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The President
The President of the Senate
The Speaker of the House of Representatives
The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is required to annually submit financial statements for the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. GAO is required to audit these statements.1 This is (1) our report on the accompanying U.S. government’s accrual-based consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2011 and 2010; the 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 Statements of Social Insurance; and the 2011 Statement of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts; and (2) our associated reports on internal control over financial reporting and on compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations. As used in this report, accrual-based financial statements refer to all of the consolidated financial statements and notes, except for those related to the Statements of Social Insurance and the Statement of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts.2
Management of the federal government is responsible for (1) preparing annual consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP); (2) establishing, maintaining, and evaluating internal control to provide reasonable assurance that the control objectives of the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA)3 are met; and (3) complying with laws and regulations. Also, the 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies are responsible for implementing and maintaining financial management systems that substantially comply with the requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA).4 Appendix I discusses the objective, scope, and methodology of our work.
In summary, we found the following:
Before discussing our conclusions on the consolidated financial statements, the following key items deserve emphasis in order to put the information contained in the financial statements and the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section of the 2011 Financial Report of the United States Government (2011 Financial Report) into context.
The accrual-based consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2011 include, as they did for fiscal year 2010, substantial assets and liabilities resulting from the federal government’s actions to stabilize financial markets and to promote economic recovery. Key actions that the federal government has taken to stabilize financial markets and to promote economic recovery are discussed in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section of the 2011 Financial Report and related Notes to the consolidated financial statements.
The ultimate cost of all of the federal government’s market stabilization and economic recovery actions and the effect of such actions on its financial condition will not be known for some time. As of September 30, 2011, the federal government’s actions to stabilize the financial markets and to promote economic recovery resulted in reported federal government assets of over $295 billion (e.g., the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) equity investments,9 investments in the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by them),10 which is net of about $95 billion in valuation losses. In addition, the federal government reported incurring significant liabilities as of September 30, 2011 (e.g., about $316 billion related to estimated future payments to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) resulting from these actions. In valuing these assets and liabilities, management considered and selected assumptions and data that it believed provided a reasonable basis for the estimated values reported in the accrual-based consolidated financial statements. However, as discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, there are many factors affecting these assumptions and estimates that are inherently subject to substantial uncertainty arising from the uniqueness of certain transactions and the likelihood of future changes in general economic, regulatory, and market conditions. As such, there will be differences between the estimated values as of September 30, 2011, and the actual results, and such differences may be material. These differences will also affect the ultimate cost of the federal government’s actions.
Although the economy is still fragile, there is wide agreement on the need to take steps to address the federal government’s long-term fiscal challenges. The comprehensive long-term fiscal projections presented in this 2011 Financial Report show that—absent policy changes—the federal government continues to face an unsustainable fiscal path. Largely as a result of the provisions in the Budget Control Act of 2011,11 the fiscal outlook has improved. However, rising health care costs and the aging of the U.S. population continue to create budgetary pressure. The oldest members of the baby boom generation are now eligible for early Social Security retirement benefits and for Medicare benefits. In addition, debt held by the public continues to grow as a share of the economy; this means the current structure of the federal budget is unsustainable over the longer term.
These comprehensive projections, with regard to Social Security and Medicare, are based on the same assumptions underlying the information presented in the Statement of Social Insurance and assume that the provisions in law designed to slow the growth of Medicare costs are sustained and remain effective throughout the projection period. GAO also prepares long-term fiscal simulations for the U.S. government.12 Under GAO’s Alternative simulation, which modifies the revenue assumptions used in the above noted projections and uses the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) actuary’s alternative health care cost projections, projected spending in excess of receipts would be greater and debt held by the public as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) would grow more quickly than the projections in the 2011 Financial Report. For example, under GAO’s Alternative simulation, debt held by the public as a share of GDP would exceed the historical high reached in the aftermath of World War II by 2027,13 10 years earlier than the projections in the 2011 Financial Report. The federal government faces increasing pressures, yet a shrinking window of opportunity, for making policy changes regarding these challenges.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, such financial statements do not include the assets, liabilities, or results of operations of any financial organizations or commercial entities in which Treasury holds either a direct, indirect, or beneficial equity interest. Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have determined that none of these entities meet the criteria for a federal entity. The investments in and any liabilities to such entities, however, are valued and reported on the Balance Sheet.
