VA Health Care: Methodology for Estimating and Process for Tracking Savings Need Improvement

摘要

The President's budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 included a total of $2.5 billion dollars in savings from six VA-wide operational improvements. If VA's estimated savings for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 do not come to fruition and VA receives appropriations in the amount requested by the President, VA may have to make difficult trade-offs to provide health care services with the resources provided. GAO assessed (1) the basis for VA's estimated savings from each improvement and (2) VA's process for tracking its actual savings from each improvement. GAO obtained documentation that described the methodology VA used to develop its savings estimates and the process it used to track those savings. By analyzing the documentation and interviewing VA officials, GAO assessed whether VA's savings estimates were reasonable and whether VA's process for tracking savings would allow it to accurately determine actual savings.