Reports

Department of Health & Human Services OIG

Seventeen of Thirty Selected Health Centers Did Not Use or May Not Have Used Their HRSA COVID-19 Supplemental Grant Funding in Accordance With Federal Requirements

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 5/18/2023

Department of Health & Human Services OIG

Montana Generally Complied With Requirements for Telehealth Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 5/17/2023

Department of Education OIG

Federal Student Aid’s Processes for Waiving Return of Title IV Requirements, Cancelling Borrowers’ Obligation to Repay Direct Loans, and Excluding Pell Grants from Federal Pell Lifetime Usage

FSA had adequate processes for waiving R2T4 requirements, cancelling borrowers’ obligation to repay Direct Loans, and excluding Pell disbursements from Pell lifetime usage for impacted students. FSA also designed adequate processes for schools to report the number and amounts of R2T4 waivers applied.

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Department of Veterans Affairs OIG

VHA Can Improve Controls Over Its Use of Supplemental Funds

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act appropriated about $17.2 billion in supplemental funds to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to support VA’s efforts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The OIG conducted this audit to assess the effectiveness of VA’s controls over VHA’s use of these funds. Because VA’s financial management system does not support the direct obligation of supplemental funds for all expenses, staff used expenditure transfers to shift funds between appropriation accounts. Expenditure transfers are documented using...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 5/09/2023

01 - Closed

VA’s assistant secretary for management and chief financial officer assess the iFAMS configuration to determine whether integration with the payroll subsystems can be accomplished to resolve some of the payroll-related issues that require the need for expenditure transfers.

01 - Closed

Assess the iFAMS configuration to determine whether integration with the payroll subsystems can be accomplished to resolve some of the payroll-related issues that require the need for expenditure transfers.

02 - Closed

Establish guidance that outlines the type of documentation required to support the amounts identified in the manual journal vouchers when processing expenditure transfers.

03 - Open

VA’s under secretary for health require medical facility staff have documented authority, through proper delegation, to make purchases.

04 - Open

VA’s under secretary for health verify that medical facility staff segregate duties so that the same person is not both authorizing and receiving goods and services.

05 - Open

VA’s under secretary for health make certain the purchase card holder is not the requestor or approver for the purchase.

06 - Open

VA’s under secretary for health ensure contracting officer’s representatives know and understand their duties and responsibilities for the certification and payment of invoices.

07 - Open

VA’s under secretary for health check vendors’ compliance with contract terms to include the comparison of invoiced amounts with the contract line-item unit costs.

08 - Open

VA’s under secretary for health ensure that medical facility staff track the receipt of goods to make certain they are the correct quantity.

09 - Closed

Conduct an assessment of lessons learned from the emergency response to the pandemic and develop appropriate action plans to integrate oversight roles, responsibilities, and clear guidance into the use of supplemental funds.

Department of Health & Human Services OIG

Medicare Improperly Paid Providers for Some Psychotherapy Services, Including Those Provided via Telehealth, During the First Year of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 5/02/2023

23-A-09-068.01 - Open

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services work with the MACs to recover $35,560 in improper payments made to providers for the 128 sampled enrollee days that did not meet Medicare requirements.

23-A-09-068.02 - Closed

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services work with the MACs 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.

23-A-09-068.03 - Open

Now that CMS has reinstituted most program integrity measures, we also recommend that CMS take the following steps, which if in effect during the audit period could have saved Medicare an estimated $579,667,510 during that period: Conduct medical reviews of psychotherapy services, including services provided via telehealth, to verify that the services are documented and billed in accordance with Medicare requirements.

23-A-09-068.04 - Open

Now that CMS has reinstituted most program integrity measures, we also recommend that CMS take the following steps, which if in effect during the audit period could have saved Medicare an estimated $579,667,510 during that period: Implement system edits for psychotherapy services, including services provided via telehealth, to prevent payments for services that were billed incorrectly.

23-A-09-068.05 - Open

Now that CMS has reinstituted most program integrity measures, we also recommend that CMS take the following steps, which if in effect during the audit period could have saved Medicare an estimated $579,667,510 during that period: Strengthen educational efforts to make providers aware of educational materials on how to meet Medicare requirements and guidance for psychotherapy services, including services provided via telehealth.

23-A-09-068.06 - Open

Now that CMS has reinstituted most program integrity measures, we also recommend that CMS work with the MACs to take the following steps, which if in effect during the audit period could have saved Medicare an estimated $579,667,510 during that period: Review MAC jurisdictions' LCD requirements for psychotherapy services to identify which provisions effectively promote program integrity, and consider additional steps that CMS could undertake to ensure appropriate coverage and payment for psychotherapy services across all jurisdictions.

