Federal Reports

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this review to determine whether the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) had adequate controls in place to ensure exempt veterans did not pay VA home loan guaranty funding fees and to refund fees previously charged to exempt veterans. Veterans entitled to receive VA disability compensation do not have to pay funding fees for VA home loans. However, the OIG review team estimated that VA charged about 72,900 exempt veterans about $286.4 million in funding fees between 2012 and 2017. Also, VBA’s Loan Guaranty Service managers that oversee VA’s home loan guaranty program were aware since October 2014 that thousands of exempt veterans may have been charged home loan funding fees. The team estimated VA had not yet given about $189 million in funding fee refunds to about 53,200 exempt veterans. VA also could owe an additional 34,400 veterans refunds of $164 million over the next five years if VBA does not implement adequate controls to prevent inappropriate funding fee charges. The OIG recommended the Under Secretary for Benefits makes certain the Loan Guaranty Service identifies exempt veterans who were charged funding fees and issues refunds, and conducts ongoing periodic reviews. The OIG also recommended the Under Secretary ensures Loan Guaranty Service managers create a plan to minimize and detect inappropriate funding fee charges by updating veteran exemption status in real time, as well as consistently documenting and verifying that lenders apply funding fee refunds to veterans’ loan balances in a timely manner. The Under Secretary provided corrective action plans for all recommendations, with a target completion date of July 31, 2019.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) data analytics identified the Flint, MI, MPO postage and fee refund amount from January 1 through March 31, 2019 as $93,045, compared to $87 from the same period last year. Our objective was to determine whether postage and fee refunds were valid, timely, and properly supported at the Flint, MI, MPO.

Federal employees injured on the job, including those employed by the Postal Service, can receive benefits through the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) program. The program provides compensation for lost wages, help in returning to work, medical treatment, and prescription medication. The DOL reported that almost 18,000 Postal Service employees received over 119,000 opioid prescriptions through the FECA in 2018, at a cost of almost $22 million. This was almost 3 percent of the Postal Service’s634,000 employees. Our objective was to determine the impact of opioids being prescribed to Postal Service employees through the DOL’s FECA program.

To provide FDA with insights to improve its oversight of compounders and enhance patient safety, OIG determined the extent to which hospitals purchase non-patient-specific compounded drugs from outsourcing facilities.

OIG conducted the audit of Peace Corps/eSwatini from July 23, 2018 to August 10, 2018. The post’s financial and administrative operations required improvement to comply with agency policies and applicable Federal laws and regulations. Our report made 30 recommendations to improve the administrative and financial operations of Peace Corps/eSwatini.

In seven audits conducted from 2012 through 2016, we identified the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) past challenges making accurate repair-or-replace decisions. Based on our prior work, this report identifies 10 improper decisions or miscalculations FEMA should avoid when making such decisions to ensure that grant funds are properly spent. FEMA is assisting in the recovery from some of the most catastrophic disasters in U.S. history — Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and the October 2017 California wildfires. FEMA has made several corrective actions in response to our prior reports. Together with the lessons learned, the corrective actions may help minimize the risk that taxpayer dollars will be wasted on ineligible replacement costs. We made no recommendations.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) data analytics identified the Park Place Station had $30,124, or a 1,493 percent increase, in refunds from July 1 to December 31, 2018, as compared to the same period the previous year. Our objective was to determine whether postage, fees, and meter revenue refunds were properly issued, supported, and processed at the Houston, TX, Park Place Station.