Federal Daily - January 8, 2010

In Spite of Challenges, IRS Workers Did Well in 2009, Advocate Says

Frontline IRS employees can hand it to themselves—although growing pressures are making it tougher for them to do their job, they nonetheless made it over some significant hurdles last year, including the distribution of economic stimulus credits and the implementation of tax code changes, according to an annual review by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson.

While Olson’s annual report to Congress, released Jan. 6, details a range of concerns at the agency, it also gives substantial credit to employees for successfully dealing with a number of new issues—such as processing claims and amended returns for the First-Time Homebuyer Credit, and changing the voluntary disclosure program for taxpayers holding offshore accounts.

“Through talent, determination, and dedication, [the IRS] pulled off what could have been a disastrous filing season, what with significant tax law changes enacted in the midst of the filing season,” Olson said.

Still, the agency’s workforce faces other tough challenges this tax season, she said. Because the IRS shifted resources in 2009, its ability to man its toll-free telephone answer line, for example, has declined, Olsen said. In fact, the IRS has set a target for Fiscal Year 2010 of answering only 71 percent of calls from taxpayers seeking to speak with a customer service representative—down from 83 percent in FY 2007.

Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, expressed hopes that the IRS will be able to address these concerns by adding customer service reps using new funding provided under the omnibus appropriations act (H.R. 3288/P.L. 111-117) signed last month by President Obama. That law provides the IRS with $12.1 billion in FY 2010—$600 million more than the previous year.

To see more, go to: www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=217903,00.html (taxpayer advocate) or www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1513 (NTEU).

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VA Should Tighten Oversight of Doctor Credentialing and Review

The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to tighten oversight of physician credentialing and performance review, according to a Government Accountability Office report that reviewed privileging procedures at six VA Medical Centers around the country.

GAO reviewed VA’s credentialing policies following a series of post-surgical patient deaths at the VAMC in Marion, Ill. According to a 2008 VA Office of Inspector General investigation, there were multiple instances where physicians had privileges to perform surgical procedures without evidence of competence to perform them.

GAO studied six VAMCs, and interviewed VA officials and reviewed a sample of 30 credentialing and privileging files at each facility, but did not find problems similar to those at the Marion facility at any of them. The files included those of physicians in highly paid specialties, the report said.

But, the GAO review did not give the VAMCs a clean bill of health. GAO found that VAMC staff did not consistently follow VA’s credentialing and privileging policy requirements, the report said. For example, 29 of the 180 credentialing and privileging files reviewed (16 percent) lacked proper verification of state medical licensure, the report said. In addition, the VAMCs did not identify instances when physicians appeared to have omitted required information on their applications, the report said.

VA also lacks sufficient internal controls—such as specifying how compliance should be assessed—to identify and correct problems with the VAMCs’ credentialing and privileging policies, said the report. The study was released Jan. 6.

To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d1026high.pdf.

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