Federal Reports

This is the audit of the NEA's information technology systems security. Due to security concerns, this report is not published on the internet. You can obtain a copy of this report through a freedom of information act request at the following link: https://www.arts.gov/freedom-information-act-guide.

Medicare Part D is an optional program to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs. For drugs dispensed to Part D beneficiaries, Part D prescription drug plan sponsors may receive direct and indirect remuneration (DIR), which consists of rebates, subsidies, or other price concessions that decrease the costs that a sponsor incurs for a Part D drug. Part D sponsors or their pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) may negotiate with pharmacies to charge various fees, and these fees are included as DIR. Part D sponsors are required to report their DIR to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) each year.

Our objective was to determine whether the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) and Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) overall information technology security programs and practices were effective as they relate to Federal information security requirements. We found the Department and FSA programs were not effective in any of the five security functions—Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. We also identified findings in all eight metric domains, which included findings with the same or similar conditions contained in prior Office of Inspector General reports.

This report was issued in conjunction with the Office of Inspector General for the Railroad Retirement Board's Semiannual Report to the Congress. It was incorporated by reference in the corresponding Semiannual Report. which is available at the link below.

Our objective was to determine whether the Social Security Administration's (SSA) overall information security program and practices were effective and consistent with the requirements of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA), as defined by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).