Open Recommendations

Redacted- Not for Public Release

We recommend that the Contracting Officer disallow $203,231,446 in overcharges to the FEHBP.

We recommend the Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations provide clarification in writing to ICE personnel on Directive 1061.2, as it relates to recording use of force incidents in detention facilities.

We recommend that Noridian Healthcare Solutions develop and deliver additional education to auditors and audit supervisors regarding applicable criteria and review requirements.

We recommend that Noridian Healthcare Solutions develop and implement procedures to allow enough time for adequate auditor and supervisory review of audit adjustments and related actions.

We recommend that Noridian Healthcare Solutions develop and implement enhanced procedures so that supervisors and higher-level reviewers are better qualified to detect incorrect audit adjustments.

1. We recommend that the Under Secretary for International Trade develop criteria and guidance for prioritizing trade barrier cases and identifying which cases might be a higher priority than others, based on the Administration's and the Department's goals, to ensure case contributor resources are used for cases that would have the most impact on the U.S. economy.

2. We recommend that the Under Secretary for International Trade develop a strategy to manage and monitor foreign trade barrier cases that addresses the growing demand for ITA's assistance from U.S. businesses and achieves the Department's strategic goals for U.S. trade policy.

3. We recommend that the Under Secretary for International Trade develop and implement a comprehensive workforce plan to: (a) determine optimal staffing levels needed to manage trade barrier cases and to clear the current backlog of unresolved cases and (b) identify any potential staffing shortfalls or gaps.

4. We recommend that the Under Secretary for International Trade develop and publish policies and procedures that specify when a trade barrier case should be entered into Salesforce and that require management to provide oversight to ensure that cases are entered into Salesforce.

5. We recommend that the Under Secretary for International Trade require staff to consistently track and update case information in Salesforce to ensure that it is accurate and complete.

6. We recommend that the Under Secretary for International Trade develop and publish policies and procedures reauiring supervisors to validate that sufficient evidence exists in Salesforce to warrant reporting as a Written Impact Narrative.

7. We recommend that the Under Secretary for International Trade establish objective performance measures to accurately assess and report ITA's progress in preventing, reducing, and removing foreign trade barriers.

8. We recommend that the Under Secretary for International Trade include a separate performance measure for reporting trade barriers that were prevented, reduced, and removed each fiscal year to show stakeholders ITA's effectiveness in assisting U.S. companies in resolving foreign trade barriers.

We recommend ICE’s Chief Information Officer require the immediate removal of applications that are prohibited by DHS policy, as well as risky and unneeded applications.

We recommend ICE’s Chief Information Officer immediately assess whether and to what extent risky applications resulted in breaches of sensitive information.

We recommend ICE’s Chief Information Officer immediately implement a process to assess and reduce risks of user-installed applications on ICE-managed devices.

We recommend ICE’s Chief Information Officer develop and implement a process to ensure all third-party messenger applications allowed to be used for official duties are up to date with the latest security updates.

We recommend ICE’s Chief Information Officer update ICE’s mobile device use policy to align with current DHS requirements and industry best practices.

We recommend the DHS Chief Information Security Officer determine whether similar issues exist for other DHS agencies and take immediate appropriate actions as appropriate.

The Under Secretary for Health evaluates whether low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screenings sent through VA community care have quality assurance practices in place that ensure timely reporting of results to VA facilities consistent with other cancer screenings that are sent through the community care program and takes corrective action to address any identified deficiencies.

We recommend that the Health Resources and Services Administration perform postpayment reviews of 108 renal dialysis providers that attested to and kept automatic PRF payments totaling $58 million and recoup any outstanding overpayments from these providers.

We recommend that the Health Resources and Services Administration perform postpayment reviews of 58 providers with multiple subsidiary organizations that attested to and kept automatic PRF payments totaling $130 million and recoup any outstanding overpayments from these providers.

We recommend that the Health Resources and Services Administration perform postpayment reviews of 642 providers that attested to and kept $165 million in automatic PRF payments for which they were not eligible and recoup any outstanding overpayments from these providers.

We recommend that the Health Resources and Services Administration commit to strengthening its procedures that may apply to future programs of a similar nature to better ensure that; providers receive their intended share of financial assistance; financial assistance payments are properly calculated; data and data sources are appropriate, current, complete, and accurate, and revisions are made when necessary for calculating financial assistance; and all available data sources are utilized to identify ineligible providers and prevent them from receiving financial assistance.