Three children died in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s custody in fiscal year 2019, prompting questions about medical care in the agency’s southwest border facilities. CBP developed health screening policies and received emergency funds to enhance detainees’ medical care. But CBP hasn’t consistently overseen these policies, so some children were not given health screenings as intende...

Three children died in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s custody in fiscal year 2019, prompting questions about medical care in the agency’s southwest border facilities. CBP developed health screening policies and received emergency funds to enhance detainees’ medical care. But CBP hasn’t consistently overseen these policies, so some children were not given health screenings as intende...

We make more than 1,000 recommendations annually to help improve government. We alert department heads to the recommendations that can save the most money, address issues on our High Risk List, or significantly improve their operations. This report outlines our 55 priority open recommendations for HHS as of April 2020. For example, HHS should work with its interagency biodefense team to document...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained pregnant women more than 4,600 times from 2016-2018. Most detentions lasted 1 week or less. ICE has policies and standards related to the care for pregnant women that vary by facility type, with some having more requirements than others. ICE is updating its policies and standards to address gaps. At facilities it inspected, ICE generally found at...

A December 2019 outbreak of a new coronavirus, COVID-19, has seen a high infection rate and a mortality rate of about 3%, as of February 2020. Coronaviruses are most commonly transmitted by coughing, sneezing, person-to-person contact, and touching objects that have viral particles on them, according to CDC. The best prevention is washing hands with soap and avoiding close contact with the sick a...

Biological threats range from naturally occurring diseases to deliberately created biological weapons. The National Biodefense Strategy, issued in 2018 along with guidance on how to implement it, spells out the nation’s plan to address these threats. Among other things, it calls for a joint effort by multiple agencies as well as private sector partners. We reviewed how well the strategy has wor...

The Food and Drug Administration charges tobacco manufacturers a fee to fund regulation activities (such as educating the public about risks associated with tobacco). These fees, which are based on companies’ market shares, were about $635 million in FY 2017. FDA is supposed to check its fee calculations and make adjustments at the end of each year, but the most recent adjustment was completed...

Historically, Medicare used a standard set of rates to pay for certain durable medical equipment, like wheelchairs and oxygen, for its beneficiaries. Due to concerns that it was paying higher than market rates, in 2011 Medicare began a competitive bidding program for some of these items in designated areas. In 2016, information from this program was used to reduce rates in the rest of the country...

Historically, Medicare used a standard set of rates to pay for certain durable medical equipment (i.e., walkers and oxygen) for its beneficiaries. Due to concerns that it was paying higher than market rates, Medicare began a competitive bidding program for some of these items in designated areas in 2011. In 2016, information from this program was used to reduce rates in the rest of the country. W...

How is Health and Human Services helping states prepare for the next big disease outbreak? Over a 15-year period, HHS awarded about $3 billion to states and others to respond to specific disease threats, such as Zika, Ebola, and H1N1 pandemic influenza. HHS awarded an additional $18 billion for more general public health preparedness and capacity-building activities, such as getting ready for in...