FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION ACT: Preliminary Observations on Fraud-Prevention Controls

United States. Government Accountability Office.

United States. Government Accountability Office.

关键词: Government accountability -- United States.;    employment;    government operations;    federal employees';    compensation act;   

RP-ID  :  GAO-12-402
RP-ID  :  587918

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Our work to this point has identified several promising practices that could help to reduce the risk of fraud within the FECA program. The promising practices link back to fraud-prevention concepts contained in GAO’s Fraud Prevention Framework and Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, and include agencies’ use of full-time staff dedicated to the FECA program, periodic reviews of claimants’ continued eligibility, data analysis for potential fraud indicators, and effective use of investigative resources. These promising practices have already resulted in successful investigations and prosecutions of FECA-related fraud at some agencies, and could help to further enhance the program’s fraud-prevention controls. However, our preliminary work has also identified several potential vulnerabilities in the program’s design and controls that could increase the risk for fraud. Specifically, we found that limited access to necessary data is potentially reducing agencies’ ability to effectively monitor claims and wage-loss information. In addition, agencies’ reliance on self-reported data related to wages and dependent status, lack of a physician selected by the government throughout the process, and difficulties associated with successful investigations and prosecutions all potentially reduce the program’s ability to prevent and detect fraudulent activity. Labor and employing agencies generally agreed with the preliminary findings presented in this report and provided technical comments, which were incorporated into this report. We plan to follow up on the promising practices and potential vulnerabilities as part of our ongoing work, although our progress has been slowed by difficulties in accessing certain databases."