Because of the federal government's inability to demonstrate the reliability of significant portions of the U.S. government's accompanying accrual-based consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2011 and 2010, principally resulting from limitations related to certain material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and other limitations on the scope of our work, we are unable to, and we do not, express an opinion on such accrual-based consolidated financial statements. As a result of these limitations, readers are cautioned that amounts reported in the accrual-based consolidated financial statements and related notes may not be reliable.
The federal government did not maintain adequate systems or have sufficient, reliable evidence to support certain material information reported in the accompanying accrual-based consolidated financial statements. The underlying material weaknesses in internal control, which generally have existed for years, contributed to our disclaimer of opinion on the accrual-based consolidated financial statements. The material weaknesses that contributed to our disclaimer of opinion on the accrual-based consolidated financial statements were the federal government's inability to
These material weaknesses continued to (1) hamper the federal government's ability to reliably report a significant portion of its assets, liabilities, costs, and other related information; (2) affect the federal government's ability to reliably measure the full cost as well as the financial and nonfinancial performance of certain programs and activities; (3) impair the federal government's ability to adequately safeguard significant assets and properly record various transactions; and (4) hinder the federal government from having reliable financial information to operate in an efficient and effective manner. Due to the material weaknesses and other limitations on the scope of our work discussed above, there may also be additional issues that could affect the accrual-based consolidated financial statements that were not identified. Appendix II describes these material weaknesses in more detail and highlights the primary effects of these material weaknesses on the accompanying accrual-based consolidated financial statements and on the management of federal government operations.
Because of significant uncertainties (discussed in Note 26 to the consolidated financial statements), primarily related to the achievement of projected reductions in Medicare cost growth reflected in the 2011 and 2010 Statements of Social Insurance, we were unable to obtain sufficient evidence to support the amounts presented in the 2011 and 2010 Statements of Social Insurance and the 2011 Statement of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts. Consequently, we are unable to, and we do not, express opinions on the 2011 and 2010 Statements of Social Insurance as well as on the 2011 Statement of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts. The Statement of Social Insurance presents the actuarial present value of the federal government’s estimated future revenue to be received from or on behalf of participants and estimated future expenditures to be paid to or on behalf of participants, based on benefit formulas in current law and using a projection period sufficient to illustrate the long-term sustainability of the social insurance programs.14
The significant uncertainties, discussed in further detail in Note 26 to the consolidated financial statements, include:
Projections of Medicare costs are sensitive to assumptions about future decisions by policymakers and about the behavioral responses of consumers, employers, and health care providers as policy, incentives, and the health care sector change over time. For example, behavioral responses of health care providers could affect Medicare beneficiaries’ access to care. Such secondary impacts are not reflected in the Statement of Social Insurance projections but could be expected to influence the excess cost growth rate17 used in the projections. Key drivers of uncertainty about the excess cost growth rate include the future development and deployment of medical technology, the evolution of personal income, and the cost and availability of insurance, as well as federal policy change such as the PPACA. The work of the 2010 Technical Review Panel on the Medicare Trustees Report18 could provide additional guidance to management concerning ways to incorporate secondary impacts into future Statement of Social Insurance projections and related disclosures.
As a result of the uncertainties discussed previously, readers are cautioned that amounts reported in the 2011 and 2010 Statements of Social Insurance and related Notes to such financial statements may not fairly present, in all material respects, the financial condition of the federal government’s social insurance programs, in conformity with GAAP. The uncertainties related to the 2011 and 2010 Statements of Social Insurance also affect the projected Medicare and Medicaid costs reported in the Fiscal Projections for the U.S. government, which is presented in Supplemental Information and is summarized in Management’s Discussion and Analysis and other accompanying information.
In addition, the Supplemental Information section of the 2011 Financial Report includes unaudited information concerning how changes in various assumptions would change the present value of future estimated expenditures in excess of future estimated revenue. As discussed in that section, Medicare projections are very sensitive to changes in the health care cost growth assumption.
In our opinion, the Statements of Social Insurance for 2009, 2008, and 2007 present fairly, in all material respects, the financial condition of the federal government’s social insurance programs, in conformity with GAAP.
In preparing the Statements of Social Insurance, management considers and selects assumptions and data that it believes provide a reasonable basis for the assertions in the statement. However, because of the large number of factors that affect the Statement of Social Insurance and the fact that such assumptions are inherently subject to substantial uncertainty—arising from the likelihood of future changes in general economic, regulatory, and market conditions, as well as other more specific future events, such as legislative changes (e.g., changes in benefits or provider payments), other significant uncertainties, and contingencies—there will be differences between the estimates in the Statement of Social Insurance and the actual results, and those differences may be material. In addition to the inherent uncertainty that underlies the expenditure projections prepared for all parts of Medicare, the Supplementary Medical Insurance Part D projections have an added uncertainty in that they were prepared using very little program experience upon which to base the estimates.
