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As of May 19, 2024, there are 5119 open recommendations that still need to be addressed. 413 of these are priority recommendations, those that we believe warrant priority attention. Learn more about our priority designation on our Recommendations page.

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4821 - 4840 of 5119 Recommendations, including 413 Priority Recommendations

Medicare Part B Drugs: Action Needed to Reduce Financial Incentives to Prescribe 340B Drugs at Participating Hospitals

GAO-15-442
James Cosgrove
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Congress To help ensure the financial sustainability of the Medicare program, protect beneficiaries from unwarranted financial burden, and address potential concerns about the appropriateness of the health care provided to Part B beneficiaries, Congress should consider eliminating the incentive to prescribe more drugs or more expensive drugs than necessary to treat Medicare Part B beneficiaries at 340B hospitals.
Open

As of March 2024, Congress had not acted on this Matter for Congressional Consideration.

Management Report: Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service's Internal Control over Financial Reporting

GAO-15-480R
Cheryl E. Clark
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of IRS should direct the appropriate IRS officials to establish procedures to monitor whether non-IRS contractors with unescorted physical access to IRS facilities are receiving unauthorized access awareness training.
Open

During fiscal year 2021, IRS developed an SOP to establish policies and procedures for monitoring and enforcing training requirements that allow contractors to maintain unescorted access to IRS facilities. However, during our fiscal year 2023 testing, we found that some contracting officer's representatives had not completed the security awareness training forms as required. As a result, we determined that IRS had not completed its corrective actions as of September 30, 2023, and that this recommendation remains open.

Navy Force Structure: Sustainable Plan and Comprehensive Assessment Needed to Mitigate Long-Term Risks to Ships Assigned to Overseas Homeports

GAO-15-329
John Pendleton
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Defense
Priority Rec.
To balance combatant commanders' demands for forward presence with the Navy's needs to sustain a ready force over the long term and identify and mitigate risks consistent with Federal Standards for Internal Control, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Navy to, to fully implement its optimized fleet response plan, develop and implement a sustainable operational schedule for all ships homeported overseas.
Open – Partially Addressed

DOD agreed with our recommendation. As of October 2020, the Navy approved a change to the operational schedule for ships homeported in Japan and other overseas homeports and included this change in Navy guidance. The Navy also established a working group named the Naval Surface Group Western Pacific to oversee surface ship maintenance, training, and certification for ships based in Japan. To fully implement this recommendation, the Navy will need to adhere to the revised schedules. As of January 2023, a Navy official told us that ships based overseas were adhering to the Optimized Fleet

National Nuclear Security Administration: Actions Needed to Clarify Use of Contractor Assurance Systems for Oversight and Performance Evaluation

GAO-15-216
David Trimble
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
National Nuclear Security Administration To improve the internal control environment for oversight using information from CAS and develop a consistent approach to the use of information from CAS in M&O contractor oversight and performance evaluation across the nuclear security enterprise, the Administrator of NNSA should establish comprehensive NNSA policies and guidance, beyond a general framework as included in NAP-21, for using information from CAS to conduct oversight of M&O contractors, clarifying whether CAS is to cover mission-related activities, and describing how to conduct assessments of risk, CAS maturity, and the level of the contractor's past performance.
Open

We recommended that NNSA establish comprehensive policies and guidance, beyond a general framework, for using information from contractor assurance systems (CAS) to conduct oversight of management and operating (M&O) contractors, clarifying whether CAS is to cover mission-related activities and describing how to conduct assessments of risk, CAS maturity, and the level of the contractor's past performance. NNSA agreed with the recommendation and has taken an important step to revise its policy. However, NNSA needs to take additional action. Specifically, NNSA approved a revised corporate site

Telecommunications: Agencies Need Better Controls to Achieve Significant Savings on Mobile Devices and Services

GAO-15-431
Carol R. Cha
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11 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of Commerce should ensure a reliable department-wide inventory of mobile service contracts is developed and maintained.
Open

