Open Recommendations

We recommend that the FWS work with the Division to identify any equipment items that are obsolete, damaged, or disposed of, and update items in the asset management database.

We recommend that the FWS work with the Division to develop and implement a mechanism to hold Division employees accountable for ensuring physical inventories are conducted once every 2 years and assets reflect the correct status.

We recommend that the FWS work with the Division to develop and implement a mechanism to ensure the Division carries over the grant objectives from the original grant award to the final project performance reports and explains any deviations from the original objective.

We recommend that the FWS work with the Division to ensure Division personnel receive adequate grants program management training to comply with Federal regulations.

We recommend that the FWS work with the Division to develop a mechanism to hold employees accountable for submitting Federal Financial Reports timely.

We recommend that the FWS work with the Division to develop and implement a mechanism of controls to ensure all indirect costs and approved indirect cost rates are accurately reported on Federal Financial Reports.

We recommend that the FWS work with the Division to develop and implement procedures to ensure compliance with Federal regulations and Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act requirements related to subaward reporting.

We recommend that the FWS work with the Division to develop and implement procedures to evaluate each subrecipient's risk of noncompliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the subaward.

We recommend that the FWS work with the Division to develop and implement procedures to adjust monitoring plans based on the results of each subrecipient's risk assessment.

Treasury OIG should pursue obtaining documentation from the Chippewa Cree Tribe's (CCT) management and ensure reporting corrections are made within the GrantSolutions portal. Further, based on CCT’s responsiveness to Treasury OIG’s requests and its ability to provide documentation, Treasury OIG should determine if a focused audit is feasible for Grants greater than or equal to $50,000 and Direct Payments greater than or equal to $50,000.

Develop a standardized statement for Social Security Administration employees to confirm the beneficiary or representative payee’s intent to enroll into the Direct Express Debit Card program and explain Comerica Bank is the financial institution that will mail the debit card and provide instructions on activating the card. The standardized statement could also include such information as the Direct Express® customer service telephone number.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services direct the appropriate Medicare contractors to review claims billed under CPT code 81408 for our audit period to determine whether they complied with Medicare requirements.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services direct the appropriate Medicare contractors to determine the amount of improper payments for the claims that did not comply with Medicare requirements and, for those that are within the 4-year claim-reopening period, in accordance with CMS's policies and procedures, recover up to $888,169,038 for claims that were at risk of improper payment during our audit period.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services direct the appropriate Medicare contractors to based upon the results of this audit, notify appropriate providers (i.e., those for whom CMS determines this audit constitutes credible information of potential overpayments) so that the providers can exercise reasonable diligence to identify, report, and return any overpayments in accordance with the 60-day rule and identify any of those returned overpayments as having been made in accordance with this recommendation.

Implement a new labor distribution system that includes features such as timekeeping, overtime and Controller-in-Charge tracking, and real-time leave balances.

Determine the workload impact of commercial space operations at air traffic facilities, and take action as needed.

Identify the specific direct tasks associated with commercial space operations, determine if they should be included in the en-route controller workload model, and if so, incorporate them in the next updated model.

Provide guidance to OAs on how to identify and assess fraud risks in their programs, including guidance on specific tools, methods, and sources for gathering information about fraud risks. This guidance should also address the leading practices for identifying and assessing the likelihood and impact of inherent fraud risks, determining fraud risk tolerance, examining the suitability of existing controls, prioritizing residual fraud risks, and documenting the program's fraud risk profile to inform managers' decisions on their responses to assessed risks.

(U) Rec. 2.a: The DoD OIG recommended that the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security revise or replace DoD Instruction O-3300.04 to reflect the transition of responsibilities from the Defense Intelligence Agency to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security for the management, support, and requirements of the DoD Biometrically Enabled Watch List.

We recommend that Retirement Services update their SOP to provide guidance on when exceptions to pulling a credit report would be warranted. The SOP should also discuss alternate procedures to validate income and expenses, when Retirement Services cannot obtain the credit report.

We recommend that the OCFO and Retirement Services develop policies and procedures to ensure that the total (gross) amount of the overpayment(s) is reported as an improper payment, along with controls to validate the proper amount is reported.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, and the Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division, should consider expanding the use of soft notices to address potentially erroneous PTC claims. These notices should provide individuals with information specific to the eligibility or reporting requirements related to the potential error the IRS identified and suggest the filing of an amended return, if an error has occurred.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should notify the 317,418 taxpayers we identified, who potentially received less PTC than they were entitled or repaid more APTC than required, that they may qualify for additional PTC or overpaid APTC and encourage them to file an amended Tax Year 2021 return, if applicable.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should develop processes, such as the use of courtesy letters to notify individuals of their potential eligibility, to proactively assist taxpayers who, based on available tax return and Exchange data, potentially claimed less PTC than entitled or paid more APTC than required.

We recommend that the BIA develop a method to track and monitor the closeout process of Public Law 93-638 agreements.