The scheduled future benefits presented in the Statement of Social Insurance are based on benefit formulas in current law. However, consistent with the respective annual Trustees Reports, the Social Security and Medicare programs are not sustainable under current financing arrangements. Also, the law concerning these programs can be changed at any time by the Congress. In fact, payment of Social Security and Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A) benefits are limited by law to the balances in the respective trust funds. Consequently, future scheduled benefits are limited to future revenues plus existing trust fund assets. As discussed in the Supplemental Information section of the 2011 Financial Report, the Social Security and Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A) trust funds are, based on achievement of the cost reductions discussed above, projected to be exhausted in 2036 and 2024, respectively, at which time the full amount of scheduled future benefits will be unable to be paid. For Social Security, projected future revenues as of January 1, 2011 would be sufficient to pay 77 percent of scheduled benefits in 2036, the year of trust fund exhaustion, and decreasing to 74 percent of scheduled benefits in 2085. Similarly, for Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A), projected future revenues as of January 1, 2011 would be sufficient to pay 90 percent of scheduled benefits in 2024, the year of trust fund exhaustion, declining to 76 percent in 2050 and then increasing to 88 percent of scheduled benefits in 2085.
For fiscal years 2011 and 2010, there were limitations on the scope of our work in addition to the material weaknesses that contributed to our disclaimer of opinion on the accrual-based consolidated financial statements. Treasury and OMB depend on representations from certain federal entities to provide their representations to us regarding the U.S. government’s consolidated financial statements. Treasury and OMB were unable to provide us with adequate representations regarding the U.S. government’s accrual-based consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2011 and 2010 primarily because of insufficient representations provided to them by certain federal entities.
The material weaknesses discussed in this report resulted in ineffective internal control over financial reporting. Consequently, the federal government’s internal control did not provide reasonable assurance that misstatements, losses, or noncompliance material in relation to the consolidated financial statements would be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis. The federal government is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and evaluating its effectiveness. Internal control over financial reporting is a process effected by those charged with governance, management, and other personnel, the objectives of which are to provide reasonable assurance that (1) transactions are properly recorded, processed, and summarized to permit the preparation of the financial statements in conformity with GAAP, and assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition and (2) transactions are executed in accordance with laws governing the use of budget authority and with other laws and regulations that could have a direct and material effect on the financial statements.
In planning and performing our audit, we considered internal control over financial reporting. We did not consider all internal controls relevant to operating objectives as broadly established under FMFIA, such as those controls relevant to preparing statistical reports and ensuring efficient operations. We do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting because the purpose of our work was to determine our procedures for auditing the financial statements, not to express an opinion on internal control. Based on the scope of our work and the effects of the other limitations on the scope of our audit noted throughout this report, our internal control work would not necessarily identify all deficiencies in internal control, including those that might be material weaknesses or significant deficiencies.19
In addition to the material weaknesses that contributed to our disclaimer of opinion on the accrual-based consolidated financial statements, which were discussed previously, we found the following three other material weaknesses in internal control. These other material weaknesses were the federal government’s inability to
These material weaknesses are discussed in more detail in appendix III, including the primary effects of the material weaknesses on the accompanying accrual-based consolidated financial statements and on the management of federal government operations.
We also found two significant deficiencies in the federal government’s internal control related to implementing effective internal controls at certain federal entities for the following areas:
These significant deficiencies are discussed in more detail in appendix IV.
Further, individual federal entity financial statement audit reports identified additional control deficiencies that were reported by the entity’s auditors as either material weaknesses or significant deficiencies at the individual entity level. We do not consider these additional deficiencies to represent material weaknesses or significant deficiencies with respect to the consolidated financial statements.
Our work to test compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations that have a direct and material effect on the consolidated financial statements was limited by the material weaknesses and other scope limitations discussed in this report. U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards and OMB guidance require auditors to report on entities’ compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations. Certain individual entity audit reports contain instances of noncompliance. None of these instances were deemed to be reportable noncompliance with regard to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
We caution that other noncompliance may have occurred and not been detected. Further, the results of our limited procedures may not be sufficient for other purposes. Our objective was not to, and we do not, express an opinion on compliance with laws and regulations.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis, Stewardship Information, Supplemental Information, and other accompanying information, including the Citizen’s Guide, included in the 2011 Financial Report contain a wide range of information, some of which is not directly related to the consolidated financial statements. We did not audit and we do not express an opinion on this information.
