Federal Reports

Although ICE had controls in place that required Capgemini Government Solutions, LLC to provide qualified labor, ICE did not properly construct or monitor the contract. This occurred because ICE awarded a firm-fixed-price contract but required a labor-hour performance measurement to monitor and track work hours, which was not appropriate for this type of contract. The contractor also did not provide the number of staff ICE required for specific labor categories. As a result, ICE cannot ensure it received all services, and it overpaid $769,869 in labor costs. Finally, ICE did not ensure the contractor met statement of work requirements for staff skill sets, education, and work experience, nor did it ensure all contractor staff worked at the designated place of performance

We did not substantiate the allegation that the WV Department of Environmental Protection showed preferential treatment to the West Virginia Governor.

During our audit period, CGS was a subsidiary of BCBS South Carolina, whose home office is in Columbia, South Carolina. CGS performed Medicare work upon being awarded the MAC contracts for Medicare Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Jurisdiction C and Medicare Parts A and B Jurisdiction 15 (including home health and hospice services), effective September 27, 2006, and July 8, 2010, respectively. , CGS continues to perform Medicare work for DME Jurisdiction C (re-awarded August 31, 2012) and Medicare Parts A and B Jurisdiction 15. During our audit period, CMS and BCBS South Carolina entered into an agreement called the “Advance Agreement on the Computation of Nonqualified Defined-Benefit Pension Plan Costs for Periods Beginning January 1, 2015” (agreement). This agreement allowed BCBS South Carolina to change its accounting methodology from a pay-as-you-go to an accrual method. This agreement also closed costs prior to January 1, 2015. Starting with January 1, 2015, the Excess Plan would, under the terms of this agreement, have three Medicare segments: (1) Palmetto Government Benefits Administrator, LLC (Palmetto), (2) Companion Data Services, LLC (CDS), and (3) Partial Medicare. This report addresses CGS’s compliance with the provisions of the Federal requirements and its Medicare contracts in claiming Excess Plan costs. We are addressing the Excess Plan costs claimed for the Palmetto and CDS Medicare segments in separate audits. The disclosure statement that CGS submits to CMS states that CGS uses pooled cost accounting. Medicare contractors use pooled cost accounting to calculate the indirect cost rates (whose computations include pension plan, Excess Plan, Supplement Executive Retirement Plan III, and PRB plan costs) that they submit on their ICPs. Medicare contractors use the indirect cost rates to calculate the contract costs that they report on their ICPs. In turn, CMS uses these indirect cost rates in determining the final indirect cost rates for each contract. Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina Excess PlanBCBS South Carolina sponsors the Excess Plan. The purpose of the Excess Plan is to provide benefits in excess of the limits imposed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of1974 for participants in BCBS South Carolina’s qualified defined-benefit plan.

During our audit period, CGS was a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina (BCBS South Carolina), whose home office is in Columbia, South Carolina. CGS performed Medicare work upon being awarded the MAC contracts for Medicare Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Jurisdiction C and Medicare Parts A and B Jurisdiction 15 (including home health and hospice services), effective September 27, 2006, and July 8, 2010, respectively. , CGS continues to perform Medicare work for DME Jurisdiction C (re-awarded August 31, 2012) and Medicare Parts A and B Jurisdiction 15. BCBS South Carolina sponsors a PRB plan, called the BCBS South Carolina Postretirement Health and Life Insurance Programs, which is offered to CGS employees. The purpose of this PRB plan is to provide retiree health and life insurance benefits to eligible retirees and their dependents. CGS claimed PRB costs using the accrual basis of accounting and funded those accrual costs through a Voluntary Employee Benefit Association (VEBA) trust in conjunction with a 401(h) account. The disclosure statement that CGS submits to CMS states that CGS uses pooled cost accounting. Medicare contractors use pooled cost accounting to calculate the indirect cost rates (whose computations include pension and PRB costs) that they submit on their ICPs. Medicare contractors use the indirect cost rates to calculate the contract costs that they report on their ICPs. In turn, CMS uses these indirect cost rates in determining the final indirect cost rates for each contract. Medicare Reimbursement of Postretirement Benefit CostsCMS reimburses a portion of the Medicare contractors’ annual PRB costs, which are funded by contributions that contractors make to their dedicated trust funds. The PRB costs are included in the computation of the indirect cost rates and reported on the ICPs. In turn, CMS uses indirect cost rates in reimbursing costs under cost-reimbursement contracts. Federal regulations (FAR 31.205-6(o)) require that to be allowable for Medicare reimbursement, PRB costs must be (1) measured, assigned, and allocated in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 715-60 (formerly Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 106) and (2) funded as specified by part 31 of the FAR. In claiming costs, contractors must follow cost reimbursement principles contained in the FAR and the Medicare contracts.

Based on the results of this review, FHFA-OIG has reopened a recommendation made in AUD-2019-008, "FHFA Conducted BSA/AML Program Examinations of 10 of 11 Federal Home Loan Banks During 2016-2018 in Accordance with its Guidelines, But Failed to Support a Conclusion in the Report of Examination for the Other Bank" (July 10, 2019).