WASHINGTON D.C. – Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa, in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, requested answers as to why the Obama Administration HHS has not implemented 53 of 63 Inspector General recommendations made last year.  The failure to implement these changes came to light following the release of a new report last week by the HHS IG.

“While this Administration talks big on health reforms, HHS has compiled a disconcerting record on implementing recommendations to stop waste and abuse of taxpayer funds,” said Rep. Issa.  “In the past, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have both made clear that IG recommendations need to be taken seriously.  This Congress is rushing to expand the healthcare role of a federal government agency that isn’t fully committed or focused on fixing wasteful spending and mismanagement.”

The letter notes that last week the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (IG) released its annual Compendium of Unimplemented Office of Inspector General Recommendations.  The list contains 86 significant outstanding recommendations and identifies over $12.2 billion in savings that could be realized through implementation.  The previous year’s Compendium of Unimplemented Office of Inspector General Recommendations (released May 2009), contained 63 such recommendations.  Disturbingly, only 10 of these 63 significant IG recommendations from 2008 appear to have been either fully implemented by this Administration during its first year in office or deemed no longer relevant by the IG – the other 53 appear again on this year’s report.  

“The growth in the number of significant outstanding unimplemented IG recommendations in HHS under this Administration is of great concern,” writes Issa in his letter to Sebelius.  “The significant amount of time spent by senior officials in your department lobbying for the President’s government healthcare proposal raises important questions about whether these activities have distracted efforts to root out waste, fraud, and abuse by ensuring that IG recommendations are implemented.”

Click here to read Rep. Issa’s letter to Secretary Sebelius.

Click here for the HHS IG’s Compendiums of Unimplemented IG Recommendations.