Readers are cautioned that the material weaknesses and scope limitations discussed in this audit report, including those related to our disclaimers of opinion on the 2011 and 2010 Statements of Social Insurance and the 2011 Statement of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts, affect the reliability of certain information contained in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis, Stewardship Information, Supplemental Information, and other accompanying information that is taken from the same data sources as the accrual-based consolidated financial statements, the 2011 and 2010 Statements of Social Insurance, and the 2011 Statement of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts.
The federal government’s ability to efficiently and effectively manage and oversee its day-to-day operations and programs relies heavily on the ability of entity financial management systems20 to produce complete, reliable, timely, and consistent financial information for use by executive branch agencies and the Congress. FFMIA was designed to lead to system improvements that would result in CFO Act agency managers routinely having access to reliable, useful, and timely financial-related information to measure performance and increase accountability throughout the year. FFMIA requires auditors, as part of the 24 CFO Act agencies’ financial statement audits, to report whether those agencies’ financial management systems substantially comply with (1) federal financial management systems requirements, (2) applicable federal accounting standards, and (3) the federal government’s Standard General Ledger (SGL) at the transaction level. For fiscal years 2011 and 2010, auditors for 11 and 10 of the 24 CFO Act agencies, respectively, reported that the agencies’ financial management systems did not substantially comply with one or more of the three FFMIA requirements. Agency management at the 24 CFO Act agencies also annually report on FFMIA compliance. For both fiscal years 2011 and 2010, agency management at 7 of the CFO Act agencies reported that their agencies’ financial management systems were not in substantial compliance with one or more of the three FFMIA requirements. The differences in the assessments of substantial compliance between the auditors and agency management reflected differences in views between management and the auditors on the impact reported deficiencies had on agencies’ financial management systems. Long-standing financial management systems weaknesses at several large CFO Act agencies, along with the size and complexity of the federal government, continue to present a formidable management challenge in providing accountability to the nation’s taxpayers and have contributed significantly to the material weaknesses and other limitations that have resulted in our disclaimers of opinion on the accrual-based consolidated financial statements.
_ _ _ _ _
We provided a draft of this report to Treasury and OMB officials, who provided technical comments, which have been incorporated as appropriate. Treasury and OMB officials expressed their continuing commitment to address the problems this report outlines.
Robert F. Dacey
Chief Accountant
U.S. Government Accountability Office
December 12, 2011
1The Government Management Reform Act of 1994 has required such reporting, covering the executive branch of government, beginning with financial statements prepared for fiscal year 1997. 31 U.S.C. 331(e). The federal government has elected to include certain financial information on the legislative and judicial branches in the consolidated financial statements as well. (Back to Content)
2The accrual-based consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 consist of the (1) Statements of Net Cost, (2) Statements of Operations and Changes in Net Position, (3) Reconciliations of Net Operating Cost and Unified Budget Deficit, (4) Statements of Changes in Cash Balance from Unified Budget and Other Activities, and (5) Balance Sheets, including the related notes to these financial statements. Most revenues are recorded on a modified cash basis. The 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 Statements of Social Insurance, including the related notes, are also included in the consolidated financial statements. In addition, in fiscal year 2011, the federal government adopted Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards No. 37, “Social Insurance: Additional Requirements for Management’s Discussion and Analysis and Basic Financial Statements,” which calls for a new basic financial statement, the Statement of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts, that is included, along with the related notes, in the consolidated financial statements. The Statement of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts presents the components of the changes of the open group measure (total present value of future expenditures in excess of future revenue), presented in the 2011 and 2010 Statements of Social Insurance. Both the Statements of Social Insurance and the Statement of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts do not interrelate with the accrual-based consolidated financial statements.(Back to Content)
331 U.S.C. 3512 (c), (d) (commonly referred to as FMFIA). This act requires executive agency heads to evaluate and report annually to the President and the Congress on the adequacy of their internal control and accounting systems and on actions to correct significant problems. (Back to Content)
431 U.S.C. 3512 note (Federal Financial Management Improvement Act). (Back to Content)
5A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entity's financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis. A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and correct, misstatements on a timely basis. (Back to Content)
