam Safety Assurance Program. Our objective was to determine if the proposed hourly labor rates and drilling services unit rates were fairly stated. In our opinion, the proposed hourly labor rates were fairly stated. However, we found (1) the proposed drilling services unit rates included overstated labor markup rates, and (2) the hourly labor rates did not include a driller helper labor classification to be utilized for drilling services when additional helpers were needed. TVA's Supply Chain subsequently entered into a contract with the vendor and was successful in negotiating a (1) reduction in proposed drilling services unit rates which will potentially save TVA $46,300, based on TVA's plans to spend $40 million over 5 years, and (2) new labor category within drilling services for use when additional support is needed in the field. In addition, we compared the vendor's effective profit included in the proposed hourly labor rates to the profit rates included in a similar contract TVA has with the vendor and found the mix of field and home office labor will determine which contract would result in lower costs to TVA.(Summary Only)

At the request of the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Supply Chain, the OIG examined a cost proposal submitted for construction/modification services. Our objective was to determine if the cost proposal was fairly stated for a planned $100 million contract. In our opinion, the cost proposal (1) included inconsistent equipment and labor markup rates, (2) included overstated labor markup rates, (3) overstated the Paradise Fossil Plant baseline project price, and (4) overstated the minimum non-manual wage rates. We estimated TVA could avoid about $4.1 million on the planned $100 million contract by negotiating reduced markup rates and ensuring fixed price estimates are calculated correctly with negotiated rates. In addition, we found the contract's compensation terms and related attachments were inconsistent with the methodology TVA intends to use to compensate the contractor.(Summary Only)

FISMA is meant to bolster computer and network security within the federal government. In accordance with FISMA and guidance from the Office of Management and Budget, TVA and the TVA OIG are required to report on agency-wide IT security and privacy practices annually. In our 2015 review of TVA's information security program, we found TVA was in compliance in the security program control areas of (1) identity and access management, (2) incident response and reporting, (3) plan of action and milestones, (4) remote access management, and (5) contingency planning. However, TVA still has ongoing actions in the following areas: (1) continuous monitoring management, (2) configuration management, (3) risk management, (4) security training, and (5) contractor systems control. Additionally, we found controls over the issuing of virtual private network tokens could be improved. TVA management agreed with our findings and recommendations and is implementing its remediation plan.(Summary Only)