Department of Health & Human Services OIG

Challenges With Data From Federal Vaccination Partners Hinder Efforts by State and Local Immunization Programs To Combat COVID-19

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Inspection / Evaluation | 1/27/2023

Department of Health & Human Services OIG

Early Challenges Highlight Areas for Improvement in COVID-19 Vaccination Programs

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Inspection / Evaluation | 1/27/2023

Department of Health & Human Services OIG

More Than a Thousand Nursing Homes Reached Infection Rates of 75 Percent or More in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic; Better Protections Are Needed for Future Emergencies

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Department of Education OIG

University of Cincinnati’s Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Student Aid and Institutional Grants

Our objective was to determine whether the University of Cincinnati (University) used the Student Aid (Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.425E) and Institutional (ALN 84.425F) portions of its Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) funds for allowable and intended purposes. The University spent $109.9 million (83 percent) of its total HEERF allocation of $132.8 million as of September 30, 2021. The University generally used the Student Aid ($42.1 million) and Institutional ($67.8 million) portions of its HEERF grant funds for allowable and intended purposes but needs to strengthen its...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 1/17/2023

1.1 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement a review process to prevent or detect payment errors when awarding emergency financial aid grants to students, including written policies and procedures detailing how the reviews shall be conducted and the results documented, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.303.

1.2 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies, procedures, and management review to ensure that its award determinations, eligibility criteria, and management decisions related to eligibility for its emergency financial aid grants to students are adequately documented and supported at the time award decisions are made, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.302(b)(3).

1.3 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to carefully document how its student aid eligibility criteria prioritized and continues to prioritize students with exceptional need throughout the HEERF grant performance period.

2.1 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures, including procedures that would identify and prevent improper revenue recognition and duplicate charges, to ensure that future calculations for charging lost revenue to its HEERF Institutional grant are reviewed for accuracy and consistency with its financial reporting policies and procedures.

2.2 - Open

Determine whether the University of Cincinnati implemented appropriate corrective actions to resolve the $797,965 in unsupported lost revenue costs it charged to its HEERF Institutional grant; and, if the corrective actions are inappropriate, require the University to either return the funds to the Department or reallocate the funds for allowable expenditures.

2.3 - Open

Determine whether the $1,916,041 that the University of Cincinnati charged to its HEERF Institutional grant for noncompetitive procurements was reasonable when compared to the costs of suitable alternatives; and, if the charges were inappropriate, require the University to either return the funds to the Department or reallocate the funds for allowable expenditures.

2.4 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures to ensure that procurements charged to its HEERF Institutional grant are in accordance with applicable Federal requirements; and it consistently follows its procurement policies and procedures, including maintaining sufficient documentation to support its rationale for noncompetitive procurements and the basis for and reasonableness of the contract price.

3.1 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to incorporate in its policies and procedures and implement the cash management requirements for minimizing the time between drawing down and disbursing Federal grant funds, and remitting interest earned in excess of $500 in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.305(b).

3.2 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to remit $35,439 based on the TIP’s average rate of return, less no more than $320 ($500 minus the $180 already retained) for administrative expenses if applicable; and remit the actual amount of earned interest on any future advances of Federal funds, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.305(b)(9).

4.1 - Open

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures that incorporate the HEERF program’s reporting requirements and ensure that the expenditures in its quarterly HEERF Institutional expenditure reports are accurate and reported in the appropriate expenditure category.

Department of Health & Human Services OIG

ASPR Could Improve Its Oversight of the Hospital Preparedness Program To Ensure That Crisis Standards of Care Comply With Federal Nondiscrimination Laws

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

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Management Challenges

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Reports

Seventeen of Thirty Selected Health Centers Did Not Use or May Not Have Used Their HRSA COVID-19 Supplemental Grant Funding in Accordance With Federal Requirements

Montana Generally Complied With Requirements for Telehealth Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Federal Student Aid’s Processes for Waiving Return of Title IV Requirements, Cancelling Borrowers’ Obligation to Repay Direct Loans, and Excluding Pell Grants from Federal Pell Lifetime Usage

VHA Can Improve Controls Over Its Use of Supplemental Funds

Medicare Improperly Paid Providers for Some Psychotherapy Services, Including Those Provided via Telehealth, During the First Year of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

Challenges With Data From Federal Vaccination Partners Hinder Efforts by State and Local Immunization Programs To Combat COVID-19

Early Challenges Highlight Areas for Improvement in COVID-19 Vaccination Programs

More Than a Thousand Nursing Homes Reached Infection Rates of 75 Percent or More in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic; Better Protections Are Needed for Future Emergencies

University of Cincinnati’s Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Student Aid and Institutional Grants

ASPR Could Improve Its Oversight of the Hospital Preparedness Program To Ensure That Crisis Standards of Care Comply With Federal Nondiscrimination Laws

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