6 Three major impediments continued to prevent us from rendering an opinion on the accrual-based consolidated financial statements: (1) serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense (DOD) that have prevented DOD’s financial statements from being auditable, (2) the federal government’s inability to adequately account for and reconcile intragovernmental activity and balances between federal entities, and (3) the federal government’s ineffective process for preparing the consolidated financial statements. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) received a qualified opinion on its Balance Sheet and Statement of Custodial Activity for fiscal year 2011; also, the remainder of its financial statements for fiscal year 2011 (consisting of the Statements of Net Cost, Changes in Net Position, and Budgetary Resources) and all of DHS’s financial statements for fiscal year 2010 were not auditable or not subjected to audit by agency auditors. Further, the financial statements of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for fiscal year 2010 and the Department of State for fiscal years 2011 and 2010 were not fully auditable. Also, in our audit report on the U.S. government’s consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2010, we reported that the financial statements of the Department of Labor (Labor) for fiscal year 2010 were not auditable or not subjected to audit by agency auditors. However, subsequent to our report, the agency’s auditors issued an unqualified opinion in a revised audit report on Labor’s reissued financial statements for fiscal year 2010. According to the May 2011 auditor’s report, Labor’s implementation of a new accounting and reporting system hindered its ability to assure the accuracy and completeness of the consolidated financial statement balances that received a disclaimer of opinion in November 2010. Further, the audit report states that Labor was subsequently able to prepare consolidated financial statements and provide sufficient support so that it received an unqualified opinion on its financial statements for fiscal year 2010. (Back to Content)
7We previously reported that certain material weaknesses prevented us from expressing an opinion on the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government for fiscal years 1997 through 2006 and on the accrual-based consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government for fiscal years 2007 through 2010. (Back to Content)
8The valuation date is January 1 for all social insurance programs except the Black Lung program, which has a valuation date of September 30. (Back to Content)
9TARP was established by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) under authority provided in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-343). The act requires the U.S. Comptroller General to audit TARP’s financial statements as well as report every 60 days on a variety of areas associated with oversight of TARP. For the TARP financial statement audits and the 60-day reports, see GAO’s website at www.gao.gov. (Back to Content)
10The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-289) authorized Treasury to purchase, until December 31, 2009, any amount of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac securities, whether debt or equity. (Back to Content)
11Pub. L. No. 112-25, 125 Stat. 240 (Aug. 2, 2011). (Back to Content)
12GAO, The Federal Government’s Long-Term Fiscal Outlook: Fall 2011 Update, GAO-12-28SP (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 24, 2011). (Back to Content)
13GAO’s Alternative simulation incorporates the CMS Office of the Actuary’s alternative projections for health care cost growth, which assume physician payments are not reduced as specified under current law and certain cost controls are not maintained over the long term. Also in this simulation, expiring tax provisions other than the Social Security payroll tax reductions are extended to 2021 and the alternative minimum tax exemption amount is indexed to inflation through 2021; revenues are then brought back to the 40-year historical average as a share of GDP. Discretionary spending follows the Congressional Budget Office’s baseline for the first 10 years, which reflect the discretionary spending caps in the Budget Control Act of 2011, and thereafter gradually increases to the historical average share of GDP. Automatic procedures in the Budget Control Act of 2011 that reduce spending by $1.2 trillion are applied to total annual deficits evenly from 2013 to 2021 and remain a constant share of GDP thereafter. (Back to Content)
14The projection period used for the Social Security, Medicare, and Railroad Retirement social insurance programs is 75 years. For the Black Lung program, the projections are through September 30, 2040. (Back to Content)
15Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (Mar. 23, 2010), as amended by Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-152, 124 Stat. 1029 (Mar. 30, 2010). (Back to Content)
16The Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-309, § 101, overrode the scheduled reductions in physician payments through December 2011 and reduced non-Medicare outlays by limiting a health insurance tax credit. (Back to Content)
17The excess cost growth rate is the increase in health care spending per person relative to the growth of GDP per person after removing the effects of demographic changes on health care spending. (Back to Content)
18In August 2010, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, working on behalf of the Board of Trustees, established an independent panel of expert actuaries and economists to review the assumptions and methods used by the Trustees to make projections of the financial status of the trust funds. (Back to Content)
19A significant deficiency is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those charged with governance. (Back to Content)
20The term financial management systems includes the financial systems and the financial portions of mixed systems necessary to support financial management, including automated and manual processes, procedures, controls, data, hardware, software, and support personnel dedicated to the operation and maintenance of system functions. (Back to Content)
