U.S. Office of Personnel Management FY 2000 Budget Justification/Performance Plan

(Advances and Reimbursements - continued)
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DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) was established as a statutory entity on April 16, 1989. It operates under the authority of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-452) and the 1988 amendments (P.L. 100-504).

The mission of the OIG is to:

Conduct and supervise independent and objective audits and investigations relating to agency programs and operations.

• Promote economy, effectiveness and efficiency within the agency.

• Prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse in agency programs and operations.

• Review and make recommendations regarding existing and proposed legislation and regulations relating to agency programs and operations.

• Keep the agency head and the Congress fully and currently informed of problems in agency programs and operations.

Specific functions include:

Audits

• Perform health and life insurance carrier audits. The OIG conducts audits of health insurance carriers, sponsors, underwriting organizations, as well as two life insurance carriers, all of which share in annual premium payments in excess of $16.8 billion. Audits of FEHBP carriers result in significant positive financial impact (this includes both actual recoveries to the FEHBP fund and commitments by OPM management to recover additional funds).

• Perform OPM internal audits. This activity includes such diverse areas as financial statement audits required by the Chief Financial Officers Act; President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency Governmentwide audits; and audits of agency compliance with laws and regulations such as the Prompt Payment Act and the Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act. In addition, the need exists for the OIG to complete performance audits of OPM programs that involve the full range of the agency’s responsibilities, but it has not been able to because of resource constraints.

• Perform OPM external audits. The OIG, as requested by OPM procurement officials, conducts pre- and post-award contract audits relating to the acquisition of goods and services by agency program offices.

Investigations

• Provide investigative oversight of OPM’s administered trust funds. Combined disbursements for these programs are in excess of $60 billion annually. The investigation of fraud involving OPM’s trust funds occupies the majority of our OIG investigative efforts.

• Inquire into allegations by OPM employees, contractors, and other interested parties of program-related fraud, misconduct or conflict of interest.

• Conduct evaluations and inspections of OPM program issues and functions. Through these evaluations and inspections, the OIG is providing assistance to agency program managers to improve delivery of services throughout the agency. Much of this work is performed through a constructive and interactive relationship with program officials. However, the OIG may impose an evaluation or inspection whenever a need is identified.

• The OIG also conducts inspections of the local organizations of the Combined Federal Campaign, the sole authorized charitable fund-raising drive conducted in federal installations throughout the world.

Administrative Sanctions

• OIG operates a program of administrative sanctions with respect to health care providers whose actions indicate that they present a threat to the integrity of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Under authority delegated from the agency head, OIG issues debarment actions against providers who have previously been sanctioned by other federal agencies.

• Public Law 105-266, enacted on October 19, 1998, substantially revised the existing statutory FEHBP sanctions authority (5 USC 8902a), making it both more comprehensive and procedurally efficient. Under the statute, it will become feasible for the first time for the OIG to pursue sanctions--including suspension, debarment, and financial assessments--of health care providers for violations committed against FEHBP, even if there is no indication that offenses occurred in other federal health care programs.

ANNUAL PERFORMANCE GOALS FOR FY 2000
BY STRATEGIC PLAN GOAL AND OBJECTIVE