News Release

HHS Issues Performance and Accountability Report

Seventh Consecutive Clean Opinion On Its Audited Financial Statements

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced a �clean� audit opinion on the department�s consolidated financial statements as part of its Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for fiscal year (FY) 2005. This is the seventh consecutive year that HHS has received a clean audit of its finances.

The FY 2005 PAR, audited by an independent accounting firm, provides program management and financial performance information to the President, the Congress and the public.

�HHS takes seriously its responsibility to all Americans to manage its financial resources and programs at the highest of standards,� Secretary Leavitt said. �Once again, independent validation has affirmed the success of our efforts, illustrating our commitment to help Americans live longer, healthier and better lives.�

HHS has been preparing financial statements as prescribed by the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act since 1996 and has earned an unqualified, or �clean,� audit opinion each year since 1999. With each successive year, HHS has improved the utility and informative value of its annual report. The FY 2005 PAR is the fourth HHS annual report to consolidate the audited financial statements and key performance and management information into a single, comprehensive document.

HHS reports on program performance in the PAR pursuant to the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, which requires all federal agencies to engage in strategic planning processes that directly aligns resources with results and enhances the accountability of all government endeavors to the American taxpayers who finance them.

The HHS FY 2005 PAR is produced under the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 and consists of a high level overview of the following:

• The department�s purposes, programs, accomplishments and challenges;
• The nature of resources entrusted to HHS; and
• HHS� management and accountability of those resources.

As 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, 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. HHS is responsible for more than half a trillion dollars in resources, annually the largest budget in the federal government.

�We are pleased to provide this report, with its clean audit opinion, to taxpayers, policy and decision makers, and all who have a stake in knowing that we take seriously the need for accountability in both financial and program management,� said Assistant Secretary for Budget, Technology, and Finance and CFO Charles Johnson. �We also recognize that we have room for improvement and we need to be ever-diligent in fulfilling our management responsibilities.�

The FY 2005 PAR also highlights not only the significant department initiatives undertaken or continued during the year, including responses to hurricanes Katrina and Rita as well as implementation of the Secretary�s 500 Day Plan, but also the prominent accomplishments of each HHS agency. It addresses how the department is supporting such government-wide initiatives as the President's Management Agenda and discusses the top management challenges that HHS faces as identified by the Office of Inspector General.

The report is on the Web at http://www.hhs.gov/of/reports/account/.