In January 2024, the Department of Commerce Office of the Chief Information Officer stated that the department did not have an inventory of mobile service contracts and described steps it was taking to develop one. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts.
Department of Commerce To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of Commerce should ensure procedures to monitor and control spending are established department-wide. Specifically, ensure that (1) procedures include assessing devices for zero, under, and over usage; (2) personnel with authority and responsibility for performing the procedures are identified; and (3) the specific steps to be taken to perform the process are documented.
Open

In January 2024, the Department of Commerce Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) stated that the department does not have documented procedures for assessing device usage. The OCIO also stated that the process is not complex enough to warrant a Standard Operating Procedure. However, as we stated in our report, an executive order on promoting efficient spending directed agencies to establish controls to ensure that they are not paying for unused or underused devices or services. In addition, internal control standards call for agencies to ensure government resources are efficiently
Department of Defense To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of Defense should ensure an inventory of mobile devices and services is established department-wide (i.e., all components' devices and associated services are accounted for).
Open

While the Department of Defense has taken steps to improve its management of spending on mobile devices and services, as of April 2023, it had not implemented this recommendation. The department established a policy, in September 2018, which requires all DOD components in the United States to purchase mobile devices and services using a single department-wide contract vehicle, and the Department of the Navy's Category Management Program Office established a website for DOD components to order services provided through this contract vehicle. However, in April 2021, the Mobility Lead in DOD's
Department of the Interior To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of the Interior should ensure an inventory of mobile devices and services is established department-wide (i.e., all components' devices and associated services are accounted for).
Open – Partially Addressed

The Department of the Interior has not demonstrated that it has fully implemented this recommendation. As of January 2024, the department demonstrated that only one of its components, the Bureau of Reclamation, had an inventory of mobile devices and associated services. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement the recommendation.
Department of the Interior To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of the Interior should ensure a reliable department-wide inventory of mobile service contracts is developed and maintained.
Open – Partially Addressed

As of January 2024, the Department of the Interior had not demonstrated that it had fully addressed this recommendation. In August 2019, the department developed an inventory of mobile service contracts. However, the department did not demonstrate that it had accounted for all of its mobile service contracts. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement the recommendation.
Department of Transportation To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of Transportation should ensure procedures to monitor and control spending are established department-wide. Specifically, ensure that (1) procedures include assessing devices for zero, under, and over usage; (2) personnel with authority and responsibility for performing the procedures are identified; and (3) the specific steps to be taken to perform the process are documented.
Open – Partially Addressed

As of January 2024, the Department of Transportation had partially implemented the recommendation. Specifically, the Office of the Chief Information Officer's Resource Management Office Customer and Contract Support team developed procedures for assessing mobile device usage. However, the department has not specified which of its components the procedures apply to. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement the recommendation.
Department of the Treasury To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of the Treasury should ensure an inventory of mobile devices and services is established department-wide (i.e., all components' devices and associated services are accounted for).
Open

As of January 2024, the Department of the Treasury had not implemented the recommendation. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement this recommendation.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration To help the agency effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should ensure a complete inventory of mobile devices and associated services is established.
Open

As of January 2024, NASA had not demonstrated that it has implemented the recommendation. In June 2021, NASA's Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) provided an inventory of mobile devices and services; however, the OCIO did not demonstrate that the inventory was complete. Specifically, the OCIO did not demonstrate that it had accounted for all NASA devices. We will continue to monitor NASA's efforts to implement the recommendation.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration To help the agency effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should ensure a reliable inventory of mobile service contracts is developed and maintained.
Open

As of January 2024, NASA had not demonstrated that it has implemented the recommendation.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration To help the agency effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should ensure procedures to monitor and control spending are established agency-wide. Specifically, ensure that (1) procedures include assessing devices for zero, under, and over usage; (2) personnel with authority and responsibility for performing the procedures are identified; and (3) the specific steps to be taken to perform the process are documented.
Open

As of January 2024, NASA had not implemented the recommendation. We will continue to monitor the agency's efforts to implement the recommendation.
Department of the Treasury To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of the Treasury should ensure procedures to monitor and control spending are established department-wide. Specifically, ensure that (1) procedures include assessing devices for zero, under, and over usage; (2) personnel with authority and responsibility for performing the procedures are identified; and (3) the specific steps to be taken to perform the process are documented.
Open

As of January 2024, the Department of the Treasury had not demonstrated that it has implemented the recommendation. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement this recommendation.

