News Release

HHS Issues Performance and Accountability Report

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt recently announced that HHS received a "clean" audit opinion on the department's consolidated financial statements as part of its Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for fiscal year (FY) 2006 for the eighth consecutive year. The PAR, similar to a corporation's annual report to shareholders, provides program results to help Congress, the President, and the public assess the department's performance relative to its mission.

"HHS' most recent Performance and Accountability Report clearly illustrates the department's commitment to manage its financial resources and programs at the highest of standards," Secretary Leavitt said. "As evidenced by our efforts leading to this report's clean audit opinion, HHS takes seriously its responsibility to all Americans."

The PAR highlights significant accomplishments of the department. Most noteworthy in FY 2006 were the implementation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit and strengthening America's capacity to prepare and respond to natural and manmade threats �including pandemic flu. The report also describes initiatives the department is undertaking to ensure that the resources entrusted to it are managed in a responsible, efficient and effective manner.

Among significant accomplishments noted in the report includes those that relate to the presentation of a new basic financial statement required by federal accounting standards -- the Statement of Social Insurance � which was subjected to audit for the first time in 2006. This new statement, which includes actuarially-determined projections of future Medicare costs of approximately $50 trillion, is likely the largest financial statement ever audited. The statement is intended to help citizens assess the financial position of the Medicare trust funds, as well as the adequacy of future budgetary resources for its programs.

Every year, HHS prepares and distributes the PAR and a summary version, the PAR Highlights. This document is an easy-to-read summary of the PAR, and includes essential information on the department's progress in meeting strategic goals, significant results, and continuing management challenges. The full report is available at http://www.hhs.gov/of/reports/account/.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the principal federal agency responsible for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. The HHS is responsible for more than 300 programs and is the nation's largest health insurer and the federal government's largest grant-making agency. The department's budget of more than half a trillion dollars in resources is one of the largest in the federal government.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last revised: November 22, 2006