Open Recommendations

The Bureau of Legislative Affairs should involve its employees in developing the Functional Bureau Strategy and brief them on the final product to establish organizational understanding of its mission, goals, objectives, resource requirements, and milestones, in accordance with Department guidance.

The Bureau of Legislative Affairs should establish and implement written service standards for the management services and administrative support provided by the Office of the Executive Director, including a system to record and monitor its services.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to ensure contracting officers obtain and maintain evidence of contractor-provided lists of all personal identity verification cards issued to contractor employees.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to ensure contracting officers maintain evidence documenting personal identity verification cards were returned to the issuing or designated office when the cards were no longer required and prior to closing the contract.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to evaluate the role of contracting officer’s representatives in the personal identity verification card process for contractor employees and assess whether updates to their letter of delegation and standard operating procedures are necessary.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to establish procedures within the Procurement Audit Office for periodic reviews of contract files to determine compliance with the personal identity verification card requirements established in the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the Veterans Health Administration procurement manual. Further, require the results of these reviews to be reported to senior management to help determine whether corrective actions are required.

The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health collaborate, as necessary, with other offices within VA that have responsibilities regarding personal identity verification cards to assess whether contracting officers should be required to include the contractor-provided list as an explicit requirement in all Veterans Health Administration contracts that require issuance of personal identity verification cards to contractor employees.

Obtain the proper approval and communicate the IT modernization strategy to all appropriate stakeholders, including HUD program offices.

Ensure that records explaining decisions regarding changes in ownership, changes in accreditation status, percentage of required letters of credit, or heightened cash monitoring placement that deviate from the regulations or Department policy are created and retained.

Design and implement policies and procedures for reviewing and approving schools’ applications for conversions from for-profit to nonprofit status.

Clarify the functional statements for the Office of the Under Secretary and FSA to clearly state whether and in what circumstances the Under Secretary may, consistent with the provisions of the HEA governing FSA as a performancebased organization, exercise the Secretary’s authority to direct the operations of FSA. Authority areas that should be clarified include but are not limited to determinations regarding changes in school ownership.

Ensure that FSA creates and retains records explaining decisions to deviate from prescribed policy for letter of credit requirements and temporary provisional program participation agreement extensions during a change in ownership and documenting how the interests of students and taxpayers are adequately protected.

Clarify the functional statements for the Office of the Under Secretary and FSA to clearly state whether and in what circumstances the Under Secretary may, consistent with the provisions of the HEA governing FSA as a performancebased organization, exercise the Secretary’s authority to direct the operations of FSA. Authority areas that should be clarified include but are not limited to dealing with potential school closures and the Department’s release of and approval for the use of surety funds.

We recommend that the Plan return $12,174,183 to the FEHBP for defective pricing in contract years 2014 through 2016.

We recommend that the Plan return $1,612,812 to the FEHBP for Lost Investment Income (LII), calculated through May 31, 2021. We also recommend that the Plan return LII on amounts due for the period beginning June 1, 2021, until all defective pricing finding amounts have been returned to the FEHBP.

We recommend that the Plan remove all HIF loadings from the FEHBP premium rate developments and MLR filing denominators (as applicable) that have been submitted to OPM under Contract CS2856.

We recommend that the Contracting Officer adjust the Plan's MLR credit for contract years 2014 through 2016 once the defective pricing findings discussed in this report are resolved.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration review and update all foreign per diem locations designated in eAllowances as exchange rate adjusted in accordance with the guidance developed in response to Recommendation 3.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration review its methodology for determining foreign per diem rates to identify opportunities to streamline the process. At a minimum, the Bureau of Administration should consider whether the use of independent economic data would be more efficient and cost-effective for establishing foreign per diem rates.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration develop and implement a plan to revise the methodology for determining foreign per diem rates based on the results of Recommendation 11.

After implementing Recommendation 12, OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration recalculate the foreign per diem rates for the locations based on the revised methodology.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration complete its efforts to upgrade and update its eAllowances application. As part of this effort, the Bureau of Administration should ensure that posts are able to upload supporting documentation, such as reservation logs, into the application.

We recommend that Staten Island University Hospital refund to the Medicare contractor the portion of the $11,761,274 in estimated overpayments for the audit period for claims that it incorrectly billed that are within the 4-year reopening period.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services make regulatory changes to allow it to require accreditation organizations to perform special surveys of hospitals selected by CMS after it issues new substantive participation requirements or guidance that it determines warrant additional validation to ensure timely compliance.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services make regulatory changes to allow it to require accreditation organizations to perform special surveys of hospitals selected by CMS during a public health emergency to address the risks presented by the emergency.