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department of defense agency financial report fiscal year 2012

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Department <strong>of</strong> Defense Agency Financial Report for FY <strong>2012</strong><br />

categories as high risk, annually testing and <strong>report</strong>ing improper payments in all six<br />

categories. The DFAS also monitors changes in programs associated with OMB-mandated<br />

criteria (e.g., a large increase in annual outlays, regulatory changes, newly-established<br />

programs, etc.) to track troubling trends and implement corrective measures, as necessary.<br />

Numerous pre-payment and post-payment controls further minimize improper payments as<br />

well as improve estimates and identify corrective actions.<br />

The USACE assessments for travel and commercial payments address the effectiveness <strong>of</strong><br />

internal controls, such as pre-payment reviews, to prevent improper payments as well as<br />

system weaknesses identified internally or by outside audit activities. The USACE Financial<br />

Management System (CEFMS) provides internal system standards that adhere to U.S.<br />

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles as well as process controls, providing the process<br />

safeguards to monitor and ensure that pre-payment examination requirements are met. The<br />

USACE also monitors changes in programs to track trends and implement corrective actions,<br />

as necessary.<br />

The TMA contracts with an external independent contractor (EIC) to provide an<br />

independent, impartial review <strong>of</strong> reimbursement methodologies and claims processing<br />

procedures used by TRICARE’s purchased care contractors. The EIC’s responsibility is to<br />

identify improper payments as a result <strong>of</strong> contractors’ noncompliance with TRICARE<br />

payment/reimbursement policies, regulations, and contract requirements. The EIC manually<br />

reviews medical, Active Duty dental and pharmacy claims documentation and re-adjudicates<br />

processed claims submitted by the purchased care contractors to detect errors. Postpayment<br />

claims reviews are conducted on a recurring quarterly, semi-annual, and annual<br />

basis as contractually defined in the EIC and purchased care contracts. The TMA program<br />

managers also complete an annual risk assessment based on the evaluation <strong>of</strong> the quarterly<br />

and semi-annual claim reviews performed by the EIC or based on other reviews.<br />

Statistical Sampling Process<br />

The three primary Defense disbursing components (DFAS, TMA, and USACE) all use<br />

statistically valid, random sampling methods designed to meet or exceed OMB’s<br />

requirements <strong>of</strong> a 90 percent confidence interval, plus or minus 2.5 percent, for estimating<br />

and projecting the Department’s annual improper payments for each <strong>of</strong> the six programs<br />

identified in the Overview section. The smaller disbursing components (e.g., Army-Korea<br />

travel payments, or USACE travel pay) normally perform 100 percent post-payment reviews<br />

or a full review <strong>of</strong> payments above a certain dollar threshold with random sampling for<br />

lower-dollar payments. The TMA uses stratified random sampling for certain health claim<br />

categories.<br />

Military Health Benefits. There are two types <strong>of</strong> payment samples: one for denied claims<br />

and one for non-denied claims (claims that were paid). In this way, TMA can be sure that<br />

claims were either paid or denied correctly. The TMA uses a stratified random sample<br />

process to select medical, pharmacy or dental claims for review.<br />

Military Pay. The Department randomly samples accounts for the Active Duty (Army,<br />

Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps) and Reserve Components (Army Reserve, Army National<br />

Guard, Navy Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, and Marine Corps Reserve) on<br />

a monthly basis. The DFAS selects the accounts for each Component to review and produce<br />

A-53<br />

Addendum A

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