Public Health Service: Evaluation Set-Aside Has Not Realized Its Potential to Inform the Congress
PEMD-93-13
Published: Apr 08, 1993. Publicly Released: Apr 08, 1993.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Public Health Service's (PHS) evaluation set-aside to assess whether it effectively provides information to Congress on federal health programs.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| The Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources should consider whether to provide more guidance on the permissible uses of the evaluation set-aside funds, such as for the direct evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of PHS programs. |
Closed – Implemented
|
Language to clarify the intended use of the funds and require an annual report summarizing evaluation findings was incorporated in reauthorizing legislation (P.L. 103-183). |
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services | To improve the efficacy of the set-aside in informing Congress about the effectiveness of federal health programs, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should take steps to ensure that funds set aside for evaluation are in fact used to support evaluations of PHS programs. |
Closed – Implemented
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) issued new guidance to the PHS agencies to clarify appropriate uses of the set-aside funds.
|
| Department of Health and Human Services | To improve the efficacy of the set-aside in informing Congress about the effectiveness of federal health programs, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that evaluation results are synthesized by program area (regardless of how the evaluation was funded) and communicated to Congress. |
Closed – Implemented
The mandated annual report for the committees that summarizes the evaluations completed and ongoing for FY 1994 was published in March 1996 and is available on the Internet. Reports summarizing evaluations conducted in FY 1995 and FY 1996 are in process for publication by ASPE in fall 1996 and spring 1997, respectively.
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Topics
Administrative costsAppropriated fundsCongressional oversightFunds managementHealth care programsProgram evaluationPublic Health Service facilitiesSet-asidesPublic healthCongressional earmarks