The report said CMS also has not substantially addressed seven of nine recommendations made by GAO in 2007 to improve internal control over contracting and payments to contractors.
According to the report, CMS has not made progress in clarifying the roles and responsibilities for implementing certain contractor oversight responsibilities and, as of July 2009, CMS still had a backlog of contracts that were overdue for closeout, putting CMS at increased risk of not identifying or recovering improper payments or waste.
Continued weaknesses and deficiencies put billions at risk of improper payments or waste, GAO said.
It called for policies and procedures that specify what constitutes timely performance of contractor audits that specify circumstances under which negotiation memorandums should be used, and that specify Contract Review Board review documentation to include, at a minimum, documentation of the number of contracts reviewed each year, the issues identified by the board and resolution of issues identified during reviews.
Policies and procedures are also needed to require division directors to periodically assess, document, and report to senior management on the results of their review of whether the contract files contain documentation that invoices were properly reviewed by both the project officer and contracting officer or specialist, GAO said.
The report further calls on the Office of Acquisition Grants Management to develop and implement a comprehensive strategic acquisition workforce plan that includes, for example, performance goals, time frames, implementation actions, and resource requirements, and address issues such as OAGM workload, full time equivalents needed, and a workforce skills analysis, as well as an estimate of the amount of resources OAGM needs to fulfill the audit and other FAR requirements for comprehensive oversight.