Medicare Physician Payment Rates: Better Data and Greater Transparency Could Improve Accuracy

GAO-15-434
James Cosgrove
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services To help improve CMS's process for establishing relative values for Medicare physicians' services, the Administrator of CMS should incorporate data and expertise from physicians and other relevant stakeholders into the process as well as develop a timeline and plan for using the funds appropriated by the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014.
Open – Partially Addressed

To help improve the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service's (CMS) process for establishing relative values for Medicare physicians' services, in May 2015 we recommended that the Administrator of CMS incorporate data and expertise from physicians and other relevant stakeholders into the process, as well as develop a timeline and plan for using the funds appropriated by the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA). CMS concurred with this recommendation, stating that stakeholders have the opportunity each year to nominate potentially misvalued services for review through a public
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services To help improve CMS's process for establishing relative values for Medicare physicians' services, the Administrator of CMS should better document the process for establishing relative values for Medicare physicians' services, including the methods used to review RUC recommendations and the rationale for final relative value decisions.
Open

To help improve the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service's (CMS) process for establishing relative values for Medicare physicians' services, in May 2015 we recommended that the Administrator of CMS better document the process, including the methods used to review recommendations from the American Medical Association/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) and the rationale for final relative value decisions. CMS concurred with this recommendation, stating that CMS establishes relative values for new, revised, and potentially misvalued physicians' services based on its
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services To help improve CMS's process for establishing relative values for Medicare physicians' services, the Administrator of CMS should develop a process for informing the public of potentially misvalued services identified by the RUC, as CMS already does for potentially misvalued services identified by CMS or other stakeholders.
Open

To help improve the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service's (CMS) process for establishing relative values for Medicare physicians' services, in May 2015 we recommended that the Administrator of CMS develop a process for informing the public of potentially misvalued services identified by the American Medical Association/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), as CMS already does for potentially misvalued services identified by CMS or other stakeholders. CMS did not concur with this recommendation, asserting that the RUC is completely independent of CMS, and as such

Unmanned Aerial Systems: Actions Needed to Improve DOD Pilot Training

GAO-15-461
Brenda S. Farrell
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Defense To increase opportunities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of UAS pilot training across DOD, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to address how the services should coordinate with one another in the strategy on UAS pilot training that the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness is current drafting.
Open

DOD concurred with this recommendation and stated the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness was in the process of revising its draft "Department of Defense Training Strategy for Unmanned Aircraft Systems(UAS)" to address inter-service coordination to enable the department to train more efficiently and effectively as a whole. In October 2016, the Director stated that RAND had completed the draft strategy and that the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Readiness) had begun revising the strategy. An Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Readiness)

Electricity Generation Projects: Additional Data Could Improve Understanding of the Effectiveness of Tax Expenditures

GAO-15-302
Frank Rusco
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Congress If Congress wishes to evaluate the effectiveness of the ITC and the PTC as incentives for the development of renewable utility-scale electricity generation projects as it considers proposals to extend the ITC or reauthorize the PTC, it should consider directing the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to provide Congress with project-level data currently collected from taxpayers who claim the ITC in lieu of the PTC--such as the number of projects for which they are claiming the credit, the technology of the projects taking the credit, and the total generating capacity added--and make such data available for analysis. Additionally, take steps to collect and report the same data from all taxpayers claiming the ITC.
Open

Congress has not taken action on this matter as of March 2024.
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