Federal Reports

An agreed-upon procedures (AUP) review of AmeriCorps grant funds to the New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism (NMCCV) and two subgrantees during the period of January 1, 2015 through March 31, 2017, identified questioned Federal costs totaling $29,627 and matching costs of $121,996, as well as compliance findings. In addition to the AmeriCorps grants, NMCCV also received a Corporation Training and Technical Assistance grant to provide training and assistance to NMCCV and subgrantee staff. The majority of the questioned costs were caused by deficiencies in subgrantees’ financial management systems and non-compliance with member living allowance requirements.NMCCV concurred with most of the findings and recommendations, but disagreed on the finding related to member living allowances and requested an extension to determine the reason for the unsupported costs. The Corporation will resolve the report’s findings and recommendations.

At the request of the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Supply Chain, we examined the cost proposal submitted by a company for civil projects and coal combustion residual program management work at TVA's steam electric power plants. Our examination objective was to determine if the company's cost proposal was fairly stated for a planned <br> $200 million contract.In our opinion, the company's cost proposal was overstated. Specifically, we found:The company's proposed costs for a Cumberland Fossil Plant (CUF) project included overstated (1) equipment costs, (2) subcontract costs, (3) material costs, and (4) general and administrative (G&A) rate. In addition, we found the company's CUF proposal included (1) a fee rate that exceeded the maximum allowable fee rate in TVA's request for proposal (RFP), (2) unallowable contingency costs, and (3) understated noncraft labor costs.</li> The company's proposed rate attachments included (1) incorrect craft labor rates, (2) noncraft wages that were not in compliance with the RFP's requirements, (3) fee on cost reimbursable work that exceeded the maximum allowable fee in TVA's RFP, and (4) hourly overhead markup rates for project direct costs for which the company could not provide support.</li>We estimated TVA could avoid about $27.6 million on the planned $200 million contract by (1) negotiating the appropriate reductions to the company's proposed equipment costs, subcontract costs, material costs, and G&A rate; (2) limiting the company's fee rate to the RFP's maximum allowable rate; (3) eliminating contingency costs on the CUF project and future cost reimbursable projects; and (4) negotiating changes to the company's proposed labor costs to more accurately reflect its actual labor rates. In addition, we suggest TVA <br> (1) revise the company's contract rate attachments to correct errors and more accurately reflect the company's actual wage ranges, (2) negotiate a reduction to the company's proposed fee for cost reimbursable work to the maximum allowable fee rate in TVA's RFP, and (3) remove the overhead markup rates from the rate attachments and require the company to bill actual direct project costs as incurred.(Summary Only)

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a focused evaluation of the quality of care delivered at the Phoenix VA Health Care System (Facility). The review covered key clinical and administrative processes associated with promoting quality care—Leadership and Organizational Risks; Quality, Safety, and Value; Credentialing and Privileging; Environment of Care; Medication Management: Controlled Substances Inspection Program; Mental Health Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Care; Long-Term Care: Geriatric Evaluations; Women’s Health: Mammography Results and Follow-Up; and High-Risk Processes: Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections. The OIG also provided crime awareness briefings to 156 employees. Upon review of selected employee and patient survey results, the OIG noted generally satisfied employees while Facility leaders face a challenging task of rebuilding patient and public trust while improving organizational performance. The senior leadership team was knowledgeable about selected Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning metrics and acknowledged that ongoing efforts, commitment, and actions are critical to improve care and performance of metrics likely contributing to the Facility’s “1-Star rating.” The OIG did not identify any substantial organizational risk factors; however, the OIG is concerned with the number of in-hospital complications and adverse events following surgeries and procedures. The OIG issued 13 recommendations in five of the eight areas of clinical operations reviewed. The identified areas with deficiencies are: (1) Quality, Safety, and Value • Physician Utilization Management Advisors’ documentation of decisions • Documentation of patient incidents in WebSPOT database (2) Environment of Care • Attendance of environment of care rounds • Accessibility of personal protective equipment • Cleanliness of patient care areas • Environmental safety, stored food labeling, and temperature monitoring in Nutrition and Food Services (3) Medication Management: Controlled Substances Inspection Program • Monthly inspections • Patterns of inspections • Reconciliation of returns to pharmacy stock (4) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Care • Offer of further diagnostic evaluation (5) Long-Term Care: Geriatric Evaluations • Medical evaluation

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Election mail is a mailpiece that an authorized election official creates for voters participating in the election process, while political mail is mail used for political campaign purposes. General and midterm elections are scheduled every four and two years, respectively. Special elections are also held outside of this cycle for specific purposes, often to fill an office that has become vacant. The next midterm elections will be held on November 6, 2018. The objective of our audit was to evaluate the Postal Service’s readiness for timely processing of election and political mail for the 2018 midterm elections.

Companion Data Services, LLC, did not claim $17,943 of allowable Medicare pension costs on its incurred cost proposals for calendar years 2008 through 2011.