Federal Reports

This is a performance audit that the OIG conducted to determine whether the FTC’s Bureau of Competition expert witness contracts are administered in accordance with federal requirements.

This Semiannual Report to Congress reflects how the EPA OIG is achieving its mission of preventing and detecting fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, and misconduct related to the programs and operations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board during the reporting period, October 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023.

The Office of the Inspector General conducted an evaluation to determine if hazardous chemicals at Power Operations’ sites were (1) adequately identified and communicated and (2) properly handled and stored. We determined hazardous chemicals at most Power Operations’ sites we visited were not adequately identified or communicated. Specifically, most sites had incomplete hazardous chemical lists or unmarked containers. In addition, we selected items from a storage location at each site and determined hazardous chemicals selected were properly stored according to their safety data sheet instructions. We were unable to determine if hazardous chemicals were being handled properly because we did not observe any chemical use. However, we did find that 10 of 33 individuals interviewed could not retrieve a safety data sheet, which could increase the risk that hazardous chemicals may not be properly handled and stored. Additionally, our testing identified two sites with best practices.

This update expands on our January 2023 Fraud Alert that identified 69,000 questionable Social Security Numbers (SSNs) used to obtain $5.4 billion in potentially fraudulent loans made in the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). As detailed in that Fraud Alert, PRAC data scientists, using our Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence, identified the questionable SSNs after determining that the names, SSNs, and/or dates of birth used in connection with COVID-19 EIDL/PPP applications did not match Social Security Administration’s (SSAs) records. SSAs verification results identified an additional 20,404 SSNs associated with deceased individuals. The PRAC worked with the Department of the Treasury’s Do Not Pay (DNP) system to obtain the dates of death for these individuals and identified dates of death for 15,307 of the 20,404 SSNs associated with 3,222 COVID-19 EIDL/PPP disbursed and undisbursed applications. This discrepancy is likely the result of Treasury’s DNP system not having access to the SSA’s full Death Master File.

This Office of Inspector General Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the outpatient settings at the West Texas VA Health Care System and associated outpatient clinics in Texas and New Mexico. This evaluation focused on four key operational areas:• Leadership and organizational risks• Quality, safety, and value• Medical staff privileging• Environment of careThe OIG issued one recommendation for improvement related to medical staff privileging:• Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluations

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) concluded for fiscal year 2021 that VA complied with the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019. As required, in the materials accompanying its annual financial statement, VA published estimates of improper and unknown payments for susceptible programs. Yet, while assessing compliance, the OIG determined VA can improve its testing procedures for these payments. Improper payments are payments that should not have been made or that were made in an incorrect amount under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements, according to the Office of Management and Budget; unknown payments are those a program cannot discern were made to the correct recipient or for the correct amount.The OIG found testing procedures for two programs—Purchased Long-Term Services and Supports, and Medical Care Contracts and Agreements—do not go far enough. Because they do not include reviewing documentation for proof of receipt, they may not identify payments for goods and services never rendered. Identifying and including such payments would increase unknown payment rates.The OIG determined that because of the testing deficiencies, VA understated the improper and unknown payment estimates as follows:• Purchased Long-Term Services and Supports. VA reported approximately $1.9 billion in improper and unknown payments and a rate of approximately 73 percent; the OIG estimated $1.95 billion and approximately 75 percent.• Medical Care Contracts and Agreements. VA reported approximately $159 million in improper and unknown payments and a rate of approximately 16 percent; the OIG estimated $190 million and approximately 19 percent.While these differences were not large, improved testing procedures are needed so that VA’s future estimates remain valid. Therefore, the OIG believes VA needs to ensure adequate documentation is reviewed during payment testing.