Federal Employees' Compensation Act: Preliminary Observations on Fraud-Prevention Controls

摘要

Our work to this point has identified several promising practices that could help to reduce the risk of fraud within the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) program. The promising practices link back to fraud-prevention concepts contained in GAOs 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 programs fraud-prevention controls. However, our preliminary work has also identified several potential vulnerabilities in the programs 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.